Car dealer will not budge on “online price”

[Anonymous]

A few points here:

- Dealers get a kickback from the bank on financing. They are definitely not going to give you an even better price if you offer to pay cash or come in with your own financing. That said, if your own financing is better terms, do it.

- Don't worry about the 6-year loan. As long as the loan allows you to pre-pay without penalty, which they usually do. We usually get 5 year loans, but pay double or triple the monthly payments most months, unless we had a big expense that months.

- A car with 68k miles is going to have maintenance expenses. Many parts (battery, alternator, timing belt, etc) need replacing after X miles. Those X's usually are after 50k, and rarely before it. Just budget for it. Luckily it's a Ford so parts are cheap and so is labor. We have a Chevy and an Audi, and it's easily 2-3x the cost for scheduled maintenance on the Audi. Neither car has ever broken down on us, but parts and labor are much more expensive on the Audi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mileage is way too high. We have fewer miles on our ‘03.

I have a 2011 with 140k. I spent 2 years driving it from Knoxville, TN to central MO. For the car OP is looking at to be at 68k in 2 years, I’d assume they did a whole lot of highway running and not be overly concerned. Take it to an independent mechanic to be sure brakes, axles, suspension are in good shape.

I disagree. People who drive their cars over 30K a year doing highway driving usually don't sell their cars after 2 years. Those people will keep their cars until they have 200K miles in 7 years. The people who sell 2 year old cars with over 30K miles are ones who drove for a living. These are people who drive car services, uber, delivery services. Many of these were leased cars. High mileage vehicles selling in 2 years is a red flag, one of many in this deal that OP should avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
2) those miles are nothing. I bought a used Honda with 136K miles on it in 2011 and it’s still running great with 220K Miles.

Honda =/= Ford regarding mileage. I'm sorry, but it's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ When you have great credit, you have more bargaining power, the OP has bad credit. Your husband also did a 4 year loan, not a 6 year loan, rates change on term.

The rate he was offered was below 3.5 even at the longest term. I realize that op has not great credit, but it is incorrect to say best available rate to buyers with good credit is 5 percent, that is off by quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mileage is way too high. We have fewer miles on our ‘03.

I have a 2011 with 140k. I spent 2 years driving it from Knoxville, TN to central MO. For the car OP is looking at to be at 68k in 2 years, I’d assume they did a whole lot of highway running and not be overly concerned. Take it to an independent mechanic to be sure brakes, axles, suspension are in good shape.

I disagree. People who drive their cars over 30K a year doing highway driving usually don't sell their cars after 2 years. Those people will keep their cars until they have 200K miles in 7 years. The people who sell 2 year old cars with over 30K miles are ones who drove for a living. These are people who drive car services, uber, delivery services. Many of these were leased cars. High mileage vehicles selling in 2 years is a red flag, one of many in this deal that OP should avoid.

That depends. I know high-mileage drivers that sell after 2-3 years. They are in businesses where the company pays for the vehicle and they are entitled to a new one every 2-3 years. For example, my friend was an account rep for the mid atlantic region for IBM, and she'd drive all around in her Ford visiting various customer sites. She'd put on huge miles per year, and she got a new car every 2-3 years.

[Anonymous]

OP you can look at the sticker just inside the door to confirm but my guess is that the car is closer to 3 years old than 2. usually 2016 cars come out in the fall of the previous year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One last thought. Stop taking car buying advice from you DH and Dad. This is obviously not their strong point. Buying a used car can be a great deal but do some internet searches on the pitfalls to watch out for. For example, your monthly payment is irrelevant. Look at the total bill after multiple years of interest at 9.75%. Ouch.

Yep in 6 years you will have paid about $21,000 plus new tires, brakes, etc.

[Anonymous]

OP, you definitely need to bail. This deal has almost nothing in your favor. You are dealing with a high risk car (see my post ^^). You don't want to any money to the dealer, not even a down-payment, until you have it thoroughly checked out by a mechanic who can tell you what the true wear-and-tear are on this car.

Second, your credit is average. 750-850 is excellent and gets the best loan rates. 650-750 is good and gets good but not best rates. 550-650 is average and gets very mediocre rates. Below 550 is bad and gets really bad rates (because those buyers are typically the biggest risk to not pay the actual loan when finances get tight or they have to choose between which debts they can actually pay). You are getting a horrible rate (anything over 5% is bad) as if you had a much lower credit score. You will be paying several thousand dollars more than most other buyers over the life of this loan. Additionally, do not let shyster loan sharks talk you into longer than a 60 month loan. That's one of the games, they lure you in with a 72 month loan for the same rate you should be paying for a 60 month loan. Essentially you are paying them an extra year of interest for free.

I agree that you need to stop taking financial advice from your father and husband. They are looking at the sticker price and not at the full picture. They are saving you $900 on the sticker price but letting you pay $5000-6000 extra over the life of the loan because they didn't pay attention to the fact that this loan is a 9.75% loan for 72 months. This is the type of loan that someone who went bankrupt and had bills sent to collections gets.

Where are you buying? Is this a dealership or just a used car lot? My guess is the latter. You need to look at someplace like Carmax. You may pay a little more on the sticker, but they will not cheat you on the financing like this.

I see that you've reconsidered this morning and that's a good thing.

[Anonymous]

OP here's what to buy if you want a Ford:

https://www.koonsfordfallschurch.com/new-inventory/index.htm?compositeType=new&year=&make=Ford&model=Focus&start=0&sort=&facetbrowse=true&quick=true&searchLinkText=SEARCH&showInvTotals=false&showRadius=false&showReset=false&showSubmit=true&facetbrowseGridUnit=BLANK&showSelections=true&dependencies=model%3Amake%2Ccity%3Aprovince%2Ccity%3Astate&suppressAllConditions=true&newListingAlias=%2Fnew-inventory%2Findex.htm&usedListingAlias=%2Fused-inventory%2Findex.htm&certifiedListingAlias=%2Fcertified-inventory%2Findex.htm

Not sure if that link will work, but plenty of _brand new_ Ford Focus'es for under $15k (look at the "wow price" online price). They have back-up camera and bluetooth like you wanted, and GPS also (but you can use your phone for that).

These are being discounted because Ford will get out of the car business to focus on SUVs and trucks, but their loss is your gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here's what to buy if you want a Ford:

https://www.koonsfordfallschurch.com/new-inventory/index.htm?compositeType=new&year=&make=Ford&model=Focus&start=0&sort=&facetbrowse=true&quick=true&searchLinkText=SEARCH&showInvTotals=false&showRadius=false&showReset=false&showSubmit=true&facetbrowseGridUnit=BLANK&showSelections=true&dependencies=model%3Amake%2Ccity%3Aprovince%2Ccity%3Astate&suppressAllConditions=true&newListingAlias=%2Fnew-inventory%2Findex.htm&usedListingAlias=%2Fused-inventory%2Findex.htm&certifiedListingAlias=%2Fcertified-inventory%2Findex.htm

Not sure if that link will work, but plenty of _brand new_ Ford Focus'es for under $15k (look at the "wow price" online price). They have back-up camera and bluetooth like you wanted, and GPS also (but you can use your phone for that).

These are being discounted because Ford will get out of the car business to focus on SUVs and trucks, but their loss is your gain.

I know people who LOVE their Ford Focus. My DH has an acura and is considering it b/c of the rave reviews of co-workers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mileage is way too high. We have fewer miles on our ‘03.

I have a 2011 with 140k. I spent 2 years driving it from Knoxville, TN to central MO. For the car OP is looking at to be at 68k in 2 years, I’d assume they did a whole lot of highway running and not be overly concerned. Take it to an independent mechanic to be sure brakes, axles, suspension are in good shape.

I disagree. People who drive their cars over 30K a year doing highway driving usually don't sell their cars after 2 years. Those people will keep their cars until they have 200K miles in 7 years. The people who sell 2 year old cars with over 30K miles are ones who drove for a living. These are people who drive car services, uber, delivery services. Many of these were leased cars. High mileage vehicles selling in 2 years is a red flag, one of many in this deal that OP should avoid.

Yep. I know a lot of salespeople who lease (or whose companies lease on their behalf) new cars for about 2 years, and then given them up--think things like pharma sales where you are on the road all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here's what to buy if you want a Ford:

https://www.koonsfordfallschurch.com/new-inventory/index.htm?compositeType=new&year=&make=Ford&model=Focus&start=0&sort=&facetbrowse=true&quick=true&searchLinkText=SEARCH&showInvTotals=false&showRadius=false&showReset=false&showSubmit=true&facetbrowseGridUnit=BLANK&showSelections=true&dependencies=model%3Amake%2Ccity%3Aprovince%2Ccity%3Astate&suppressAllConditions=true&newListingAlias=%2Fnew-inventory%2Findex.htm&usedListingAlias=%2Fused-inventory%2Findex.htm&certifiedListingAlias=%2Fcertified-inventory%2Findex.htm

Not sure if that link will work, but plenty of _brand new_ Ford Focus'es for under $15k (look at the "wow price" online price). They have back-up camera and bluetooth like you wanted, and GPS also (but you can use your phone for that).

These are being discounted because Ford will get out of the car business to focus on SUVs and trucks, but their loss is your gain.

I know people who LOVE their Ford Focus. My DH has an acura and is considering it b/c of the rave reviews of co-workers

Me too. Had it as a rental many times and it was a great car for the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went and drove a 2016 Ford Edge SE and loved it. Online price and price on the car is $14,987. I went through the whole pre approval with the salesman and finance manager and got approved. (Back story- my credit is not great so I wasn’t sure what I’d get approved for but I told them I could put $4k down and hoped that’d help). I was emailing back and forth all day with the finance manager and he finally told me I was approved but I’d need to put $4,380 down and my payment would be around $278/month. I asked him what I was paying for the car and he said the online price of $14,987. There is no way I’m paying full price and my husband said no way. I called my dad (I’m 28 and still ask him for car advice) and he said no way. He said they are screwing me big time and that I should say I’ll pay $14k or walk away. I called the finance manager back and he said he has no room to move on the price of the car and was adamant about it. My dad said the whole deal screws me and not to move forward so I told the manager that unless he can do better, I’m walking. This was an hour before they closed so I didn’t hear back from him. Does anyone have any advice on trying to get him to lower the price or get me a better deal? Or should I just walk ?

So the first thing. Do not fall in love with a car. Look at all cars in this class-cross over suvs. It seems you are in love with the price and now you love the car. Look at different models. You can buy a new 2018 MITSUBISHI outlander for 18k or a 2018 Ford Edge for 22k. If you do not have that much money, look at a cheaper car. Do not buy this car from that dealer. It’s a high mileage car priced below market- ie most likely there are some problems with it. It may have been in a wreck or flooded. These dealer do not just price cars low because...

Expand your search field(in terms of cars and dealers) and you will be able to buy a lower mileage car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mileage is way too high. We have fewer miles on our ‘03.

I have a 2011 with 140k. I spent 2 years driving it from Knoxville, TN to central MO. For the car OP is looking at to be at 68k in 2 years, I’d assume they did a whole lot of highway running and not be overly concerned. Take it to an independent mechanic to be sure brakes, axles, suspension are in good shape.

I disagree. People who drive their cars over 30K a year doing highway driving usually don't sell their cars after 2 years. Those people will keep their cars until they have 200K miles in 7 years. The people who sell 2 year old cars with over 30K miles are ones who drove for a living. These are people who drive car services, uber, delivery services. Many of these were leased cars. High mileage vehicles selling in 2 years is a red flag, one of many in this deal that OP should avoid.

Yep. I know a lot of salespeople who lease (or whose companies lease on their behalf) new cars for about 2 years, and then given them up--think things like pharma sales where you are on the road all the time.

Op here- I spoke to the salesman this morning and he said it was a lease. The miles still made me nervous though and the whole deal just doesn’t make sense. He called me back 20 mins ago to tell me his manager said that was their best offer so i told him I was going to move on. This was through a ford dealership (a PP asked).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you definitely need to bail. This deal has almost nothing in your favor. You are dealing with a high risk car (see my post ^^). You don't want to any money to the dealer, not even a down-payment, until you have it thoroughly checked out by a mechanic who can tell you what the true wear-and-tear are on this car.

Second, your credit is average. 750-850 is excellent and gets the best loan rates. 650-750 is good and gets good but not best rates. 550-650 is average and gets very mediocre rates. Below 550 is bad and gets really bad rates (because those buyers are typically the biggest risk to not pay the actual loan when finances get tight or they have to choose between which debts they can actually pay). You are getting a horrible rate (anything over 5% is bad) as if you had a much lower credit score. You will be paying several thousand dollars more than most other buyers over the life of this loan. Additionally, do not let shyster loan sharks talk you into longer than a 60 month loan. That's one of the games, they lure you in with a 72 month loan for the same rate you should be paying for a 60 month loan. Essentially you are paying them an extra year of interest for free.

I agree that you need to stop taking financial advice from your father and husband. They are looking at the sticker price and not at the full picture. They are saving you $900 on the sticker price but letting you pay $5000-6000 extra over the life of the loan because they didn't pay attention to the fact that this loan is a 9.75% loan for 72 months. This is the type of loan that someone who went bankrupt and had bills sent to collections gets.

Where are you buying? Is this a dealership or just a used car lot? My guess is the latter. You need to look at someplace like Carmax. You may pay a little more on the sticker, but they will not cheat you on the financing like this.

I see that you've reconsidered this morning and that's a good thing.

She should be able to buy a new car with a 4K down payment. She most likely would not have to put that much down on a new car and end up with similar monthly payments. Now she should not be think in terms of down payments and monthly payment, but the total cost of the car. As you pointed out, she would pay a lot more vs 14k for this car.