Dealers won't go down to a certain price, but later are willing to match at that lower price

I’m working on a deal with a dealer that’s pretty close to my house- I got him down to X%. Not too hard. I asked for Y%- was told “NO WAY.”

OK, so I contacted the dealer further away and got the Y%, I do all the paperwork, agree on the deal.

Then, I get a text from dealer # 1 if I’m still interested. I respond, I’m about to lease at another dealership at Y% off.

I get a text back- he’ll match the offer. I say sorry, already committed to other dealer, further away. It’ll be a bigger pain for me, but I already accepted.

WTF- why not just agree to the Y% right off the bat? This happens over the course of 2-3 days- not even weeks, and not even at the end of the month- where they might be trying to hit numbers.
Am I just dealing with a bad dealership?

It’s the game, if you don’t like it go to a one price store, although I think they play the game too. What you should do is keep going back and forth between multiple dealers until you grind ever last cent out of them.

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I usually tell them I am not looking for them to match it but to beat it. I always give the dealer that gave the best offer at the beginning the chance to match the final offer.

It’s all controlled by the Sales Manager. He won’t approve one day, then he will the next.

It’s rough. :neutral_face:

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Best way I’ve found is to use Edmunds and LH to see who gives the most dealer discount, then research all the incentives and make sure you understand what stacks. Last couple of days of the month - I call or email the dealer who I test drove with and say I have XXX dealer discount + YYY incentives. I want to give you my business - can you beat it on Stock # ZZZ. Attach screenshots and proof as best you can. All but one time it’s worked. Don’t make up numbers.

I went through almost the exact same experience here:

There’s definitely something to be said for a dealership that doesn’t play games, and is straight with you from the beginning.

Don’t do business with the first dealership.

If more people gave their business to the dealers with the best upfront pricing (instead of to the guy who matches or nominally beats it later on), that’s the direction the industry would go…

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thats the best strategy.

Had a dealer do that last time I bought a car. Told him he was welcome to try, but the car I was buying was the only one available for sale equipped the way I wanted in the entire state.