Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else find it an amusing contradiction that all this discussion of abject nickel rocketry in the car buying process is being utilized to buy luxury cars that make absolutely zero financial sense to buy in the first place?

At least for me, I posted my new car buying tips generally, not necessarily with respect to the specific car OP is buying.

Same here, I posted a few times on this thread, but I stay with sub $25k cars, typically in base configuration. I find it amusing that for (first) $20k (base model), you get this fantastic piece of a heavy metal cage, engine with four wheels, seats and a steering wheel, and then there are people willing to pay an extra $10k (50% of base price) for tiny gadgetry like GPS, seat warmers and other "convenience" items etc etc......

I didn't mean to come off bitchy. It just seemed funny all these machinations people were going through to save a couple bucks on Audis and Jeeps when the most financially optimal solution would be to look at a Honda or Toyota that will not only be cheaper, but also a lot higher quality car that will outlast any Audi or Jeep (hard not to lol at this one... Jeep = biggest POS on 4 wheels).

Nope, did not think you were bitchy at all, I think we're on the same page on this matter

Anonymous wrote:All good advices here about getting quotes online. OP, if you are willing, consider buying from dealerships outside this area as well. I shopped around and bought my car with better price and customer service (free home delivery) from Wilmington, NC!

This may be fine if you have a no issues car but if you have problems you can benefit by having a local selling dealer go to bat for you on warranty issues. I've had thousands of $ of repairs covered that could have been denied but were given "goodwill" coverage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else find it an amusing contradiction that all this discussion of abject nickel rocketry in the car buying process is being utilized to buy luxury cars that make absolutely zero financial sense to buy in the first place?

At least for me, I posted my new car buying tips generally, not necessarily with respect to the specific car OP is buying.

Same here, I posted a few times on this thread, but I stay with sub $25k cars, typically in base configuration. I find it amusing that for (first) $20k (base model), you get this fantastic piece of a heavy metal cage, engine with four wheels, seats and a steering wheel, and then there are people willing to pay an extra $10k (50% of base price) for tiny gadgetry like GPS, seat warmers and other "convenience" items etc etc......

I didn't mean to come off bitchy. It just seemed funny all these machinations people were going through to save a couple bucks on Audis and Jeeps when the most financially optimal solution would be to look at a Honda or Toyota that will not only be cheaper, but also a lot higher quality car that will outlast any Audi or Jeep (hard not to lol at this one... Jeep = biggest POS on 4 wheels).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else find it an amusing contradiction that all this discussion of abject nickel rocketry in the car buying process is being utilized to buy luxury cars that make absolutely zero financial sense to buy in the first place?

At least for me, I posted my new car buying tips generally, not necessarily with respect to the specific car OP is buying.

Same here, I posted a few times on this thread, but I stay with sub $25k cars, typically in base configuration. I find it amusing that for (first) $20k (base model), you get this fantastic piece of a heavy metal cage, engine with four wheels, seats and a steering wheel, and then there are people willing to pay an extra $10k (50% of base price) for tiny gadgetry like GPS, seat warmers and other "convenience" items etc etc......

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend personally visit three dealerships in order to underline that he was serious about purchasing a particular model of car (which all three had on the lot). Thereafter, he invited all three to participate on a conference call for a "fight off" until one dealer (with best price) remained. Friend went to pick the car a few hours later. Takes away the hassle of running from one dealer to another etc.

This is for people with too much time on their hands.

On the contrary, it will save you some time as you don't have to physically go back and fort between dealers, as all three dealers are on the phone at the same time. You could try this via email, but not all dealers play the internet game, but one you've visited a few dealers, they are more likely to work with you over the phone.

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else find it an amusing contradiction that all this discussion of abject nickel rocketry in the car buying process is being utilized to buy luxury cars that make absolutely zero financial sense to buy in the first place?

At least for me, I posted my new car buying tips generally, not necessarily with respect to the specific car OP is buying.

Anybody else find it an amusing contradiction that all this discussion of abject nickel rocketry in the car buying process is being utilized to buy luxury cars that make absolutely zero financial sense to buy in the first place?

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend personally visit three dealerships in order to underline that he was serious about purchasing a particular model of car (which all three had on the lot). Thereafter, he invited all three to participate on a conference call for a "fight off" until one dealer (with best price) remained. Friend went to pick the car a few hours later. Takes away the hassle of running from one dealer to another etc.

This is for people with too much time on their hands.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you go to edmunds.com, they have a tool (independent of their Price Promise program) that will give you a ballpark of what people in your area are paying for the car you want with your selected options. It's a pretty good starting point for figuring out what a fair price is during negotiations.

I'm not sure I agree with that. The fair price is one that allows the dealer to make a 3-5% profit which generally ends up being a few percentage points below the invoice price taking into account holdback and manufacturer to dealer incentives. People pay significantly different amounts on cars and some people really overpay while a small handful will buy the car at the dealer's break-even point the average amount paid is going to skew high.

YUP, dealers should make zero profit on cars to get it 3-5% below fair price. The lowest a dealer will go is no profit but if they move the car they get paid an incentive or rewarded lower cost vehicles by the manufacturer.

I recently bought an Audi. Based on research on Edmonds & the Audi forums, the consensus was that the average discount from Audi dealers was 6% below MSPR. I tried to get the DC dealers to give me quotes online, but no one wanted to play (most didn't respond, except to tell me to come in). Also found that no dealer participated in TrueCar/USAA. I ultimately bought from a dealership outside the DMV that had "internet" prices on its website below MSPR. (My particular car was around 6% below - I didn't calculate the others.) Definitely worth search the inventories of the NYC/DE/PA dealers to see what the on-line prices are.

Anonymous wrote:If you go to edmunds.com, they have a tool (independent of their Price Promise program) that will give you a ballpark of what people in your area are paying for the car you want with your selected options. It's a pretty good starting point for figuring out what a fair price is during negotiations.

I'm not sure I agree with that. The fair price is one that allows the dealer to make a 3-5% profit which generally ends up being a few percentage points below the invoice price taking into account holdback and manufacturer to dealer incentives. People pay significantly different amounts on cars and some people really overpay while a small handful will buy the car at the dealer's break-even point the average amount paid is going to skew high.

If you go to edmunds.com, they have a tool (independent of their Price Promise program) that will give you a ballpark of what people in your area are paying for the car you want with your selected options. It's a pretty good starting point for figuring out what a fair price is during negotiations.

If you have USAA their car buying service is great. Just got DD a new Jeep at a great price even though we ordered it exactly the way she wanted without buying from inventory on lot. No hassle at all no negotiations no financing

Agree lots of good advice about getting quotes online. The only thing I would add is to make sure you specify exactly what you want including all options/features such as, for example, color and automatic transmission. I don't think it was mentioned here but of course the best time to buy is the end of the month.

All good advices here about getting quotes online. OP, if you are willing, consider buying from dealerships outside this area as well. I shopped around and bought my car with better price and customer service (free home delivery) from Wilmington, NC!