Virginia Frog
Active Member
Your system is a winner.
- For buying the new car, I figured out the exact car, color, and trim level I wanted, and reached out to every hyundai dealer in the greater metroplex through their online sales rep, which was usually an online live chat. I told them what I was looking for, that I was looking at every dealer in DFW, and I wanted their best out the door price they could offer. This usually led to follow up via email which gave me numerous competitive offers in writing. I used these offers to have the most competitive dealers further compete against each other, ultimately trying to get the closest dealer to me to agree to the best offer I was getting. Spoke to the sales rep over the phone making it clear that we were agreeing to the final out the door price and financing, and if anything changed once I got to the dealership I would leave. Got the final agreement in writing via email. Drove to the dealership. Test drove the specific car I was interested in. And was driving off the lot with my new car in under 2 hours. They still tried jerking my chain a few times and attempted to add some additional costs / increase my interest rate on the loan. After threatening to leave a few times, I finally got to what we had agreed to before I arrived. Anyway. Felt this strategy really helped me get an extremely competitive price for the car.
Competition matters when buying a NEW vehicle.
The only things that I'd do differently in a similar car buy is:
1) Have a competing but similar brand/model in the mix. If you want a Honda, also add the comparable Toyota as an option. In this case where your target is a Hyundal maybe let them know you are Kia shopping too.
This gives you additional leverage over the sellers as to whether you'll "walk" if the deal isn't the best (or if they think they are going to mess with you at the 11th hour of the negotiation.) It's also a good fake-out - the Hyundai sellers don't know that the Kia option is a red herring. If they're gonna play you, you might was well play them a bit.
2) End of the month/Quarter. Dealerships will often have "situations" where they have a real need to move X # of cars by a certain date. You won't know this in advance but some of the dealers will show you their cards so you'll say "yes" to them.
3) Geography - DFW is a large region and it for you it worked out great. I will fan out my offers up to 125 miles. Some dealers will not play if you are far away - they'll claim that you won't be a "repair" customer and it's not in their interest to sell to a "one-timer." In the mid-Atlantic I have found that there are price laws in Maryland (vs. DC, PA, WV and DE) that make their dealers more competitive by $1 to 1.5 grand, I once bought a Honda car in 1986 in Blacksburg VA (260 mi away.) In those days getting a Honda was a premium purchase (tremendous demand) and they bent over backwards to get my sale.
My experience is that this can be a pretty pleasant experience. None of all that angst typically associated with new car purchases. I've found that most dealers RESPECT real professional, smart buyers and they are cool with and happy to sell to you - even if they are taking it on the nose to get your money!
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