I’m shopping for a new truck. I want brand new,I’ve had my present truck for thirteen years So a new truck will last me a long time. I’m not stuck on one particuler brand, but I want One of the big Three. I would like a 3/4 ton but am not glued to that, I want an extended cab with an eight foot bed, I don’t want to go over $25,000. I checked out the local dealer web sites this morning and it’s doable. I went down this afternoon to check out a Ford 3/4 ton diesel that I found for twenty nine, it turned out it was a reguler cab. That was my fault I didn’t read it right when I looked at it on the net. Anyway the salesman seemed to think I could get it down to 25.000 after incentives and all that.
I was pretty cool as far as being a customer goes. I told him I had all the time in the world and could wait as long as need be. He was pretty good as far as salesmen go. He listened really well and was pretty matter of fact about what he could do. Of course this is the openening round of a long back and forth relationship. So he may change but so far I like his style. He’s going to check the district for a super cab eight foot bed Monday and let me know.
So my question is. Is that considered a fair opening markdown? And what should I do or say to get the optimum savings? And who has the best deals going on right now of the big three?
For those that don’t know I live in the Louisville ky. metro area.
Who Dares Wins.
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Replies
Look for comments from Jeff Buck. He used to sell.
I just got a couple of incentive offers from GM as an existing customer...
I know that the end of the month is usually the best time to deal seriously. Quotas and goals...
Excellence is its own reward!
I'm hoping to lure Jeff in here.Who Dares Wins.
Hey Piff.....end of the month to deal?
I think your mixing that up from when you were a constable on patrol.
Thats when you needed to give out the most tickets
Be....my brothers on the job (is that an inside joke or do we all understand that)?
Namaste
andy
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Gunner
Take it from a guy that was brought up to haggle and shop....lol
Heres what I've always done and it works.
Pay twenty bucks I think it is from "Consumer Reports". Let em' know the make, model and year of the ride you want. They'll send you the "dealers" invoice. Their price! Along with all the possible extras.
Next....go to all the dealers with this invoice and agree to pay maybe $300 over their cost. Say" take it or leave it".
I've done this with every vehicle I ever owned and its worked every single time unless theres a shortage of the truck you want and in that instance I've called out of state.
One other thing.....why a pickup? I never for the life of me understood why people like pickups other than the fact they look cool.
I always scored vans. Keeps everything dry and you can fit all you need in em' unless you need to pile hay up ten bales high.
And another great quality about vans is that I can go on the parkways as long as I don't have commercial plates which I don't. Tough!
Someone explain the pickup concept to me please.
Be picked up
Namaste
andy
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I like to lean over the side and get my stuff out, not crawl over top of everything to get it out. Who Dares Wins.
about vans is that I can go on the parkways as long as I don't have commercial plates Please explain.Do it right, or do it twice.
It means you can drive your vehicle on city park and state park roads. Commercially liscenced vehicles are not allowed.
But then, if you run a commercial vehicle for a business as a non-comm, you are are breaking the law.
John Svenson, Builder, Remodeler, NE Ohio (Formerly posted as JRS)
The Cid
I had a feeling I might have to explain....
Here in NY youre not allowed on the Parkways in a commercial vehicle. Only allowed on the streets or expressways which is a serious pain in the azz.
Parkways are less ugly thruways I think. Not sure of the differance.
Be a van.....totally....dont care whatcha say
NAmaste
a
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Yea I worked nights on the metro north railroad up there once. I made three or four trips down the parkway with my 3/4 ton utility bed truck before I got around to reading the signs.Who Dares Wins.
Watch the used car dealers too, for old stock. My truck came off an independent used car dealer lot -- friend, but not that close. I had looked at the truck six months before I bot it. Saw it was still there one day, stopped in, he said he planned to take it back to the auto auction and resell it in about two weeks, said he'd take about four grand less than he had wanted....drove it off that afternoon.
Cool part is, he took a personal check for the whole ticket, about twenty grand, without checking up on it....small town life IS great, sometimes.
Actually, edmonds.com gives you the exact same information as Consumer Reports for free!
Edited 5/4/2003 5:03:14 PM ET by CHEAKAMUS
Andy:
I switched to a van about a year ago and I have never looked back. I have kept the pick up, but not being a slave to the weather or the abililty to lock up tools is the best.
Cheers,
Jeff
The reason so few people are successful is that so far no one has figured a way to sit down and slide uphill.
Jeff
Personally...I think vans far out weigh the negatives some people here talk about. May not look as cool as a pick up but screw that. I never worry about a thing with my tools. The only disadvantage is having to crawl over everything but if I had time I could keep things arragned better or buy one of those shelves that slide out of the van ....expensive but I'm sure real worth it.
Extend a Van is it called?
Be extended...lol
Namaste
andy
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy,
They do make these things called truck caps for pick-ups. Still don't have the security of a van though. Guess it depends on what you need, for where you live and work. BTW, ever seen the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is given a van, back-up beeper and all? Sometimes their onto something.
Jon
I know that the end of the month is usually the best time to deal seriously. Quotas and goals...
Partially true:
Ex-roommates dad was a business manager at a big dealership in St Louis.
A lot of dealer ships have changed their "end of the month" or better said, changed their their quota period to combat this.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
I used this site - http://carbuyingtips.com/ . They have some good MS Excel downloads. When I bought my Dodge Dakota Quad, I brought my laptop. I had all the invoice numbers in the spreadsheet (from carbuyingtips.com) and my financing all lined up with eloans.com. It was a piece of cake. Gotta love the net.
Peace,
MartinHeads I win, tails you lose.
Any one have experience buying from Carmax?Do it right, or do it twice.
have you looked at the keely blue book (http://www.kbb.com) or edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com) sites. think those are the correct urls.
you can figure out the dealer invoice and transportation charges. they don't tell you if there is an advertising charge though. also gives rebate etc info from manufacturer.
I bought my Ford F150 extended cab long bed (the truck is thaty long too) from autofair ford in Manchester NH (yes you're in ky) I said I wanted to pay 200-300 over invoice. they came back and told me if they had one in stock they would give it to me for that, if they had to find it, then it would be $600 over invoice, and if I ordered, $100 over invoice. so I ordered.
one of those two sites also tells you what the kickback (don't remember the correct term) from the manufacurer to the dealer is, or if thesre is not one. this can be 2-3% of the MSRP. that;s why autofair could do what they said. they told me that. didn't have to haggle.
you'r getting close to the end of the manufacturing year.
bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet
"you'r getting close to the end of the manufacturing year."
Should I wait on the new ones, or use the old model stock to my advantage? Are the savings really that good?
Who Dares Wins.
Edited 5/3/2003 8:24:42 PM ET by Gunner
You hit the best savings in the head...
last years models....
Sounds like you are open to different options.....so you should easily find what ya want at the price ya want.
I won't bother talking about my opinions of what's the best brands and such...
The magic phrase is "days in stock".
A good size dealers will usually have a few unsold...never titled....trucks from the pervious model year. Those are the one's to aim for when getting the best deal is job number one.
Ask the guy to run the options U need thru the computer and go down the list looking for the one with the most days in stock. That means......that truck's been sitting on their lot the longest...driving the manager nuts every time he see's it.
You can usually get a better deal on last yrs model than U can on this yrs demo...and with way less miles.
Car we just bought the wife 2 weeks ago was a 2002 with 26 miles. Only car that they would squeeze into her payment demands.
It's been about 10 yrs since I sold new trucks..I sold GMC among other car brands....but dropping the sticker $2 to $3K was no big deal. If the truck had dealer added options...bed liner..alarms..etc..there was even more room to work with.
And...the higer the sticker....usually..the more we could discount. Similar percentage...but higher dollar amount.
And.....dealers price their stock knowing full well they're probably gonna have to take a hit on the trade in to keep people from being insulted. If U told people the true value of the car they used to love but is being shipped off to the auction and sold for $500..they'd get insulted and leave.
So....U leave $1000 in the price of the new vehicle and offer them $1500 for the trade....same money difference......same payments....had U just offered them $500 and reduced the new car by an additional $1000......but now they ain't made ta ya.
So.....keep in mind.....either realise a 13 yrs old trade isn't worth much to them....or sell it outright and come in with no trade. Having no trade may get ya that $1000 wiggle room discounted too.
Coming from $29K to $25K is realistic if ya pick the right truck to deal on.
Even with a trade..I recommend starting out by lying! Say ya don't have a trade....work out a deal based strictly on the new truck. Then...after that number's agreed on......ask what they'd give ya to take the trade off your hands.
Go in knowing the real value. Usually less than most of us would like to admit. Most older trades go to the auction and sold at rock bottom prices.....and even if they decide to keep you trade and re-sale it.....expect about $500-$800 less than what the book price is..as the dealer has to go over the trade to make sure it's safe to sell....and recondition it. Even the basic wash/interior stream/engine scrub cost them a coupla hundred bucks to run it thru the detail shop.
So find the one truck they'll deal on most.....fight that price first.....then get a fair trade value.....and sign yer life away!
It's still pretty much a buyers market...good time to finance new.
Also remember....the extended warrenty is usually negotiable too, price wise. Just passed on the one offered on the wife's car because the F and I lady wouldn't drop her price. I know for a fact she could have....she just didn't want to. So I passed...considering I have a good mechanic buddy and a good network of discounted parts. I usually think tham a good deal if the price doesn't drive up the payments too much. This time...it just didn't work.
I sold just as the net was growing.....very few people came in with the prices in hand. I'm sure the dealers have adjusted and just hid more costs somewhere along the lines.
BTW....the "end of the month" never affected me.....I wanted to sell a car on the first day as much as the last....and I hated the "closing time buyers".
Somewhere along the line someone came up with the idea that ya get the best deal 5 min before closing...if I was having a good month and some idgits came in at 8:55 to start haggling......I'd tell them I was gone for the day and if they were for real come back at a decent hour! I didn't need to fight with cheapskates till midnight and lose a deal over $5 and a set of floormats!
Have fun......pick a good one......
man.....I love buying cars!
Last one for us was too easy....I knew the salesguy and we got the best price with out any fighting....didn't even get to walk out on the manager...just told him our price and sat outside waiting for the answer.....
That was no fun at all. Too easy...very anti-climatic
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Thanks Jeff. I'm gonna print that out. I have a pretty simple technique when haggling. I tell em what I want and they tell me what they can do. If they're unreasonable a thank you and a handshake is the result. Louisville has a lot of competition for auto sales so they really try to accomodate you.Besides I travel the entire state just about every week and Southern Indiana so I've got plenty of places to deal. Sometimes it's good to be me.Who Dares Wins.
I got two dealers in the family. Piffin is right with end of the month. At the beginning, it's all hype and lets do it again and rah rah go team go. At the end, the bottom line is coming quick. There's a quota to meet, and if met, how much can we beat it by? Things that will save you, don't load on the options. They're higher profit items for the dealership and the manufacturer. If you want a work truck to get dirty, you're the unusual customer, so look for the XL vs the XLT or Lariats. Frankly, I don't mind rolling down my window by hand and vinyl floors clean easy. It will also save you a couple grand on the package deal. You don't get cruise, which most of the time doesn't bug me, but I've got no foot control on the hiway and I'm going to get nabbed if I don't go get it put in someday. Last years model, as you suspect, is also a small savings. The dealership will say "its still new" but the reality of their situation is they need to get it off the lot now. Not selling it gets you a 2 year old new truck to deal with later, and that'll never happen.
As far as being on the right track, I think you already said all the right stuff. Honesty goes both ways. Stereotypes aside, there's good guys in the business, along with the bad apples you always hear about. Know what you want, know what you'll pay, period, no dickering, end of story. But be informed on that. If all else fails, and you have the time, which it sounds like you do, go find a broker. You tell the guy "this is what I want" what year, what colors you'd take, what options you'd take, what engine, etc. Give him a little leeway. You offer a finders fee, say $500, or negotiate that ahead of time, and he goes hunting. Someday hes at auction and sees what you want, you just bought it for dealer cost + the five bills. I got my rig this way. It's a 2001 crew XL diesel with low miles and long box. Cost me $21K. Now thats a deal. Helps to have family, but I don't think he treated me any different. I charge him for working on his house.
"The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb " lyrics by Roger Waters
Gunner... Be careful with the the new deisel Fords... A company, right down the road from me, developed the "new and Improved" injection system. The techs that worked on the system say "don't buy, wait 2 or 3 more years. The system has a lot of problems and Ford demanded it go into production now. During several different visits to Ford's truck shop I witnessed some of the newly delivered trucks being TOWED off of the haulers and pushed into the repair shop.
Closer investigation, with most, the engines were pulled and reworked for some thing. Some were no starts. Some were major high pressure oil leaks. Turbo crap outs. On one the customer couldn't leave the lot with his. He was very verbal, told Ford to stuff their truck and had some body take him over to the Dodge dealer.
Every time some body from Ford saw me observing I got hearded off to the "customer area." 5 visits to the Ford truck shop in 2 weeks. Low bill 115$, high at 3,200$. Dual mass fly wheel lost a damper spring. Long list of stuff went with it because of it. Found out I have a disposeable tranny. Piolet shaft housing was bent out of round. Replaced tranny,,, no repair. Parts only, discounted, no labor.
FORD = JUNK.
IMERC
Gadang. That's bad. This diesel was the 7.3 litre. We have them in our work trucks and love them. THe salesman indicated that they were changing engines. I don't really think I 'll find a Diesel in the range I want anyway.Who Dares Wins.
Gunner....I remember the first time I went out to purchase a new vehicle (my first work truck)....after going over with the salesman exactly what I was looking for, he tried to pin me down to a vehicle he had on the lot. I told him it looked good and the price seemed right, but Id have to discuss it with my wife. He told me to hang on a minute...."lemme see what I can do"....when he returned, he`d knocked two grand off the price....I thanked him and told him I`d be back after discussing it with my wife..."hang on, lemme speak to the manager".....the price dropped fifteen hundge..."Great!", I says....I`ll get back to ya...."I gotta discuss yada, yada, yada...". When all was said and done, the price had come down five grand.
Give it a shot....ya never know!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
yea tha't kind of the tact I take. I have my mind made up that good deals come and go everyday. I don't really see myself buying anything on the first visit anyway. And that's what I liked about this guy, no pressure "here's my card I'll call you when I track down what you want." Pure profesional, as was I.Who Dares Wins.
Meant as food for thought only, plus go by the handle.
Well, bought a new vehicle 36 years ago when a relatively young dumb kid. First and last.
Enuh said except somebody has to buy them so I've something to buy in 15 years <G>
I'm getting old I want a.c. in the summer.Who Dares Wins.
I bought a new Ranger 3 years ago. I went in with a print out from one of the web places with a with the list price and the dealers invoice for what I wanted.
But the first thing I told the salesman that I had a few question about the different version of the truck and what some of the options where. Took a test drive and decided that I wanted the bigger engine.
When over a couple of option. Then refined my list about what I wanted and he check to see what he had that was the closes and found one on another lot.
Gave me fax of the spec sheet for that particular one. When home and redo the cost sheet.
Went back the next day and laid it out and the deal in about 5 minutes.
Just bought a new Chevy 3500 with dump body. Left-over 2002. 8 grand under the sticker price. How'd I do?
Bear
Damn good. There's a 3500 crew cab with no body on it that's been sitting out front of another dealer forever it's been marked down six or seven grand so far. I'm kind of thinking of haggling on the diesel I saw. It's the last of the good diesels from what someone said earlier and I wonder if it's been sitting there that long if I couldn't get them down six or seven grand. It is a regular sized cab but man that would be a heck of a price.Who Dares Wins.
Don't you dare leave us hanging. You be coming back here to brag soon.
Excellence is its own reward!
Ohh I will trust me.Who Dares Wins.
You may have just struck it rich....if its white. I have seen short beds and long beds for sale through out my area. They are new and have been taken off other trucks for stake beds and flat beds. They call them "take offs" They match the factory paint and the worse case, a shade off. You can find them for $800-$1600 and take about an hour to put on. Try the truck body shops and some of the wrecking yards that deal with trucks. My dodge had the whole side wiped out by a parking valet. The collum in the parking structure won. The body shop wanted $2500 to repair and paint, not replacement. The dealer wanted about $5000 for a new bed and paint to match. I paid $1350 (I think) This is in So. Calif.
Was at a wrecking yard looking for a seat belt mechanism and the guy had a Ford long bed with tail gate for $1250.
Keep looking, you can find them in other colors . Take to the right people and they will tell you where to go.
Might even be worth it for me to drive to where you are and buy it. What dealer was it at? ;-)
Some other prices just for reference ......... http://www.wizford.com//W05.htm
Holy crap I've got to move up there.Who Dares Wins.
They sell vehicles all over the country. Probrably not worth the aggravation but it might be worth it to see what they can do for you.
Lots of great comments here.
One thing I'd add:
If you want to do your own financing (the Big 3 usually have the best financing on the planet, but not always on all models), realize that the banks give the best loan rates for new vehicles, and often a one or two year old vehicle from a dealer will still qualify for "new" with your bank (check first). This can save you money over buying a "used" 2 year old model from the paper and financing it as a used vehicle, over the course of the loan payments.
So, for the BEST deal:
look for last year's model that is still on the lot, ideally one that was a demo so its got as many miles as possible. See if you can get it with full warranty (they usually take off the months/miles that the dealer put on it, but sometimes you get lucky).
What you are doing is buying the oldest "new" car you can find.
From here, then do the negotiating that others explain above.
I agree, sell your car old yourself, rather than trade in. Spend $150 on a halfway decent detailing of it and use the local paper and use that cash to help with your downpayment on the new ride.
Norm
an alternative to selling your old vehicle or trading it (particularly the latter) is donating it. taking the value as a tax deduction.bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet
Last time I bought new I did the Consumer Reports thing, then:
I called all the dealers for the brand I wanted, ALL the dealers in the state. When I got the salesperson on the phone I said: I'm going to buy a new +++++ truck. When the salesperson had finished gulping with glee, I told them, "This is how this is going to work: I'm calling every dealer in the state, I know exactly what options and color I want and I'll fax them to you now. You will fax back a price within 24 hours. I will buy from the dealer with the best price."
Half the dealers never called back. One tried to bait-and-switch me. I gave him a verbal roasting and hung up. The one I bought came from a relatively rural dealer. Best price, had a several extra options I wouldn't have paid for, but which were nice to have. When I drove out to get the truck it was ready, clean, filled with gas, and I drove away in less than 90 minutes - my only time at a dealership. Only thing I gave up was that I wanted dark green and settled for white.
Good luck!
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
I've bought 3 new vehicles in the past 4 years and got a great deal on every one. Last one purchased was a 2002 Cavalier Z/24 . Sticker $16.900, paid $9,700 Don't have time right now to give a lot of negotiating tips (will have time tomorrow if interested).
But the BIGGIE, Negotiating [for a car] has to be viewed as a game. Don't go in trying to get the best deal. Play with the sales people, wear THEM down. Don't walk away, make them pay YOU (in terms of cutting a good deal) to walk away. Other two purchases: '98 C6P 454 3/4 ton Pick-up, Sticker ~$27,000 paid $19,200, and 2000 Grand Am GTP, sticker $$26,100 , paid $19,300. Obviously, the last two were before all the rebates.
Jon
That must be quit a style you have. I definatly want to here it. If you post it and I don't respond back for a few days it's because I have to go out of town in the morning. I'm not sure how long, two to six days is what I was told.Who Dares Wins.