How to find a Texas Broker

I’m looking for a broker to help me find a Volvo XC90 in Texas. My luck has been the crappiest lately as all these dealers are expecting me to pay ridiculous down payments for ridiculous monthly payments?

For example here is a copy/paste from a nearby dealership for a XC90 T6 MOM MSRP $54k:
“If you put taxes & fees down ($4575) you will be at $672/month. I’m selling the car at dealer cost minus incentives. The MF is .00225 and residual is 59%.”_

AND this is after negotiations. This has been a commonplace for me here in Texas. What gives?

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Volvo/Mercedes/BMW/etc dealers in Texas are generally pretty awful. If you’ve contacted all the Volvo dealers in Texas I would try a broker from Cali and see what numbers they’re able to get and get it delivered here.

Independent vehicle brokers are against state laws in Texas but you can work with brokers from out of state.

Agreed, they’re pretty awful. The deals I’m getting are coming nowhere even close to what others on here have gotten for their XC90s. It makes me think If I’m doing this all wrong or to just feel bleh, kinda hopeless being in Texas.

I’m at the point where I’m okay with any 3 row SUV if a deal can be made in Texas

I’m trying to hack a deal on a 2018 Q7 for my wife at the moment actually. They have $3-4K in incentives for the 3.0l engines, plus loyalty/conquest. In theory it should be quite easy but in Texas and with it being Audi most dealers won’t go anywhere near 10% discount plus incentives and tax credits.

have you tried going out of state? Problem with these TX dealers is they play games and don’t step down on price.

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I have not tried out of state. Would I have to pickup the car myself or can I ship it? Would I have to go there in person to sign paperwork?

Also I read a lot on here that out of state dealers tend to not want to work with TX…

It depends on the state you’re getting it from but most of the time the paperwork can be done via Mail and you get a carrier to ship it to you.

Since 2015 I’ve had 6 cars shipped from out of state. I’ve only had a few reject me because its from TX. The reason is usually because their systems are not set up to calculate the tax liabilities.

This is great to know.
What’s your first step? Do you inquiry about a specific vehicle they have on their lot, or do you tell them what model/trim you are wanting?

Create a shortlist of vehicles you’re interested in along with preference for. Start inquiring to get a sense of how well they lease and start getting quotes. Be prepared to have your phone blown up as they run through a whole sales cycle and stay in touch with them continuously so you’re in the loop when they start discounting.

You’re basically building a Rolodex of sales people that know to contact you when they have a deal. Oh and when you hire shippers, hang on to their contact info too. The best deal you can make is with a driver that does your route and is willing to give you a discount if it means having a full load.

I think going out of state is probably a quicker way to a good deal but isn’t going to achieve the best possible deal for a Texas buyer. The primary issue is you can’t get sales tax credits outside of Texas, so any vehicle you get from another state will be fully taxed, plus transit/travel costs.

The dealers here inflate MF and hold back tax credits. They are by no means a pleasure to deal with.

Dealers everywhere inflate MF. Different dealers use tax credits in different ways or only at certain times of year. Some good info on tax credits in this thread: Fellow texans, how do you feel about leasing a vehicle in Texas?

I found the TX dealers, especially autonation will get you on the price and get you on the financing. They are a lot less eager to strike a deal than they are to maximize profit. My impression of their attitude is that if its not going to be you, it’ll be someone else.

I have had great success but its really about research and staying connected to your local dealers. Lease hacking can be done in any state, Texas and some other states have some pretty crappy taxation but even that can be worked. Some Manufacturers are just not hack-able to the expectation of some of the folks who frequent this site. On another note I have been able to get a sub 1% on a few cars but it takes patients, I shop as early as 4 to 6 Months in advance to get the deal I want. Finally if there is one thing that you can learn from this site is how to approach dealers and walking away if you need too.

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Thanks Loso!

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How do ya’ll feel about the following deal for a XC90 T6 36/12? It was accomplished through an out of state broker.
MSRP $58,395
Sale price $51,411
Due on delivery: $754
Monthly payment: $754

Screen shot attached.

You can get a $70k 3.0l Q7 Prestige for a similar monthly, I’m in the process of hacking one at the moment in Texas. You’re not going to get an XC90 in Texas for a decent price. The last couple of months you’d get a much better deal on most Land Rovers, Audi Q7/SQ5, Escalades, or a 2018 X5.

Gotcha. I’ll look into the Q7 too then. Seems Volvo isn’t a good brand to work with in Texas.
Have you ever seen a deal like this? It seems too good to be true, and when calling the dealer they really push for me to come in and talk numbers. But I just want what is advertised on their website’s page. (see attached)

I agree, Volvo dealers in Texas are some of the least competitive from my experience. I almost got an XC90 when I moved to Texas in 2017 but they just wouldn’t budge on price, if they had of just a little I probably would have taken it back then.

That would be a decent deal for an X5 but with it being a base model it won’t have some fairly basic features like blindspot monitoring, parking sensors, etc which are standard even on a base Q7. Normally them just trying to get you through the door is a really bad sign, but sometimes it can work out if you know your numbers and can negotiate the deal.