I think an honest dealer should sell every car at invoice less holdback, but that’s just me.
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Everyone involved in the deal gets paid through the deal. Whether it charged to customer directly or collected through the dealer.
If a dealer is offering 300 odd per car to broker it’s because the car selling price is raised by that amount.
If you really go deep and get that bottom dollar from the dealer he won’t pay you that referral.
Again as explained earlier you can’t survive if your numbers are higher than other brokers, let alone dealers.
I get request many times by customers asking to beat a quote from another broker. Sometimes I can push my dealer to do it and other times like in post COVID era they don’t want to fight for the sale and let it go as inventory is limited.
There is nothing wrong in shopping between dealers/brokers, in fact I suggest my customers to call few dealerships and ask them to beat my quotes just so they realize that after paying broker fees it’s still better than getting the deal directly at the dealership.
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Hey guys, im new to this site and so far it has been a fantastic resource. So i just wanna say thanks to the community here and thanks for the search function. I tried searching for kind of a beginners guide on proper etiquette and learned a few things but didnt get everything i wanted. Im in a weird situation as i dont really know what car i want but have an idea of what kind of car im looking for (SUV, AWD, leather, pano roof, tech) . This in turn has me browsing lease deals i see here and doing the research on each car i feel fits my budget to some extent.
What’s the proper etiquette in getting more information? Should i really stick with only one broker here? Is it rude to shop around and send out messages to a few? I am also using a broker in person that a friend suggested that is local to myself (NYC). I have just started this process so im kind of still getting my bearings and dont really want to pit people against each other.
Should i stick with PM here or go directly to phone/email? Whats your experience on this site with communications?
Im trying to do all this while working from home all day, so while im at the computer all day taking calls is tougher. (Case in point it has taken me 20 min to type this out, as i keep going back and forth between this and work)
I merged your thread into this one since it’s basically the same questions.
You can get as many quotes and message as many people as you want but ultimately you’re wasting everyone’s time (including your own) until you figure out what you want. IMO. The marketplace and shared deals are great resources for understanding price points and broker deals are not negotiable. Sounds like you’re spending just as much time on brokers as you could getting a deal on your own, which kind of defeats the purpose 
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What’s your budget? (Monthly and Due At Signing). I would recommend narrowing down your list of cars to 3, and then test driving them.
First you need a much better handle on what you want. Read and watch reviews, narrow down the entire universe of vehicles that fit the above criteria to a number that is feasible to test drive. Then test drive them.
PS: Broad, sweeping generalizations like “tech” are useless as criteria. What kind of tech do you want? Who has the good tech in that category? Just to cite one example, a review I watched said they turned off the frontal collision warning system because it was too intrusive (false alarms). So there is no such thing as a box to check which says “tech.” Dive deeper.
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thank you! weird, i def searched for this but it didnt show up as a result.
right on, thanks for that suggestion. I guess when i mention tech i mean more of things like parking sensors/apple car play/nicer screen but the more i look at models it seems as though its standard on most models as long as i have leather seats as an option/trim. The extras like collision are not really a necessity for myself so i guess that helps in budget.
As for budget, im located in NYC and hoping to stay under 400 a month and willing to pay fees/taxes up front. And in continuing with what i see everywhere, avoid putting a down payment. My first list before this i put down a bit of money and now realize it probably wasnt worth it and i didnt really negotiatie much…i didnt know anywhere near as much as i do now. This site really filled lots of holes, which i am grateful for.
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i have an idea of where the price will be for the car (MSRP) and its looking like in most cases for the makes/models i am seeing its in the lower half of 30k. so i guess its about what deals i can find for a lease in that range and what my expectations should be. I have looked at Tucson/Tiguan so far so that is the idea of how large the vehicle i am looking at will be.
You don’t want a broker or people on the internet to tell you what vehicle you are going to drive for the next 2-3 years. Do research on SUV’s, spend half a day test driving at one of those giant automalls that has all the different brands, and pick one or two to target. MSRP is not directly correlated to monthly payment which is why we suggested to look in the marketplace and shared deals to get an idea what is possible to get within your budget. For example a $50k Volvo could cost less to lease than a $25k Kia.
It is practically impossible for us to tell you what a “good” monthly payment is for your specific lease as lease programs are highly dependent on region, personal qualifications, tax rates, etc.
We always recommend the following method before you ever contact a dealership. If you do all of the work up front, you’ll have a stress free dealer experience and set yourself for success.
- Read Leasing 101 to understand how to calculate a lease payment and the variables. Monthly payment is an output, not an input!!
- Pick a specific vehicle that you want to target
- Gather the current MF, RV and incentives from Edmunds forums for your zip code
- Research the LH marketplace and other deals that have been made recently on your vehicle - what was their pre-incentive discount? How did their lease terms differ?
- Plug your numbers into the LH calculator, and use a pre-incentive discount similar to what you have seen
- Create a target deal, this is what you’re trying to negotiate to. You can try different terms, selling price discount, etc. and see how your monthly payment is affected. It is also possible that different trims of your vehicle may have different MF and RV (i.e. this is very common with GM), so make sure that you look into that. Come up with a set of inputs that give you the output that you want - your desired monthly payment.
With a target price determined, you now have a deal to pursue and compare dealer offers against. More importantly, you have a solid foundation to work from.
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Msrp and lease price are only loosely correlated.
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thanks man, you gave me a lot to think about and look in to. i have done research on cars that i am interested in and also been watching lots of youtube reviews (Im high risk for covid, so i am trying to do lots of leg work while working or at my computer when it comes to research on cars for their what their interior/exterior/drive are like)
the idea that the msrp and lease dont correlate linearly is something i have really come to realize. its kind of wild which makes it confusing at times! lol
If your primary concerns are a pano roof, apple carplay and the lease cost - you may find yourself very misled by what car reviewers prefer 
But it’s a great way to gain knowledge and feel more comfortable with vehicles before test driving.
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Hey guys I’m fairly new to the site so hello to everyone!
I just discussed something similar with a friend, having been on the selling and buying side.
Shopping to make sure you are getting a deal I think is acceptable but there is also the point when you you shop yourself out of a deal and all parties end up upset with wasted time.
Example, my neighbor was looking for an e-tron last year and knew I was friends with a local GM. On top of having me call in a favor he ended up calling all the dealers in town and also had two brokers work on his deal for one of the only two black cars in town. Needless to say he ended up buying a white one as the two black units in town went to over MSRP due to the “high demand”.
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When I’m personally deal hunting, I only work one deal at a time with a dealership. If they can’t do it, I move on quickly to the next, but I don’t email blast 10 dealers at the same time.
This might be different with brokers I suppose vs normal lease hacking where you have a price you want and have determined is possible in mind and are trying to get it.
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Yup. Mainly because when I contact a dealer, I say “if you can do this price, I will be there in an hour to sign” and if I emailed that out to every dealer around, I’d end up either buying a lot of cars or agreeing to buy something and flaking, which just wasted everyone’s time.
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Exactly this.
If you try hard enough someone is bound to say yes or get close enough, and I always include that if they can do the deal, I’ll come leave a deposit immediately or come in that day (depending on how far).
I don’t want to be the guy who flakes on someone who agreed to what I proposed.
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This but also my efforts are to get a deal on paper and make a local dealer match or beat it. I don’t consider it bad to cast a wide net and have a few dealers chasing. One at a time extends the search a bit to long I think.
What I don’t like about that strategy is you take your highest value to the dealer and throw it out the window. You cease to be the easiest, quickest, smoothest transaction for them to add volume numbers. Now, you’re asking them to go back and forth, burn calories on you, etc, and you’ve broadcasted to them that rather than being an immediate sale, the first thing you’re going to do is shop their offer.
Now, you do get the benefit of forcing them to compete, which certainly works in your favor, but it takes a lot more time. It’s something I would expect to work out more consistently, but not as aggressively and certainly not as quickly.
That’s what I call a circular firing squad.
Folks, when hiring a broker. Please don’t feel the need to go putting your name out there all around town — Chances are that may close a door for us when trying to get your deal bought as a dealer that already has your info and thus less inclination to agree to a worse deal for them.
Also: @brokers talk, putting your name out there with half a dozen brokers isn’t a good look and may get you ghosted.
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