Yep, I did. I was referring to being open on the price aspect of your decision. I’ve had dealerships come back with the “what do I need to do to earn your business”.
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This is the best question you can get. You tell them your best sale price, monthly payment and terms. After doing your homework, of course.
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I agree that it’s great because clearly the dealership is interested in working with me, and in some cases that is half the battle. I suggested adding the part about price because I’ve had dealerships in the past that were $200 a month higher than my best offer and not moving on price but still asking the “what do I need to do to earn your business”.
It has been my experience that you will receive a bunch of attention at the beginning of next month. Maybe you catch the dealer who missed quota for October and can go very deep in November.
Not because of that, but because they asked you a “straight” question and you give them straight answer. After that you can always reply “You know what I want, so make it happen”.
I feel like we’re getting at the same thing, so, why not be up front in your initial correspondence that you’re making your decision based on price?
i get further using phone because:
A)
if you come across as a real person with real interest in buying, then you motivate sales people to do their job.
B)
you can better stress urgency AKA “I’m ready to buy today”, “Tier 1 credit, ready to sign” blah blah blah. That usually motives the sales person even more.
C)
it’s a little bit of a dance to get a good deal, hard to do by email especially if you don’t know who is on the other end.
Sure it’s more convenient to use email, but less effective. At least during initial contact IMO
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Here’s my 2 cents:
*Know your numbers 100%. Be ready to tell them exactly what you want to pay for a certain MSRP, know the MF, RV etc. etc. BUT don’t lead with your ask - a leasehackr deal as your first communication - you will lose a lot of sales people who will think “not worth my time”. PS you better be sure what you want to pay is possible - look recent deals on Leasehackr, remember incentives change every month, you aren’t getting that $500 hellcat from forever ago
*Call dealerships to start. I know it’s more of a pain than just writing emails, but I promise it’s a lot easier than going into a bunch of dealerships. As others have mentioned, try for internet sales manager, fleet manager, etc. if you can, but a regular sales person will do (as long as they are on site and not lead generators).
*I agree with Chevy sales girl - if your only message to the sales person is “I want a rock bottom price, nothing else” - you will get a low hit rate. Similar to starting off with a leasehackr deal - it may waste the minimal amount of your time with dealers that aren’t willing to offer a good deal, but you also may not get your deal (many sales people will just choose not to spend their time with you)
*My key messages when I did this were:
(1) I know exactly what car I want, make / model / trim / MSRP, looks like you guys have one on your website, can you please check for me.
(2) I am ready to lease today if I find the right car at the right terms (I’ve already test driven)
(3) I’m shopping a few dealers for a good deal. Assuming you have the car in stock, would appreciate a quote by email with as much detail as possible. Tell them you know they are busy, but it’s really important to you to have every piece broken out so you can make a decision quickly as you really want the car ASAP. You’ll send them right after you get off the phone exactly what terms you are looking for in the quote. Ideally if they give you their email (usually they will ask for your contact info right away, so use that opportunity to ask for their email), keep them on the phone, send your line items, and ask them to verify that when they provide a quote they will provide all the details (dealer discount, rebates / incentives, MF, RV etc. etc.).
(4) Close by repeating you are in a hurry to lease ASAP if you find the right deal, are Tier 1 credit, and will be providing perfect score on any surveys (only if you will in fact do this)
From my experience the above generates the highest # of “qualified” dealers e.g. those that will actually provide you detailed quotes over email. The main reason is by calling you seem much more serious than just some guy or gal over email demanding an amazing deal.
From there you can compare and negotiate mostly over email. But it’s important that you can move fast after you’ve done the above - hence you need to know exactly what deal you are looking for. If you press a salesperson for a detailed quote, then take a day to respond because you can’t figure out the incentives, are asking leasehackr whether you should get a chevy cruze or a S class, or are waiting on edmunds for MF / RV - you will lose your momentum and leverage to make a good deal happen. I recommend having everything in a speadsheet so you can counter with detailed quote back. And know your walk away going in - if I don’t get this price, I’m not doing the deal.
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When I got our Forester, I emailed through the web forms to several dealerships asking for general info. I received several responses. Then when we were ready to buy a few months later, I emailed the salespeople who had emailed me back, asking for a price on exact specs, saying that I was ready to buy that weekend. After a few back and forths with several salespeople, I got a best price and bought the car for well under invoice despite the car being a hot 2014 model in 2013. The email thing can work.
Curious, how do brokers get their (usually excellent) deals?
Experience, negotiation, knowledge, time spent, and relationships built.
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That’s all a given for a good broker. Guess I should have been more specific. How does a broker go about contacting a dealer they’ve never worked with before? One where there is no relationship. One that knows nothing about her/him. Starting from scratch, like OP.
You need to make it clear in the email that you want all correspondence done by email.
Also remember, it costs $200 to fly one way to anywhere in the country. Don’t limit yourself to local dealers. I live in a smallish city. The masses brands (Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc) have 2 local dealerships. The luxury brands have 1 dealer in town. So depending on the brand there is either a monopoly (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus) or a quasi-monopoly (everyone else). And as you can imagine, they are complete a-holes because they have a captive audience and no competition.
I learned long ago if I want a good deal I have to get on a plane. I don’t even bother with local dealerships anymore. I only email dealers in the “big cities” within a 1-2 hour flight from me. And the responses I get are exponentially better.
Do you usually end up driving back? I’m trying to deal out of state since Ohio is possibly the worst market I’ve ever tried to lease in but I can’t commit to a long drive back since I’m in the middle of a home renovation.
I’m not looking to get the most insane Hack on an S90 like a few I’ve seen here in the $350’s just trying to get the same payment as my c300 or a little less (current is $440 wiht maint.) and offering to accept a marked up money factor so someone can make something; but everyone I’ve talked to is throwing me $600/mo then sending me a credit app and I think it’s because I’m out of state? Or maybe because I’m planning to put this one in my fiancees name because I just dumped a ton of $ on my amex for the investment and blew up my score a bit.
@Ursus sorry I pm’d you didn’t even see this thread until now… ugh
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Yeah I drive them back. I like driving, and it’s really not a big deal. Fly out early morning on a Saturday, and I’m back home that night. I probably wouldn’t do that in winter. But as long as the roads are OK, what’s more fun that taking your brand new car for a road trip?
And yeah you burn a few hundred miles on the lease. But if you’re saving a few thousand over the course of the lease, it’s an easy trade off. Even $50/mo savings = $1800 total. That’s worth spending a Saturday on the road (at least for me it is).
Haha trust me I’d love to to do that I’m a fan of drives 6-7hours and below. Maybe I should just try to find the time and maybe that will help my negotiations.
I notice the guy who read the email is also important. Sometime the general manager or internet sales manager would like to give the quote directly through email. If the assistant got the email, they do not have right to give the discount.
I second what gaviny said. When I first reached out via email to a dealership, the internet sales lady responded a few times. But when I started getting into the meat of the negotiation, the “Internet Sales Manager” took over and I completed the deal with him.
I highly recommend what NateBeasle said about reaching out to dealers an hour’s flight away. That’s how I got my car last month and they were much more straightforward to deal with than local dealers.