"off site" location

Ask the Hackrs
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#1

I emailed a dealer about a car that was on their website, after some back and forth with the sales person, she mentioned if we can agree to the numbers I will go ask the other dealer for a trade.

I then just realized that the website said it was in an off site location. After some more research I found the car at a dealership 70 miles away owned by the same company.

At this point would you just go directly to the dealer that has the car? Or keep working locally? I feel like if they need to trade I am going to get a worse deal, even though they are owned by the same company.

#2

That could just make the further dealer assume there are two buyers interested in the same car: yourself and your proxy at the local dealership who is trying to procure that car for you.

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#3

The advise I got from a MB dealer manager was to find the car I wanted and don’t make any inquiries about it with the home dealer.

  1. they will consider you a potential buyer and may refuse to trade the car and you lose out on an agreement you have with ur current dealer

  2. there’s no guarantee you will get the same deal with the home dealer and if they see more than one interested party- you ain’t getting a great offer from them

I’m not sure what additional fees the dealer will pass on for a car they traded for, but in my case the only thing they said would cost me was if there was a transportation fee (it was free for one of their guys to drive a few hours to get it)

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#4

Yes, would have never approached the local dealer if I knew the car was at a dealership 70 miles away. But I didn’t think twice when I saw the car on the local dealerships website, didn’t know the cars would be for all dealerships the corporate office owns. That was my first mistake.

I feel like the right thing for them to do is to set me up with a salesman at that dealership and get a referral fee from them, but I guess that isn’t going to happen.

#5

If the 2 dealers are owned by the same people and is 70 miles away, why would you want to start a new negotiation? Let your local dealer bring the vehicle to you at their cost, as long as you are happy with the discounted price.

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#6

Agreed, at the end of the day if the local dealer has accepted your offer to your target deal and they’re going to go get the car from the other dealer, then what difference does it make now?

4 Likes
#7

I think the idea is to approach the home dealer and maybe get a better deal.

I think that approach would have the opposite result

#8

Sorry didn’t explain myself well originally. We technically haven’t started negotiating yet, her next email would be the offer, which I am guessing is going to be msrp with transportation fees. That’s why I am debating to keep talking to her or just go straight to them.

#9

What was the back and forth?

You haven’t even discussed pricing and you are worried about tacking on transportation fee for a 70 mile trip to drive the car?

I think you are a few steps ahead of yourself

U found the target, get your target price in for that vehicle and if they accept- have them bring you the car. If not, contact the primary dealer and offer the same thing (assuming you have a reasonable offer).

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#10

Same thing still stands. I would negotiate with the closer dealer that you are currently working with. If you get no where with that, then reach out to the dealer that has the vehicle. Bear in mind, if you are saying that these two dealers are owned by the same group, they very well may have the same customer systems and will see your interaction with the closer dealer and then they will either give you the same deal or show you the door.

#11

The back and forth were about the options on the car, she was confused and now it makes sense since the car isn’t there.

My worry isn’t really the fee as much as that now two dealers have to agree on the price. It just seems cumbersome and not to my advantage.

I agree with you guys though, keep talking to local for now

#12

Wouldn’t it make more sense to negotiate with your local dealer, and if you can’t reach the deal terms with them, then move on to the actual dealer who has the car as a fresh customer?

#13

Personally, I would have gone straight to the dealer that has the car rather than mess around with someone that has to dealer trade for it. If you’re going to ask the dealer to make as little money as possible, you gotta ask them to do as little work as possible.

#14

Then all this discussion is really premature. You need to do your research, make an offer and cast a much wider net than this one car.

#15

Sometimes it just takes the right SM/GSM to accept an aggressive offer. If it’s a sister dealership only 70 miles away, there likely isn’t much work involved than a quick phone call from the SM/GSM.

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#16

Yea, if the 2 dealers are under the same ownership and cross-advertise inventory, then it should be no big deal at all to do a quick dealer trade. The dealers “agreeing on price” is not your worry and there shouldn’t be any transportation fee or anything like that.

3 Likes
#17

Not saying it can’t happen, but you’re not setting yourself up for success by asking for a dealer trade. Still costs money/time/energy to get a car moved, etc. Why willingly compromise your negotiation position?

#18

I think this is becoming a bigger deal than it is. The car is advertised on dealer A’s website then it will not be a problem dealer trading it from dealer B, who is in the same dealer group. It is just a phone call and sending a porter to swap cars.

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#19

It looks like he never asked for it though. If the dealer suggests it on his own I’m not the one to question how they would make it work. All I care about is if they accept my offer.

Worst case, they do not accept and all it took was couple emails from my end. Between not making an offer at all vs making an offer and getting denied, I’ll take the latter all day long.

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#20

That means there is no trade-in, they share the inventory. And the other dealer can see who you work with at your local dealer. So, stick with the local dealer, it’s too late now to go to the other one.