Successful haggling via email?

[amanda992004]

Following the CR's sample spreadsheet, I am preparing spreadsheets for
the models I am interseted in (to take with me).

Realizing how much haggling I would need to do, I am wondering whether
any of you have done the haggling via email SUCCESSFULLY or not. If
anyone can share that info, I'll appreciate it.



BTW, I sent an email pointing out unnecssary haggling step one must do
in person despite all the info from Internet that customers (who spend
time to do research) are equipped with nowadays, saying "if necessary,
I don't mind waiting till December to make the purchase; I'll just have
to see. ", I got $1000 dedcution as a form of rebate (CR resporst says
1500 for cus rebate in this region), of course with a deadline and the
word "best and final price." I feel like telling him "if you want to
miss out on a sale, keep using the word "final price".

 

[Todd H.]

Following the CR's sample spreadsheet, I am preparing spreadsheets for
the models I am interseted in (to take with me).

Realizing how much haggling I would need to do, I am wondering whether
any of you have done the haggling via email SUCCESSFULLY or not. If
anyone can share that info, I'll appreciate it.

Depends strongly on the dealer. Some are nearly worthless to deal
with by email.

 

[amanda992004]

Depends strongly on the dealer. Some are nearly worthless to deal

with by email.

I thought so.

I sent an email to one dealer saying "It seems like there is no other
way but do the haggling (price) in person despite all the info from
Internet that customers (who spend time to do research) are are
equipped with nowadays. If necessary, I don't
mind waiting till December to make the purchase; I'll just have to
see."

I saw his reply this morning with an offer of $1000 rebate but of
course with the deadline of July 05 and saying that that's his best and
final price. I knew that the haggling process had begun and so I posted
this question about hagging via email. Then my lucky break came soon
after when my sister's accountant Jim stopped by to pick up some things
here.

I was planning to go (later this week) with a male friend who wants to
do the talking on my bahalf but seeing Jim - he is older and more
experienced aside from being an accountant (with national license) -
made me realize that he would be perfect for the job and I decided to
seek his help. We talked about the time cosuming process of haggling
and I mentioned that I knew that they would try to wear me out. When he
told me how he had to haggle for 3 hours with his last purchase, my
fear of spending time haggling in person but going nowhere just rose.

When he said "we will wear them out", a big burden was relieved.

Can't help but wonder about the right place at the right time. I had
gotten to know Jim really well these past 3 weeks because he had to
come here every weekend to get the merchandise (related to family
business) whihch he wants to make some sale for. I should have the car
soon unless the salesman don't want to make a sale.

 

[Todd H.]

I was planning to go (later this week) with a male friend who wants to
do the talking on my bahalf

Good plan.

Can't help but wonder about the right place at the right time. I had
gotten to know Jim really well these past 3 weeks because he had to
come here every weekend to get the merchandise (related to family
business) whihch he wants to make some sale for. I should have the
car soon unless the salesman don't want to make a sale.

Think end of the month, rainy day.

And don't waste your time trying to squeeze th elast $100 out of these
folks. If it's a high enough volume dealer they may decide you're too
much of a pain in the ass to deal with.

Best Regards,

 

[springnr]

Following the CR's sample spreadsheet, I am preparing spreadsheets for
the models I am interseted in (to take with me).

Realizing how much haggling I would need to do, I am wondering whether
any of you have done the haggling via email SUCCESSFULLY or not. If
anyone can share that info, I'll appreciate it.



BTW, I sent an email pointing out unnecssary haggling step one must do
in person despite all the info from Internet that customers (who spend
time to do research) are equipped with nowadays, saying "if necessary,
I don't mind waiting till December to make the purchase; I'll just have
to see. ", I got $1000 dedcution as a form of rebate (CR resporst says
1500 for cus rebate in this region), of course with a deadline and the
word "best and final price." I feel like telling him "if you want to
miss out on a sale, keep using the word "final price".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Price info gleaned from Subbie folks:

Normal Subie dealer price is:

Invoice - 4% holdback of MSRP
----
Stellar Subie dealer price is:
(if they met the stretch goal for the month)

Invoice - 4% holdback of MSRP - 500 bucks incentive cash per car sold.

Good luck haggling...
*salesmen and dealers need to feed there familys too so leave
something on the plate. :0

 

[Kurt C. Hack]

I did the whole fax routine with good success back in 2002. Ended up
with 4 different quotes and picked the one that suited me the best (2nd
lowest due to proximity to home).

It essentially works like this: You prepare your spreadsheet or Request
For Quote (RFQ) with all of the required features and color selections
and fax it to the attention of the sales manager at each location.
Don't put any return information except your fax number and you should
get about 75% of them back.

Once you have your numbers just walk in with the fax, sign the papers,
and be done. For me the haggling over a few hundred bucks wasn't worth
the aggravation of hours at the dealership.

-Kurt

 

[Todd H.]

Invoice - 4% holdback of MSRP - 500 bucks incentive cash per car sold.

Good luck haggling...
*salesmen and dealers need to feed there familys too so leave
something on the plate. :0

Wow... when'd holdback jump to 4%?

 

[amanda992004]

Price info gleaned from Subbie folks:

Normal Subie dealer price is:

Invoice - 4% holdback of MSRP
----
Stellar Subie dealer price is:
(if they met the stretch goal for the month)

Invoice - 4% holdback of MSRP - 500 bucks incentive cash per car sold.

Thanks for the information.

Good luck haggling...
*salesmen and dealers need to feed there familys too

so leave something on the plate. :0

Of course. The friend who would do the talking for me and I have the
same view that hagging with the saleman is just a business, nothing
personal.

 

[amanda992004]

don't waste your time trying to squeeze th elast $100 out of these

folks. If it's a high enough volume dealer they may decide you're too
much of a pain in the ass to deal with.

Got it.

 

[amanda992004]

I wondered about doing via fax process. Unfortunately my barely one
year old office jet is having the cartrige alignment problem. 6 months
after the purchase, it wasn't acting right though I had barely used it.
Then one day I slammed closed it and it worked and I failed to use my
waranty to exchange it before the warranty expired. Oh..well.

Once you have your numbers just walk in with the fax, sign the papers,
and be done. For me the haggling over a few hundred bucks wasn't worth
the aggravation of hours at the dealership

I realized ONE MISTAKE I made: From the beginning, I should have used a
male name (my brother's name) in email communication as well as in
faxing (showing spreadsheet, etc.) and do the haggling. Once I get the
price I could go for, I could just say it's for my sister and I am
sending her to finalize the purchase process. I am not sure whether it
would have worked. They may change their digits blatantly.

One thing I noticed though is that requesting quotes via edmunds.com do
get better pricing (though still unreasonable) then showing up at the
dealer. I called Honda Dealer last Saturday to ask a question about
the suspension system while looking online info and I was invited to
come do a test drive. Since it's not far, I went there and the salesman
(not the same person I talked on the phone), after the test drive,
asked me to come into the office saying that he would give me some
info/paper even though I made it clear to him that I would not be
making any decision at all. he tarnsferred me to another perosn,
happend to be the guy I talked ont he phone. That guy didn' t even try
pressuring me. He knew not to waste time. Then the saleman tarnsferred
me to another person by asking him to print in comparison of Honda and
Subaru. This one sat across from me and basically told me how he
doesn't understand I would consider Subaru.

The only reason I went and sat in the office was that I felt obligated
a bit since I made them take me to do test drive. But I made sure the
first saleman who took me to test drive knew that I would not make a
decision in a rush and also mentioning about the CR report I could get.


Later than day, I received a link to an article a friend told me about:
"Confessionfo a saleman". I noticed that the way the saleman
transferred me to was a part of their standadar procedure. If he didn't
do that, he would suffer his boss's wrath. In fact, if he didn't get
me to come inside at all, he would probably suffer his boss's wrath.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to do test drive Subaru. With no trafific
on the road and the place not crowded with customers, I realized that
my timing to do test drive was good. This time, I didn't go into the
office since I neede to go to the rug's place. I told the lady saleman
that I would look for her when I come back. I hope she didn't get her
Boss's wrath, especially with the day being a holiday. One thing I
noticd was that not all salemen there were wearing white shirts with a
tie. And in fact, I noticed that one was wearing sport shirt. The
atmosphere was more casual too. I' say that article I read (the link is
at edmunds.com)is a little out of date.

 

[Kurt C. Hack]

Maybe its the differences in the sexes or something, but I have never
had a problem at any dealership. I simply walk in and say I'm
considering buying a car in X amount of time and wish to test drive Y
model. After I'm done I just say thank you and walk out the door. You
shouldn't feel obligated to do anything. If you are feeling pressured
or harassed, YOU are the one allowing that to occur.

Assertiveness, not aggression, will keep everyone's blood pressure down.

-Kurt

 

[amanda992004]

Maybe its the differences in the sexes or something, but I have never
had a problem at any dealership.

Oh..I could have just left after a test drive - I did that at the
Subaru dealer - but I wanted some digits (f0rt he avilable ones along
with the list of exact features) just to see how much the price was
inflated.

I simply walk in and say I'm
considering buying a car in X amount of time and wish to test drive Y
model. After I'm done I just say thank you and walk out the door.

You shouldn't feel obligated to do anything. If you are feeling
pressured or harassed, YOU are the one allowing that to occur.

I don't know what he would have said if I just left though. Not
getting what I though I would get (though I didn't really ask
explicitly since he's the one ofered it), I wouldn't make the same
mistake again.

By the way, I wonder whether there are services, say, agencies that do
the haggling for me for the price I want for a certain fees (say not
more than $500 for the type of vehicle ). If there is such a service, I
would be the first person knocking on their door after I do research
and get my spreadsheet ready.

I wonder whether that kind of business would survive or would they be
put out of business by Auto Industry's lobbyist.

Assertiveness, not aggression, will keep everyone's blood pressure down.

-Kurt

<skip>

 

[Kurt C. Hack]

These services do exist. They are autobytel.com, edmunds.com, Costco,
Sam's Club, etc.. May not get the absolute cheapest price, but you do
get rid of the aggravation of dealing directly with the dealer. The
only other alternative is to go to one of those no-haggle dealerships.

-Kurt

 

[amanda992004]

These services do exist. They are autobytel.com, edmunds.com, Costco,
Sam's Club, etc.. May not get the absolute cheapest price, but you do
get rid of the aggravation of dealing directly with the dealer.

I wouldn't consider edmunds.com, etc. the same was the one I was
desrcibing. since they sells cras., nto service to do the haggling on
behalf of the buyer. Besieds, Edmunds.com, etc. prices are higher than
the quotes I got form local dealers.

The only other alternative is to go to one of those no-haggle dealerships.

I have herad about those no haggle deakership in an article. How do I
differentiate those from the rest? Do they advertise about it?

 

[Kurt C. Hack]

You are paying a premium to not be bothered by the hassle of haggling.
Whether you pay more for the car or pay more to the service that
haggles, the net result is about the same. For me, my time and lowered
stress level is worth more than the few hundred bucks I can squeeze out
of the dealer and salesman.

As far as the "no-dicker-sticker" dealers, I have no idea how to
differentiate between them. I believe Saturn started the trend, but
other than that I haven't heard of any Subaru dealers doing it.

-Kurt

 

[KLS]

As far as the "no-dicker-sticker" dealers, I have no idea how to
differentiate between them. I believe Saturn started the trend, but
other than that I haven't heard of any Subaru dealers doing it.

Van Bortel Subaru in Victor, New York, has a no-dicker-sticker policy:

www.vanbortelsubaru.com

 

[Moon Guy]

You are paying a premium to not be bothered by the hassle of haggling.
Whether you pay more for the car or pay more to the service that
haggles, the net result is about the same. For me, my time and lowered
stress level is worth more than the few hundred bucks I can squeeze out
of the dealer and salesman.

As far as the "no-dicker-sticker" dealers, I have no idea how to
differentiate between them. I believe Saturn started the trend, but
other than that I haven't heard of any Subaru dealers doing it.

For many cars over many years I've used the same buying procedure to
avoid the ugly dealing hassle. I buy on a 5 to 10 yr cycle.
First I look over the cars I may be interested in and pick out what I
want. Yahoo/Autos is a great help here, as are auto shows.
Then I find the dealer that has the vehicle I want and is reasonable to
deal with.
Those who intimidate the customer stand out almost immediately and I
walk out immediately. Not worth while bothering with them, they would
probably do the same on service too.

After picking out what I want I simply tell them I don't haggle and only
two prices will be placed on the table, one by each of us.
Then I offer them the first or second position to suggest a price.
Usually they suggest I go first and most agree to my price, perhaps with
an additional option or two, which I often want anyway.
It works and has made car buying much more enjoyable!

No I don't get taken, I do my price research first and usually deal no
trade.

 

[amanda992004]

For many cars over many years I've used the same buying procedure to
avoid the ugly dealing hassle. I buy on a 5 to 10 yr cycle.
First I look over the cars I may be interested in and pick out what I
want. Yahoo/Autos is a great help here, as are auto shows.
Then I find the dealer that has the vehicle I want and is reasonable to
deal with.
Those who intimidate the customer stand out almost immediately and I
walk out immediately. Not worth while bothering with them, they would
probably do the same on service too.

After picking out what I want I simply tell them I don't haggle and only
two prices will be placed on the table, one by each of us.
Then I offer them the first or second position to suggest a price.
Usually they suggest I go first and most agree to my price, perhaps with
an additional option or two, which I often want anyway.
It works and has made car buying much more enjoyable!

Nice strategy. I basically did the same.

No I don't get taken,

What exactly do you mean by that?

I do my price research first and usually deal no
trade.

About my research, the consumer report I bought in late June was
showing dealer incentive + regional incentive but starting the
beginning of July, those two were not in the report while dealers not
only didn't raise their price but also reduced (during negotiation -
One dealer reduced $500 from initial quote given in late June and also
threw in splash guard for free last Sunday, i.e mid July). So, what's
the deal with CR? Are they not able to provide up to date info anymore?