I was transparent with this particular dealer that 16% is my minimum also wanted to ask would going in person actually help move the needle on higher % discounts, or is it generally a waste of time and the desk will hold the same number regardless?
I’m not talking about test drives or building rapport just wondering if physically being there affects how an SM/GM treats a deal.
When I was in the car biz 20 years ago we got antsy when a unit hit 90 days on the lot. We never had anything that was a year old. Is this a SoCal BMW and other luxury brand tactic or is this more widespread across the industry?
I have been selling for 10 years, and the answer is generally yes. But if you are already at a steep discount, the chances they move an extra 6%+ are slim to none. Maybe you get an extra $500-$1000 to make a deal.
Appreciate the insight. If a store isn’t predisposed to move on the % side, going in person isn’t going to magically change their business model. I’ll keep hunting for the right store instead of trying to force it in person. Thanks and thank you @ApexHunt for your perspective.
You don’t let it get to that. If you can’t get hold of the SM/GSM, move on to your next dealer and hit that one back up later. Once you get a sales consultant involved, you’re bringing in a middle man with that adds no value to the negotiation.
Just make sure you offer is based on reality. Some people like to shop with a discount in mind when the market does not support it (aka they pulled a number out of their ass). Maybe 16% gets the payment in your comfort range, but 10% is the most even brokers are doing and they are usually top of the market. It isn’t unheard of to get a percent or two better, but almost doubling their discount is an Herculean task.
30 years at every level of auto sales. It all depends. I find too many current salespeople woefully unprepared for their jobs. You really need to get the SM or GSM. They control the deal. End of month, end of year, model changeover, all impact factory incentives. I even knew to the unit and the dollar what I needed to do to hit my goals and incentives. Ask if there’s a “stairstep” in effect. Or “trunk money.”
Often, the salespeople or internet reps know nothing of the incentives. Dealers even keep that info from their sales management. A stairstep is when the mfg incentivizes sales by increasing the incentive on an increase in sales over plan or quota. To make it simple,let’s say you were supposed to sell 100 units and get 100 dollars back for each. That’s ten thousand dollars. However, the Mfg might come to you mid month and say, if you do 110 units, we’ll give you 300 per vehicle retailed back to the first unit. That amounts to an twenty-two thousand dollar bonus. So, in effect, I could lose 1000 dollars on each of the last units sold and still be 11000 dollars total to the good. I could lose 2000 on the last car of the month and be 10000 to the good.
You need to be dealing with the person who knows the incentives and who can do the math. My pay as a manger was often dependent on that last dozen deals to make or break my month.
You bet I would deal.
Definitely an interesting topic. I’ve seen many say a long sitting car is a sign the dealer doesn’t play ball.
When we start talking about discounts north of ~15%, it’s usually going to be on a loaner. In my experience all of my craziest discounts 20%-32% have all been on long sitting loaners. Most in the 300+ day range.
Granted, I’m very aggressive with my targets and almost always looking to beat available broker offers (well, whatever loaner data may be around, many brokers only list new). I’ve received the following response many, many times:
“This car hasn’t been in service long enough to hit your target.”
My 760i (trophy garage) was ~27% off at buy rate, but it was on the lot for 500 days. I can’t recall a deal anywhere near this on something that hadn’t languished.
It doesn’t matter who brought you the ridiculous counter offer. It represents the offer made by a decision maker. Whether you got the ridiculous counter directly from the decision maker or indirectly is moot. Move on.
getting so granular in this thread is highly correlated with analysis paralysis. It’s not rocket science. Know your target. Make offers beginning with the closest store and expand your search with an increasing radius from your home. Move on quickly from anything that’s not a yes or a very close counter.