Car I’m interested in has been sitting on the lot for 183 days now. Wondering whether this is indicative that the dealer is willing to play ball, as I was interested in going back to aggressively negotiate. Looks like the consensus for this question has been that “it depends” but generally, I take it that dealers dont want to keep paying interest on these things everyday that they sit on their lots.
Any help is appreciated, thanks all.
There are lots that have new cars from 2016 and 2017 still on them. I imagine dealerships get desperate once the new MY starts rolling in, and even more once factory support stops on any given MY.
How can that be? Aren’t they paying interest on these cars? I was notified that the certain car I was interested in cost around 22$ a day for a dealer to keep on the lot. 183 x 22 = 4026$. Maybe its not that simple. Not too sure…
I don’t know where, why, or how they come up with those dumb calculations. But that’s like calculating how much square footage your car is taking up in the garage, and then assessing that as a percentage cost against your mortgage.
If you walk into any dealership, the one phrase they live by is “there’s a butt for every seat”. Some cars take a while to sell, but eventually 99% of them do get sold. Not sure what happens to the rest of the inventory, to be honest. I think they eventually mark it down enough that it gets sold, or they auction it off to someone else who thinks they can move it.
Really, my interest in this question lies as a result of wondering how aggressive I can be with my negotiating. I wanted some sort of marker to gauge whether a dealer is willing to take a loss on a vehicle. Regarding the analogy, I would hope that’s not what those numbers are a result of. I thought it was money that they pay to the manufacturers (GM, Ford, etc) for having them sit on their lots versus calculating actual physical cost of the car within the dealer.
They’re closed now, but the only hard example I can give you is our Ford/Lincoln/Toyota dealer really didn’t like anything sitting on lot for more than 60-75 days. Once, Toyota gave him a blue hybrid prius thing a few years back and it sat on the lot for 1.5 years. He offered me something like 35-38% off to take it, but I didn’t want it either. The thing was ugly and slow.
I think it went to auction after.
There’s allot factors that come into play, I’d say ownership plays a big part. My most recent observation is that corporate stores are much better at getting a rid of aged inventory, they seem to be willing to take a loss to moved aged units. Family/independents seem less likely to take a hit. Brand is another factor, I was pricing out some CRV’s and Honda dealers didn’t seem concerned about moving 2018’s(last month), they were still quoting me prices that weren’t losers. You might get a better deal on an inbound unit or one that just hit the lot from a dealer that has their act together and doesn’t have any aged units.
Really depends. Doesn’t start costing the dealer money till after 60 days. Our store has an aging list that pays salesman more if they sell cars over 90 days. Adds $25-100 more for selling aged units. At the same time we still have old inventory. (506 day old 2018 tundra). Sometimes it’s hard to get rid of a color or incentives are better on 2019.
Be as aggressive as you want to be.
All this speculation does no good.
list year I was at a ford dealer with a 2014 Taurus on the showroom floor…
Offer as low as you want, honestly, the worst they can say is no, or they might counter with a very good offer.
It always depends and on everything.
Got two Honda’s in 2013 (MY 2012) brand new for >25% off. Two different dealership. Both NY state, Westchester county.
Than last year got brand new Buick Encore for 50% off for - 2 year old - 2016 model purchased in 2018.
So it all depends.
I also had thinking that it costs dealership money and they must be wanting t get rid of it. But then I eased off that as they have their own thinking and logic and my logic doesn’t nessesary apply.
Just need to find one willing to play ball. As one Honda took me 5 months of keeping eye on it and calling every month to find out if they were ready to sell for my price. The other Honda got done in 2 hours on site. First one was Jan-May 2013 and second was in Sep 2013.
I just bought a birthday cake for a 2017 Accord Coupe EX-L V6. She turns 2 today and is simply adorable. We have passed on about 5 million low-ball offers on it. I love her and want to make sure she goes to a good home. ’
A real answer is that it will depend on the manufacturer and more importantly the owner. The General Manager will say it is a priority to move those vehicles only if the owner does. My owner is comfy with 2018s being here until 2020.
I love that you kept calling them, 5 months ha! Did you ask them how much floor plan that it cost them to wait 5 months? Lol
Another 6 months and you can potty train her!
Honestly no:)
It was one specific car Crosstour EXL V6 w Nav. I had 2008 Accord fully loaded and wife was driving so I wanted some w 4awd. That one was perfect as wife would not need to learn new car - everything inside was the same. MSRP was 39 but wife said she didn’t want it for more than 27k.
Of course they refused first offer and even in person conversation. But I kept an eye on it and checking for being in stock every months. Kept checking w sales person if they are ready to accept my offer:) one day they called and said they are if I’m ready to pick up next day. Fun time as I need to figure how to get rid of Accord fast as trade in wast going to happen:)
Depends on what car it is too, expensive cars tend to sit longer, say a honda accord vs a S class, and then speciality cars tend to sit even longer say a charger hellcat vs a charger r/t, or sometimes not, there’s a lot of factors like geographical location awd/4x4 is a big deal in the north but in states like california or florida its not such a big deal, demographics of said city, what sells quick in one town may take forever to sell in another town. I think it’s really based on the situation.
How did you get rid of the old accord?
Back in 2013 Autotrader had Sell-Now option and they offered a really good price equal to the outstanding loan amount - Accord was a train wreck of a financial decision - leased (not knowing much about leases) then bought out because over drove on miles. So Autotrader offered sum equal to loan outstanding and noted where to bring the card.
It was a local Nissan dealership. Came with paperwork from Autotrader, they walked around the car, started it and agreed to take it. Without even test drive.
Nowadays it’s easier - there many more options like Carvana and alike.
This question fascinates me since I have some background in consulting and many good friends with business backgrounds I have worked with. In business school/consulting world, sitting on inventory for six months or a year is a absolute no no. No consumer business really does it. Niemans doesn’t sit on a 5k coat for the summer if it doesn’t sell. They mark it down until it moves.
The only explanation for the auto business not following generally accepted business practices is the protection policies that exist on Auto sales. If their was real competition (say you could buy a new car online from Amazon or direct from the manufacturer) auto dealers could never do what they do. You can’t compete with online sellers using old school inventory management. But as long as interest rates remain low and competition is limited to franchised dealers, dealerships can continue to operate as they always have.