If you’re attempting to get generic quotes or “when can you come in” replies with this email, this would be fine. If you’re looking to get the best deal at the outset, this really isn’t going to do much IMO. Mention a specific VIN and a target SALES price BEFORE incentives. Know your #s before sending anything to a dealership.
We aren’t picky about color combination, and we are going to go with the dealership that gives us the best price. Looking at your inventory online, it appears that you have a few cars which I might be interested in:
Don’t tell them you will shop them. Just ask for a quote on the vin you want them counter back with the numbers you want. If you tell them you will shop them they will just say come back to us and we will beat your numbers.
Interesting take on the language I used - I would consider “shopping” to be “I’m going to take your offer, and give it to the next dealer”, not “I’m soliciting bids from multiple dealers, so give me your best price.”
IMHO, if a dealer thinks he is the only place you are looking, he assumes you won’t go elsewhere. I’m not advocating shopping offers, but I think it would important to let the dealer they are not the only game in town.
You can always add a sentence or two to make that clear.
I would remove the target date for completion. Dealers want to know they can close you TODAY. Not at the end of next month. Add something like “we are prepared to close a deal immediately if the numbers make sense.”
@Dave_R - are you near one of the Chevy dealers that post on this site? If so, I would email them directly. Some thoughts:
is there time to factory order an Equinox by 10/28? That would make things easier. If not, I suspect a Chevy dealer could trade for the one you want. Do you have a specific color combination you want for each of the two?
the incentives for October probably aren’t known yet.
Personally, I hate getting emails like that. What you usually get is someone who will run your aggressive quote off the others, making you a stepping stone. Sometimes they even go around again after getting improved numbers. I feel like telling these customers after they’ve made their deal elsewhere (usually a dealer closer to their home) “I’m glad I was able to help you make your deal elsewhere.” A lot of dealers will ignore mass emails like that. And a lot of dealers who participate with those shopping events will lowball somebody just to mess them up.
I would suggest you do your research instead of trying to create a feeding frenzy. You probably have to wait until October to know what pricing to ask for. If you’re not picky about the configuration of the cars, you should be able to negotiate with a few dealers. If the configuration is scare, you will need to negotiate without specifying color combination, as the guy that has the car probably won’t trade it to the guy that has the best lease.
I don’t do the email any more. I get the name of a specific person and call or text them. If they know you know the numbers it’s a lot easier.
Before all that I try to figure out the max realistic discount I can get, RV, and base MF. I then find the exact car online at a dealer and try to hack that car by speaking to a real person.
You have to be serious and ready to close. Dont waste their time. In the past I have shot a unrealistic low ball offer at a dealer and they accepted my first offer only if I could close that day which I did.
Should the “incentives” piece be broken down into dealer vs customer incentives? I read a lot of times dealers roll dealer cash into the dealer discount. If the customer is asking for that as well, he/she should mention.
A genuine email is always the best. The canned emails with things like bid,over under invoice, guarantee 100% survey normally go to the bottom of priority list. But a genuine email of just trying to get a great deal and what do you have…work the best on me.
Also don’t send the same email to 15 different dealers at one time…(happened this week and the replies were hilarious)
