Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Finding Rock Bottom Price on New truck?

I am aware of Kelley Blue Book on line. I have researched that infomation on more than one occasion. Nonetheless it seems they are willing to go even lower when you negotiate at the stealership.

Is there a place that will tell you exactly the absolute rock bottom a dealer can sell it for? Where is the secret number?

I am beating the bushes real hard for a new toyota tacoma, and I called about 6 dealers last night. One guy said on a regular cab 4 cyliner 05 standard transmm that he could break $18,000. I am going to try and get one dealer bidding against another but when do you know they have hit bottom?

Thanks you all!

The last two trucks I've bought,I never walked into the dealership until it was time to sign the papers. I've found in Wa. anyways,that dealing directly with the fleet manager,gets me the best prices on vehicles. I find what I want,email the fleet manager and a few hours later I've got a no haggle price in front of me.

When I bought my 2500HD,the fleet manager came down over $10K dollars without the blink of an eye. I emailed a few other dealers,and got deals very similar in price. I went with the first dealer because they were the closest to home.

Mossy;

Thanks for the reply. I am totally ignorant as concerns the chain of command of a car lealership. All I am familiar with is salesman and sales manager. Is the Fleet manager what you call a sales manager or is he above that?

Thanks a million, your tactic seems to make sense.

I have found that if you get a price and walk away, the price magically drops even more.Wife and I did this on her car and they came down $6000 from their already "sale price". The dealer called at least 3 times with a lower price each time, at one point we were within $100 of the price we needed and still said no. He waited untill the next day and told us we could get it for $50 less than the price we "needed". It seemed to have work real well. BTW the Tacoma is a great truck.

I don't know exactly whos ahead of who,but I'd say the Fleet manager is ahead of the sales manager. When dealing with the fleet manager,he/she doesn't have to go "talk with the sales manager". All the dealings are done exclusively with the FM. Thats why I like dealing with the FM,you don't have to endure any of the typical salesman BS.

I've had several people tell me the same thing. Make an appointment with the Fleet Man. and you don't have to put up with crap from the salesman.

Kelley's is an inflated value used mostly by dealers. Try Edmunds.com or Cars.com for a different range of values. Do all of your research via the 'Net. Know exactly what dealer invoice is. Tell them your price and then disengage. If you ask enough dealers, eventually someone will bite on the price. The dealer needs to sell cars to survive... normally, you don't need a new car as badly. Use the leverage and wait, wait, wait.

Dixie, find the dealer invoice price at someplace like Edmunds.com and start there. If there is any incentive money from Toyota to the dealer (sometimes a couple thousand bucks or more that the dealer doesn't usually tell anyone about) they might sell below invoice.

dave

Dixie,
your mileage may vary, but USUALLY:

smaller rural stores are less likely to try and play the "games" that some of the larger "big city" stores try...the smaller stores tend to be more dependant on referral biz...at metro stores there is a tendency to worry less about each individual "up" as there will be another duck on the pond shortly to take a shot at if they miss this one.

do your homework, spend some time in the local coffee shops & listen to what the locals are saying about the dealership's sales and service satisfaction...with all the electronic & computer components on the new vehicles you WILL need to service that new truck somewhere. To coin a cliche', "the best deal is not always the cheapest price"...if the service dept can't pour piss out of a boot with the directions on the heel they can cause a lot of aggravation...life's too short .

don't expect to "steal" the newest model that the dealer can't get enough of from the factory, you'll get a better deal on a vehicle that the dealer has a higher days supply of...he wants off of them and the factory probably has bigger incentives on those units.

call the store; if you're calling a small store ask for the dealer(owner), he's the guy you'll get your best deal from, tell him you're in the market for a new truck and want a deal,ask how much over his net cost (not invoice) would he be willing to sell you one for?

if your'e calling a big store ask for the general manager or the general sales mgr...the other mgr's report to him(new car, new truck, fleet etc), you're probably not going to get the owner..ask the same question.

usually the incentives (rebates) are bigger at the end of the month (or quarter) than they are at the beginning.

usually you can get a better deal on a vehicle that's in stock as opposed to one the dealer has to locate & buy from another dealer.

if for some twisted reason you enjoy shopping & really have too much time on your hands pay attention the the stock numbers on the vehicles...generally the lower the number, the longer the vehicle has been in inventory...1) dealers are more likely to cut a slimmer deal on an aged unit, and B) most manufacturers have several price increases during the year which means that a truck with with an older "birthday" may be several hundred $'s cheaper than an identical unit that's "younger".

shop around, but remember if it sounds to good to be true etc etc...you know...shoots flat to 800 yds, knocks them off their feet, & recoils like a 243, ammo is cheap, ad naseum.

treat the guy you're buying a truck from like your local gun dealer...until he doesn't deserve it..it's the golden rule thing..you'll get a better deal by not being afflicted by cranial rectosis...just like 20% of the "hunters" do the sh*t that the rest of us get blamed for...same rule applies to most dealers...some are real poindexters, but not all.

sorry for the length of this post, hope it helps.

if you want to send me a pm i can help you keep the local ford & chevy guys "honest" re. their pricing.

davey

Well, not sure of a "place" but there is a source.

1. Buy the truck at whatever you think is the lowest price.
2. Find some guy who bought that exact same truck from that same dealer.
3. He will have bought it for less.

From "Murphy's Blue Book Guide to Automobile Purchasing" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Davey,

Yours is the best advice I've seen here (and elsewhere). Country/rural dealership and talk to "the man". Consulting Edmonds 1st and having your data together dont hurt at all. Be flexible on what you "must have".

This is an interesting read. Why cant buying a truck be simple? Go to the GMC web site, select the options you like, the color you want and click enter. Then the dealer just provides alternatives for finance or mx?

Why all the pricing games? Why Can't they just put the sticker in the window and let the buyer decide? Maybe that's why everyone has so much respect for car salesman? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Old Toot - you said everything i said, but said it in a short, simple, paragraph.

wow....i NEED to drink a little less coffee <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

rdinak - how much simpler do you want it? They do put a sticker on the window with a price on it & the dealer does provide (usually) finance options. Just pay what the price tag says...it happens every day with clothes, food, etc. The consumer makes it complicated because we want "the best price" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Seriously though, there are a tremendous amount of things that affect pricing...supply & demand, incentives to the dealer, consumer incentives put there because some genius overforecasted how many of what model would sell (and then didn't), interest rates, the list goes on and on. We still haven't talked about trade values, and then there's the increases we all pay due to lawsuits...lets not even go down that path...we've all heard the stories of gun manufacturers being sued because there firearms were used in a crime..same bs in the car biz....the same set of variables that affect all types of small business.

Yes, car guys rank right up there with dentist, doctors, and attorneys on the list of people we all like to go see...and usually for good reason...i just found out that a large portion of dental hygenists get paid partly on commission...think about that one the next time you're in the chair and are told you "need a little work done". Remember the 80/20 rule...hunters, bikers, sailors, car salesman, gun dealers, democrats ( <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> oops...nomex suit on) .

do your homework, find a guy you feel you can trust, and then shop him a little to keep him competitive...it's just like buying anything else only on a little bigger scale, and there is definitely things that are more fun than buying a new vehicle.

davey

If anyone needs help buying a Ford truck or car, you can PM me....
dave

Well, I just bought a 2004 Nissan Titan for a few thousand below invoice.

The best time to buy a car is around the first of the year. In my case, the dealers wanted to dump the '04 inventory to make room for the '05 models. I knew exactly what the invoice price was from Edmunds and other Internet sources. I also knew Nissan was offering a $2,000 instant rebate.

By the time I started hitting showrooms, I knew more about the '04 Titans than most of the salespeople. I found a truck I liked and made an offer.

Like anything, the best time to shop is when you don't need something. Always be willing to walk away if you don't get the price you want. Don't fall in a love with a particular truck, at least not if you want to get the best price. The more information you have walking in, the better. Don't let dealers rip you off on the trade-in or financing or extended warranties... which is exactly where they'll try to make up money on a low price. If this doesn't work, I suggest marrying the daughter of the guy who owns a local dealership. Family members always get great deals.

Hampstead,

Great advice.

Steve

Check out carsdirect.com. If the dealer doesn't deal much its nice to have the leverage of telling them the carsdirect price and if they can beat it.

Like some of the others have mentioned talk directly to the fleet manager.
When I bought my 2k Wrangler in '99 I asked for the fleet managers name, number and the VIN off the jeep I wanted. The salesman came back WITH the fleet manager who right there on the spot quoted my a price of 22.5k; down 5k from the listed 27.5k. It was absolutely amazing the change in the attitude there as soon as I asked for the fleet managers information. I instantly became the salesman�s new best buddy. Not sure if he was scared of the fleet manager or what and that doesn�t matter because I got what I wanted.

The last car I negotiated was a '03 Subaru Outback (perfect car for Colorado btw). We went to 3 different dealers and asked for their best bottom line number with taxes included. We spun a small web of deceit by telling the salesman that we were in no hurry whatsoever to buy because my mom had been waiting for nearly a year to find the perfect deal. 2 dealerships gave us a number that was an absolute joke. 1 dealer however worked us down to a fantastic at 14.4k (slightly used with 8k miles). When we told the dealer we weren�t in a hurry to make a deal and we will pass on anything not at our number he worked hard to make a good first offer and ended up dropping the number 3 more times as we sat in his office and looked unsatisfied. My mom is usually just too friendly in these type of situations so I told her we were just going to be acting and that it was time to �play hardball�, she ended up having fun and being a real hard ass on the guy. That was fun to watch.

What I've learned is go to the top guy if you can and don�t let them have the impression that you want to buy a vehicle right here and now. If they think you are knowledgeable and patiently waiting for the right deal they'll work that much harder for you.

Oh another thing that I have heard but never experienced is to buy vehicles in the last few days of the month when salesmen are trying to meet quota, sometimes they'll cut a deal they normally wouldn�t just to get a sale.

Also I�ve had the best results from car shopping in large metro areas because the level of competition is much greater. For instance in my town there is a Ford dealership and the next closest dealership is over an hour away.

I guess I never touched on your question about lowest price possible. Sorry� <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Try Microsoft Carpoint.com

You can get MSRP and invoice price for any car with any options.

NoCAL

I have been lucky to deal with James Wood Motors in Decatur, Tex. for 10 vehicles in the last 12 yrs. I call my salesman and tell him what I'm looking for. He goes to his computer and tells me what is available either at his dealership or that is in Texas. He gives me a driveout price reflecting whatever incentives, rebates, and tells me he can sell these for so much either over or under invoice. I have shopped his prices and can't beat them. When I have a service problem, it is fixed with a smile and if something comes up after warranty and I had mentioned it before, it will be taken care of. They always call after your car is serviced to see if you are happy and they really follow up on this. Butch