Can someone post up the all of the fees/costs of buying a brand new G, and explain which ones are set by the dealer and which ones are standardized. I don't want to negotiate a good selling price only to be taken by markups on fees/misc costs because I'm not informed enough about it.

When you got quotes, did it have a detailed line by line breakdown of all the fees/costs to add up to an out the door price?

 

(Sorry for the long post)

My advice is: Do your homework!

Then, be aggressive! You are in charge! You are the one who is going to be paying around 40k here… so you WILL be getting what YOU want. (as long as you know you qualify for it)

I called every dealer in a 50 mile radius of my house and asked for a quote on the model I was looking for. I told them that I would come down that day if they were willing to sell the car at an invoice price. The probably won't sell and 06 at invoice, but 05 shouldn’t be a problem. BTW, many sales people will tell you to come down and negotiate in person, you shouldn’t have to. Once you are in the lot you are going to “put you together”

Once you get a few quotes on the car you will get the feel of what the true invoice price is, they might ask for 200-300 on top of invoice, after all they have to make money too.

Just so you know, a base coupe is about 30,500 invoice price. Any options you add to it will be shown on the sticker (I’m not sure about pricing for every option, but the sticker gives you the breakdown) Just add the “options” to the base price to give you the idea. They mark up about 2,000 on top of invoice for an 06, just because they are fresh and in demand.

There aren't any fees that you should worry about, the only thing you have to cover is tax & license. For that add aprox 10% of total cost of car just to give you an idea. 30k car has an about 3k tax & license fee.

My dealer friends advised me not to get any "extras" that they sucker you into, such as extended warranties. The standard should be fine; this is a quality car, not a ford. GAP insurance is a good idea, and usually fairly cheap.

They also advised me not to make a down-payment. Reason being that the salesman gets most of that money and it doesn’t really lower your payment much. General rule of thumb is for every $1,000 you put down your payment goes down $20 per month. You are NOT required to make a downpayment, they push you to because its money for them, keep that in mind.

I was going to put down $5,000. Which would save me $100 a month supposedly. (Not worth it in my opinion) Instead I didn’t put anything down, then on the first payment I made was 5,000. I didn’t have any payments for over half a year, enough time to make some more money for more payments. Or you can put it all straight to the principal on the first payment.

Important: Bring a calculator! Dealers try to be sneaky when proposing payments. Multiply the payments out, so you know how much you will be paying TOTAL for the car over the years. A good deal would be to pay less than 1000 in interest per year. That’s about $83 or less per payment in interest. I ended up paying only about 4000 over 5 years in interest for the loan. If the Invoice is 36k and you are paying 50K total over 5 years, something is wrong. You should pay around 44K for that = 36k (invoice) + 3.5k) tax/lincese + 4.5k (aprox interst over 5 years)

As far as APR, this is the tricky part. Many people don’t know that they qualify for lowest possible APR if their credit score is 680+. If your credit is over 680, you should be getting the lowest % the market can offer. Don’t be afraid to grind them a bit, they will always hit your high on first offer, that’s how they make money. Don’t be afraid to say no a few times, you would be surprised what you can get. 60 month term is a good idea too, 72 makes your payments a bit smaller but doesn’t seem worth it just because you end up paying more for the car.

Look up lowest rates so you know what you should be getting, dealer financing is usually more expensive, if you are not satisfied with their deal tell them you want to use Credit Union. They can get you approved online within 5 min. Or you can ask for an Option Contract, which gives you a week to find financing after the purchase. If you don’t find it then you are stuck with their financing.

When you come in just cut straight to be point, “I’m here to pick up this and this car for the quoted price from (name or salesperson).” Don’t let them sell you on a car that you didn’t come in to buy.

TIPS:
If you are not satisfied with their offer, GET UP and tell them you are going to “look around” other dealerships. They won’t let you leave, TRUST ME! Once you are on the lot you are like gold, and many managers will take a hit on the car just to move a unit.

Don’t get suckered into “extras”, it’s usually a waste of money.

Grind! Say no a few times, they will try to make the offer sweeter. You will be happy with yourself afterwards. Don’t be afraid of offending them, its just business and it’s your money on the line, not theirs.

 

Forgot to mention, the only standard fee is the tax & license. Everything else is padding from the dealer. That is why you should know the invoice on the car you are buying.

 

Also, if you want additional options added, ask for the invoice on the additions too, if the car doesn't already come with it... dealers make a killing on dealer installed parts... I wanted aero kit (chin spoiler and rear spoiler and underbody diffuser) but because the car i negotiated on didn't have it they were going to charge msrp on parts and labor, so what should have been a $1200 option became more like a $2400 option.... i ended up taking it as is which i don't really regret anyway... i like the wingless look... i later bought and installed my own splashguards too...

 

Man, thanks for the info.

 

No prob, let us know what kind of deal you got.

Good luck!

 

FenixL1P, just call the parts department and tell them that you just bought the car but you regret not getting the Aero Package. Ask them to give it to you at cost. Thats what I did and the guys said that they will give me the parts at cost + labor to install it. Now i have a spoiler! Most dealers have pretty good customer service, so the might hook you up.

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

One question, what is the license fee in CA for a brand new G35?

I'm getting price quotes now and trying to decipher what markups are legit fees and what areas the dealer is trying to add more padding and markup on me.