If a customer has had a bad experience with another store/broker, insists on only dealing with a sales manager, says that pricing is the only factor, wants special treatment (come in before/after hours), says they “know the owner”.
Most of those ring true to me, but curious about ‘pricing being the only factor’. I probably wouldn’t go in and state it so bluntly, but is there really no appetite at dealerships for people who just want to buy a car outright?
Again, I want to buy off someone I like, but if I know what vehicle I want, I don’t have a trade, I don’t need financing and I definitely don’t need nitrogen in my tires, is there any harm in respecting everyone’s time and cutting to the chase?
Side question: do dealerships even want ‘cash’ buyers anymore? This is where direct-to-consumer seems to make sense because the dealership model seems to have skewed everything in favor of the backend (past 3 years excluded!)
That is awful. They should be able to tell that from the vin.
I worked a deal involving a trade in from CT. Worked the entire deal with “dad” and the car/trade was for the “son”. On the day of pickup the son gets a RIDE FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND to our store from CT. I offer to honor the original selling price and do the deal without the trade but his payment would increase. The son leaves. About 5 minutes later I get an angry phone call with the dad spewing curses at me. After about 2 minutes of being a Pinata, I tell dad that his baby boy didnt bring the trade in.
“sir, your son didn’t bring the trade in”
“What do you mean he didn’t bring the trade in”
“I mean at no point was the subaru at our store”
“There is no way he didnt bring the subaru” rips open curtains
“I will call you right back”
Well, they know I won’t get a survey if I don’t buy a car lol. The dealers out here just want people in the showroom to discuss… it’s really tough to get anyone to agree to anything via text or email. The dealers know they can “offer” a lot on the trade knowing that’d get folks in the door. They never intend to honor the trade in value.
The word “offer” is trash out here. You may be aware of this thing called “Kelley Blue Book Instant Offers”. This tool actually “offered” more on my Model 3 than what Carvana was offering. I had a text-agreement with the local dealer associated with this KBB Offer thing for a BMW i4 lease, using the Model 3 trade in equity to do a one-pay.
I get to the showroom, and they said “the word offer is just advertising speak, there is no actual offer for that trade in value.” They told me the word offer isn’t actually a “legal offer,” read the fine print. So again, wasted time showing up to learn it’s all a sham.
Back then, I had more lucky just going into a showroom and haggling since it was wasted effort to haggle online/email.
“Hi I know you offered 589/mo but I found a dealer in BUFFALO who is willing to do 587, can you beat his deal? If not I will take his deal” BTW buffalo is 7 hours away.
We found out that over 96% of our bad surveys were from the bottom quartile of profitable deals.
I love cash deals, in and out of my office in 15 minutes or less.
As folks mentioned above, do alot more reading on this website. Figure out the calculator, programs, discounts, etc before reaching out to dealers with your offers. It’s for your own benefit. You aren’t going to get a unicorn or even a “great” deal by not knowing your numbers.
Did you see the post in the EQS Superthread where someone got in the top 5 percentile of deals, but still rejected it trying for GOAT status as top 1%? How is one supposed to learn when to stop hunting for more discount?
Hey thevolvoguy, I wanted to let you know that I’ve been incredibly impressed with your service, and I’m more than willing to provide glowing CSI reviews. In fact, I’m so impressed that I’m offering to do it if you give me a 70% discount on a new Volvo because I understand how crucial positive feedback is for your business. Let me know if we can work out a deal that benefits both of us!
A used 440ix M Lite with less miles will sell for about $62k (around 20% off MSRP). You’re telling me the dealers straight up won’t come close to getting you in a BMW 2023 close out right now if you offer at 20% off on a loaner?
Everyone keeps telling me how “easy” it is to get an email/text offer approved out in your neck of the woods haha.
But I have gotten a lot help thus far, and I do appreciate it. My advice is, if some of my questions irritate a particular person, just take a deep breath. You’re not required to respond. No one’s holding a piston to your head gasket.
what’s the subject line: EQS DEMO MAXIMUM PAIN DESIRED
I get this: you eventually find a dealer who responds or someone in the tank who needs to move a unit for the comp formula to fire back an initial offer, and then you can drop the hammer and see how it plays out.
If we go back and forth but don’t get to the target range, I usually thank them, ask for their Venmo, and send $10 bucks for a beer on me, $15 for HCOL dealers, and let them know when they need a to move that unit to text me. Makes me feel okay about unicorn hunting.
