New Car or Nearly New Car

[bobpbx]

I'm about a month into doing my research. I know what I want, but the dealer inventory is very scant. I've read all the tricks dealers play to extract all the freaking money they can from you. But I figured I'd ask you all if you have any recent experience in doing this; what worked for you and what didn't?

 

[imkms]

The last 3 vehicles I purchased, I researched and was able to find what the dealer was paying for the car and then offered $300 on top of that. I wasn’t in a hurry and had the luxury of time to basically tell the dealer take it or leave it, because there are more dealers to see. I got the car at my price each time. An informed buyer is the dealers worse customer.

 

[c1nj]

My daughter wanted a new Toyota Rav4 last spring. All the dealers wanted thousands of dollars over MSRP if it was on the lot.
If they had to order one it was going to be months and they weren't even certain they would be allocated what she wanted.
In addition, her $500 college rebate eligibility was weeks away from expiring.

I ended up finding what she wanted at a dealership in Ohio for MSRP. We did everything by email, phone, and FedEx. I had it shipped right to my front door for $500 which was equal to the rebate she was about to miss.

It came with a temporary Ohio tag. I drove down to the DMV paid the sales tax and swung in to the inspection center for a "new car" inspection sticker. It was so easy. And I wasn't charged all these added fees when the dealer does it for you. I saved hundreds of dollars right there!

Would I buy a used car like this? Probably not. But this car only had 4 miles on it with a full warranty. I looked it over at delivery and it was fine.

The Ohio dealer told me they do this all the time.

Don't be a hostage to local dealers. You have other options.

 

[enormiss]

It’s been awhile since I bought new but found then there were high volume dealers with lower prices and low volume dealers with high prices. Like you I knew exactly what I wanted and just emailed many dealerships for a price. Printed the salesmans email and brought to dealer expecting an up sell but no issues. No test drive, grab and go. As jus mentioned this does really work on used.

 

[Boyd]

My days of tinkering with cars and getting excited about the new models is long over, but since I only have one vehicle it needs to be reliable since nothing is within walking distance of my home. So I tend to drive pretty new cars. My days of bragging about beating the saleman into the best deal are also over - it's all just a game and when you consider all the variables it's hard to know who "won". I still make my best effort nonetheless.

Got a new VW Taos exactly a year ago. I heard new cars were hard to find but the dealer had plenty - turned out they just rolled them off the truck the night before. Traded another recent VW for it, got somewhere in the low range of the bluebook value. Financing direct from VW at 5.15%. This was the newest new car I've ever had - had to wait while they literally removed the shrink wrap. Drove home in my new car about 4 hours after arriving at the dealership and this was after looking at their website and deciding to get a new car on impulse the night before.

A year later, no problems. Took it in once for the scheduled 10,000 mile maintenance. Gets me where I need to go, I'm happy. BTW, I did consider going electric, but decided I just wasn't ready to make that leap yet.

 

[bobpbx]

During my research, I saw an invoice from someone who had a $145 charge for nitrogen in the tires. I laughed out loud at that, and then felt very sorry for the young adult the dealer did that to.

 

[NJSRR]

We bought a used 2020 Toyota Camry from a dealership in Turnersville in Feb. We traded in our old Camry with 246,000 miles on it. They couldn't do a thing towards the price of the 2020 car, inventory and demand being what it was. However after offering us $1500 towards the trade in, they increased that amount to $2500 when it looked like we were going to walk. That cinched the deal.

 

[bobpbx]

We bought a used 2020 Toyota Camry from a dealership in Turnersville in Feb. We traded in our old Camry with 246,000 miles on it. They couldn't do a thing towards the price of the 2020 car, inventory and demand being what it was. However after offering us $1500 towards the trade in, they increased that amount to $2500 when it looked like we were going to walk. That cinched the deal.

I just told Gateway Toyota to forget it. I wanted a 2024 Camry V6, but they come standard with the new panoramic roof. I'm not on board with that, too many things could go wrong with it and they can heat up the car. They can't give me just a moonroof. Pity, because this will be the last V6 on a Camry (I'm told).

 

[RJG]

You need information to have a chance at getting a good deal on the purchase of a new vehicle. You need to know the invoice price, accessories prices, the market and how to negotiate with a car dealer. Before you step onto a dealer’s lot, you should have approval for a car loan and a plan on how much you are willing to spend before you walk away. Leave nothing to chance when you sit down to negotiate the purchase of a new car. You can actually learn a lot about negotiating with car dealer’s on YouTube. I have used a company called fightingchance.com to get invoices prices for my new car purchases. But it’s a different ball game today. A lot of vehicles are still in short supply because of supply chain issues with chips, etc. The ball is in the dealer’s court in the current market. A good deal today might be full retail price. I usually replace my Tacoma every 5 years. My current Tacoma is now 6 years old. I keep hoping the market will improve because it will kill me to have to pay retail for a new Toyota.

 

[bobpbx]

You need information to have a chance at getting a good deal on the purchase of a new vehicle. You need to know the invoice price, accessories prices, the market and how to negotiate with a car dealer. Before you step onto a dealer’s lot, you should have approval for a car loan and a plan on how much you are willing to spend before you walk away. Leave nothing to chance when you sit down to negotiate the purchase of a new car. You can actually learn a lot about negotiating with car dealer’s on YouTube. I have used a company called fightingchance.com to get invoices prices for my new car purchases. But it’s a different ball game today. A lot of vehicles are still in short supply because of supply chain issues with chips, etc. The ball is in the dealer’s court in the current market. A good deal today might be full retail price. I usually replace my Tacoma every 5 years. My current Tacoma is now 6 years old. I keep hoping the market will improve because it will kill me to have to pay retail for a new Toyota.

All correct, yes. I did view a lot of videos. I especially like the "tell them you want the out the door price", and don't let the dealer put all his crappy accesories on, even if he says "we do it to all cars we get in". And don't play your hand too soon, etc. The biggest thing to avoid (and they tried it on me 12 years ago) is to have the dealer play his game "how much do you want to pay per month" scam.

 

[c1nj]

I just rented a brand new Camry. I really liked it. Not sure if it had a V6.

On the Toyota website you can search dealers up to 500 miles away for the Camry you want. Just keep calling dealers until you get a fair price and either go get it or have it shipped.

 

[RJG]

All correct, yes. I did view a lot of videos. I especially like the "tell them you want the out the door price", and don't let the dealer put all his crappy accesories on, even if he says "we do it to all cars we get in". And don't play your hand too soon, etc. The biggest thing to avoid (and they tried it on me 12 years ago) is to have the dealer play his game "how much do you want to pay per month" scam.

Yes, when a car salesman says to me, “What kind of monthly payment are you looking for?” I immediately tell him, “I’m not a payment buyer. My purchase decision will be based solely on the out the door price.”

I took a ride through Shore Toyota this past week and they had one Tacoma pick up truck for sale on the entire lot. ☹️

 

[bobpbx]

Yes, when a car salesman says to me, “What kind of monthly payment are you looking for?” I immediately tell him, “I’m not a payment buyer. My purchase decision will be based solely on the out the door price.”

I took a ride through Shore Toyota this past week and they had one Tacoma pick up truck for sale on the entire lot. ☹️

I was surprised to note that car dealers also allow car gurus to advertise used cars up to the current year at least (2023), so don't pass that ad source by.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/searchresults.action?entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d311&zip=08005

 

[Sue Gremlin]

During my research, I saw an invoice from someone who had a $145 charge for nitrogen in the tires. I laughed out loud at that, and then felt very sorry for the young adult the dealer did that to.

That just happened to my sister last month, except it was $250. She just said "I am not paying for that". The only thing that works for me is endless patience and the willingness to just walk out.