cleavage! dont forget cleavage!

 

I worked in retail before and one thing I remembered is the end of the month crunch. Thats when the place is under pressure to hit its monthly (or quarterly) goals. Thats when the "crack-head" deals were usually made! I'd say go to the dealer towards the end of the month.

 

Good points from many here. I would second that sentiment about bringing along a second person to "distract" the salesperson. I've brought my father and wife (on different car buying occasions) to act as "good cop - bad cop" with the sales rep. It's MUCH harder for the salesperson to try and convince TWO people about a certain feature/price/option.

These car dealerships will play EVERY game in the book (I bet everyone here has had the "So, what do you want your monthly payments to be?" line) to get your business.

In the end, they WON'T sell you the car if they can't make a profit on it. So keep pushing until you find that invisible line they won't cross. Then you know you've negotiated the best deal you can get.

As the saying goes-- "You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate..."

 

Call a whole bunch of dealers within a 100-200 mile radius right near the end of the month and ask for the name of the sales/fleet manager. Then, send each one a fax stating:
- you are ready to buy NOW and they can add an easy, incremental sale onto the end of the month if they give you the right price
- exactly the model and options you want with the invoice prices of each option
- that you know about their dealer holdback (about 1.5% for Infinti)
- that you're willing to travel far to get your car
- that you are flexible on color (if you are)
- and that you're happy to give them a great customer sat rating if you get your price

Send 10 of these faxes out on the 28th or 29th of the month and let the bidding war begin! Phone can work for this approach too, but it's more time and energy consuming. Use the phone near the end when you've gotten a couple of good offers and want to play them off of each other.

 

1. they only know what you tell them

for all they know you are between 3 cars in the same price range like i was. i did want the G moreso than the other 2 but they didnt know that. BM 3 series and TL acura were the other 2 options. therefore you CAN let them know your shopping around even if your not....

 

Very good, Sherwooa. I've done the same as well. This also works over the internet (via email) as well, which which also show you who is most responsive (hungriest) for your sale. Just go to the big auto websites (or even Infiniti.com) to look up the name/numbers of all the dealers in your xxx mile radius that you're willing to consider.

If you can, deal with the Fleet Managers or another more senior sale managers. The low level sales reps only get in the way of a good deal, and have little authority to negotiate beyond a certain point.

Lastly, I'd recommend looking into car buying services or agents as well. I bought a new Toyota 4Runner (hot vehicle at the time) about 5 years ago for only $50 over dealer invoice. Because some of these companies deal in such volume with little overhead (unlike a dealer), they can sometimes land you great deals. Your local credit union may also have a similar service in addition to good financing programs.

 

Excellent thought about e-mail/Net - completely forgot to mention that. I got one good bite over e-mail, but I had trouble getting as many direct e-maill addresses for the fleet managers when I used the approach last September, and figured faxes wouldn't get ignored by the fleet mgrs. And touche' on dealing with the fleet mgrs...always go as high up the food chain as you can!

USAA (with whom we do our banking, insurance, etc.) has a car buying service, but when I spoke to them before my purchase they said they could only really get the "national average" price. I said "no thanks, I'll do it myself"

Last tip I just remembered - never set foot in the dealership until you've agreed on the price. Do your final wheeling and dealing over the phone and fax (or e-mail if they'll scan documents). I only visited the dealer for the test drive (near closing time one day so they couldn't "sit me down"), and then never went back until the deal was signed and it was time to pick it up.

 

I don't know if its been said before or not, but...


Don't pull in the dealership with a really expensive car, i.e. friends M3, Benz, yada, yada...it will put them in a mindset that will be hard to change.

 

This mirrors my wife's and my experience. On January 27th I telephoned the dealer in the AM and agreed upon a selling price of $500 over Invoice and that my wife and I would come in that evening she would test drive any CPE 6MT briefly to confirmn that was the model se wanted. Shook hands on the phone.

Went in that evening around 7:00 PM and while she test drove an 05 CPE 6MT I sat in the Showroom drinking cofee and swapping war stories.

Sat down and wrote up the order. Couldn't have been easier. Don't listen to the nay sayers.

 

which model did you get exactly and how much did they give it to you for?

 

The only thing I have to add is to be honest....to yourself and to the dealer. I KNOW, I KNOW...why be honest to the dealer? I'm not being nieve. The sole purpose of a business to make money for it's shareholders, PERIOD! I don't mind the dealer making money off of me. The struggle is "how much money will they make off of me?" and "am I getting ripped off?" Our goal as consumers is to understand this process and arm ourselves with useful info. This thread is excellent.

Now to the point of being honest. (This is in addition to doing your homework on competative data, facts, etc.) Understand the dealer will make money off of you. Very rarely will they loose money (on one car). There has been several times that I have approach the salesperson with "I know you need to make money..." during negotiations. Be honest to yourself, know your limits. We all know the games they play. I try not to play these games by going straight to the bottom line, my limit (minus a few for room just in case I'm feeling unsure of myself ).

My opinion is that by presenting the bottom line, at this point, the dealer should know whether they CAN or CANNOT make money. I would respect the dealer if they said "NO" to my offer. But all will play the game with you. Keep in mind, they already know if they will accept or deny your original offer. Don't get caught up in this game!

I acutally built a relationship with my sales guy 4 months prior to purchase. I was honest during the entire process. I knew he was going to try and "sell" me the car, but that's his job. I think this relationship is very important as we were comfortable with each other prior to the deal and I was consistant with what I needed.

Everything I said above was done because I love this car. I know I'll be back to the dealer for service, etc. The dealer should not go away after the sale. (And maybe I'll visit them in 2007.... )

Now, you can't be honest at everything in life, but this attitude has helped me swing a "fair" deal. I have no doubt I paid a "fair" price in my situation because I felt like I was in control.

(side note: I'm in sales [non-auto], and some of the best sales people are the ones that make you feel in control)

 

a few things that have worked for me in my past few purchases...

the week between Christmas and New Years is a great week to buy... its the end of the month and year along with it being somewhat slow... bought 3 cars that way...

know the factory programs that are available... they have a million and one ways to find money for you if you ask... (Bought my Jeep with the Conquest program added on which basically was 1000 off if you could prove you owned another brand car)

Know their inventory... look online and pull serial numbers- they get scared when you appear to know more than they do... play the game... most G's ship with premium etc... tell him its not that important to you and are not willing to pay that much for equipment you dont want or need..

I agree with the free... i negotiated my 05 at 300 over invoice and after it was written up, i said ya know i really wanted one with a spoiler and rather than re-write it, he put it on...

 

I must say this is probably the most informative thread i've read on negotiating price....I'm actually planning of getting a g35c this august....is that a good time to be purchasing one?

 

I was thinking of that too. I mean, that's when the 06s start rolling out and it's a time when the dealers start thinking about getting rid of their 05 inventory.

 

For the guy who said he lives on Long Island and that MOST of these ideas will not work, you my friend got had by the dealers we are talking about here. Living on Long Island is a VERY BIG PLUS. Think about it….. I know of 5 Infiniti dealers 25 miles from my house or less. That alone is not a tool?

Second we are 1 hour from Connecticut, 1 hour from New Jersey, and 15 minutes from the airport. I would pay $200.00 for a plane ticket to Texas for 3 or 500 over invoice and enjoy cruising my new ride home ……. You tell me how that is against me?

And last on my list …. Nassau County has Money Period! If you will not bend on the price … other dealers will…. I said it before... The G is a nice car... but common... every other car next to me cost the same money if not more …I’ll buy your G35 Mr. Infiniti Dealer but I need a deal... I don’t need to be like the rest here on Long Island & think that MSRP is the bottom line … He who pays the salesman for steak dinners every night is a fool … have him eat Chinese food once in a while …. It’s rather tasty if you get it from a good takeout.