For the additional fees I know that the $700 delivery fee is already included in the invoive price you get on Edmunds. The only other fees I should pay is tax, tag and title. Is that correct? My local dealership here which has been a nightmare dealing with price will only give me $1,000 off MSRP and they want to add the documentation fee of $295. I've read from a lot of other people on this forum that this is a BS fee and I shouldn't have to pay for it. Does anyone know why this is a BS fee so I have some ammunition if the dealer sticks it on there?

 

A $300 admin fee is pretty typical. It's often negotiable, but hard to get them to drop it altogether. It's like the holdback, a way for them to relabel a little bit of "profit" as "cost recovery". You can't just tell the dealer "Lots of people told me this is a BS fee" and expect him to drop it.

A dealer will usually drop his overall price only when he believes three things are true:

1) You are willing to walk away and buy the same car from someone else;
2) Someone else is able (and likely willing) to sell you the same car for less money, and;
3) You will recognize the best possible deal when you see it, and buy the car immediately.

The key for him is he needs to believe that all three are true - and a good salesman can spot BS with regard to any of them, especially #2).

A good way to get a feel for the most competitive price is to send out requests for email quotes to dealers in the area. If it's obvious to them that many dealers are being invited to bid - you can often get their best price right up front. Use that best price as a stick on your local dealer(s). You can play one dealer against another, but the First Rule of Wing Walking applies: Never let go of one thing before you have a firm hold on something else.
At the end of the day, you can't get every dealer to match or beat the best price you ever heard anybody get anywhere: you have to be content with the best price you can find for the car you want, in your area, at that time.

 

Yup.... know your numbers.... dont let the salesman fool you with his/her fuzzy math.

I got caught once in the dealer games and overpaid by $1k.....never again!

 

I find the wording of the sales person BS. If it's $500 over invoice, ask him to give you a bottom line number (i.e. $35,xxx). I wouldn't venture out there only to find their invoice is $500 more than invoice found on Edmunds.com and landing a deal that's $1k over actual invoice. If that's the case, it's a waste of time and gas to go out there and be fooled. With Infiniti, you can check most dealership's inventory down to the VIN number with exact option. I suggest you do your best haggling via phone and get an out-the-door price. If you like the deal, put a $500 deposit on it via credit card. That way you have a claim on the car and it wouldn't get "magically" sold while you drove there and hence the price is no longer available.

 

dealer invoice has all the crap attached to the price.. the dealer cost is what was paid for the vehicle.