cJm

So when I buy a P-car this summer, do I wait until the dealers feel more pressure to unload their inventory of '03's in order to get a better price? Should I wait until some '04's are delivered? I could order an '04 with the minimal options I want, but I'm sure this would entail paying MSRP. Is it really better to deal at the end of the month? I have lots more questions, but I'll wait for some cogent replies.
Thanks,
Mike

Palting

Here are some opinions on the art of buying new cars, developed and used in the purschase of a total of 11 new cars over time.

Best time to buy in the year I believe is March in 4 season areas. Winter is a slow season, and inventory sits while dealers payments go on, and the end of the fiscal year is coming up. I've had deals contingent upon taking delivery before April 1. This is year end clearance from a financial point of view.

By the same principle, end of any month is best. It's like your credit card payments. Pay before they are due, and you, in this case the dealer, will avoid penalties and interest payments/losses to the bank.

Year end clearance prior to the arrival of the next model year is ALWAYS a good time, regardless of season or brand.

The next several points are all related. Always be ready to write the check right then, right there BEFORE negotiations, and make sure the dealer knows you mean business. Never fall in love with the car before the deal is completed. It's only a car and it's only a business deal. Be willing to walk away at any time for another deal, another dealer, another time, possibly another car.

Do the homework and survey the area dealers, but don't flash this knowledge on the current dealer. I think it just antagonizes the negotiations. If you stick to the previous points, he/she will get the idea that they can lose your business to a competitor without you actually saying so.

I like haggling . It can be fun. Most of the time you win, and if you don't, you can always walk away.

ZeeZee

Yes, it's always better to wait for a new model year, since the dealer will feel more pressure to relieve themselves of the older models. However just the fact that the cars will soon be coming in soon may be enough to sway a dealer to push the 03s out the door fast.

Regardless of when you buy, you need to be armed. Figure out the deal you want before you ever step foot in a showroom. Lease or buy? Options, color, etc. And be sure you have contingencies, since you may fnd a car that's 95% of what you want, so know what you'd be willing to give up and what you wouldn't.

Finally, know that great salespeople close deals by creating a sense of urgency. They'll get you close to a deal, get you seeing yourself inside of the car you're talking about, move you closer and closer, and then attempt to introduce the urgency that may ultimately get you to do the deal for more than you had planned. That's why you need to be armed, and you need to stick to your guns. Do not pay more than you figure out you need to (ask the Rennlist, you'll get great advice on figuring out not only the price, but how to finance it in the best way). And if the salesperson doesn't budge, walk. They need the deal a lot more than you do...

Trojan Man

Agreed - We are in a buyers market with respect to P-Cars. Some excellent points were already brought up, and I will reiterate:

*Know exactly what you want and exactly how much you are willing to pay for it BEFORE you sit down and negotiate with the salesman. This may entail doing a lot of online research and going to the lot afterhours to see and touch the cars with the options you want.

*Do market research. Look at the newspapers, ebay, and autotrader to find out what kinds of deals are available on the car you want.

*If a dealer wont deal, they don't deserve your business. Unless it's an SL55, E55, or Audi RS6, dealers are able to deal.

*Start your negotiations on the 2nd to last day of the month and "sleep on it". Dealers of any marque are under extreme pressure to sell units on the last day of the month. When you come in on the last day of the month, they will be itching to get rid of the car you want. This is the best day to squeeze extra money and/or freebies out of the dealer.

*While it is advisable to wait until the end of the model year to get great deals, don't wait too long or anything you want may be sold!

*Finally, don't be pressured into buying something you dont want. Conversely, don't fall in love with something and buy it even when the deal isn't right.

<img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

cJm

Thanks to all for the great advice. I know exactly what I want as far as necessary options, the rest is fluff and I won't take the car unless the dealer offers a significant discount. I've watched the market for new and used vehicles no more than 2 years old. I won't purchase an optioned out car with an MSRP of +$83k when I can live with a basic one with a list of $73k minus an end of year discount. That is if one is available. I'll check dealer inventories and make some calls. Fortunately, a second dealer just opened in Atlanta, so competition may inspire a better deal. And as an alternate plan, I'm prepared to place an order to get exactly what I want, but at a higher cost and a few months wait. 3 weeks 'til the end of the month, we'll see!!!

ettsn

Since you are in Atlanta, go talk to Bruce Pinder at Jim Ellis. He is a car guy from the word go, and he helped me buy a 986S on a sweetheart deal. His number is 770-855-4271.

No affiliation, other than very satisfied customer!

-Paul

DonW-Cape Cod

All of these points are excellent..far better than anything I could think of. Only other advice I could suggest would be to look into leasing as well as buying. For instance an end of the model year car is literally hours away from becoming a year old, and with slightly used values so low you get the benefit of the depreciation and the fact that it was a used car. I don't know how you feel, but of all 7 Pcars I've owned, only one has been a new one, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the used ones knowing history, etc.

Just an alternative thought...

cJm

I will look at slightly used cars, especially if I feel comfortable with the cars provenance. Interesting, Don, that you mention leasing. I would consider leasing as a way to decrease the risk of selling a vehicle in an unknown market if it had a history of service problems. Of course, I would, like a hundred other listers have said, "keep the car forever" if it were a gem. And thanks Paul, for mentioning Bruce at Jim Ellis. His is an upstanding kind of guy, and helped me buy my Boxster in January '97 when they first came out. I'll keep you posted when the deal is consummated.

TurboMark

Great advice.

One additional comment, start negotiating from invoice up, rather than a discount on sticker. It is a subtle point but the point is you are focusing on negotiating what they are making vs. how much discount you are asking for.

Ghost Rider

Just my 2 cents, but always be prepared to walk and have at least 2 or 3 backup plans/cars in mind, once you lock on one you are more likely to make an error in judgment. Here's an interesting story that is very fresh.

While waiting for a car to come in, I found one very similar on a dealer lot about 3 hours drive from me. I discovered this through Ebay where they had the car listed at about 2K over invoice and zero bids on the car, however, the reserve price wasn't met. I called the dealership and talked to the sales guy that had sold a friend of mine his Boxster. He gave me his 'absolute lowest price - friend of a friend price' which was about $5K off MSRP (still about 5K above invoice). What do you know but the dealer advertises the car again on Ebay, this time with only a buy-it-now price of about $6.5K off MSRP, less than my "friend of a friend special deal".

I emailed the seller via Ebay and asked what they were thinking since they had advertised the car for about 3.5K less just the week before and received no bids. His response was that the previous ad was just a starting price and that the new ad reflected a discounted reserve by trying to sell it outright via a buy-it-now. Huh? Dollars is Dollars right? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Sure enough that auction closed with no bidders/buyers as well and the car continues to sit on the dealer lot waiting to sit next to a new 04 model. I emailed the guy back and suggested that perhaps if they were willing to deal closer to invoice I might be interested. He responded back asking how close to which I responded that since I felt insulted with the 'friend of a friend special deal offer' that was worse than what was offered a couple days later to the general public that probably all I could afford was $500 over invoice.

He hasn't responded nor do I really expect him to, but the moral of the story was that I would have been willing to go 2K over invoice easy and possibly higher had they been willing to deal and been up front from the beginning.

It is a buyers market, don't let the dealership tell you otherwise.

Dmitri

Another 2-cents worth: Check out some of the auto sites like edmunds.com They usually have decent advice on how to negotiate a deal.

Also, you can almost always leverage a better deal at a local dealer by negotiating with dealers outside of your local area via the internet. As an example, I live in Southern California, but was able to get a pretty decent offer (about $1k over invoice) on a car from a dealer in the midwest. I took that to a dealer nearer to where I live and was able to get the car for about $2k over invoice, which was about what the midwestern car would have cost with transportation. Plus, I got the car that I wanted, optioned out the way I wanted it.

Good luck!!

cJm

Thanks to all for the excellent advice. I got the car I wanted, a low optioned, Seal grey 6-speed. About $2k over invoice, so much less than the full MSRP I was looking at if I ordered an '04. Plus my salesman, Bruce, installed bumper plugs and clear side markers. Can't wait 'til the break-in period is over.

Regards,
Mike
Ecstatic new owner '03 C2 Seal/Graphite
'97 Boxster--sold

Dmitri

Good for you! Congrats on your purchase. You're gonna love it.

mumanoff

Hi, leasing is not a bad alternative. I am picking up an 03 c4 cab with list price of 96k after options for 1083.00 per month/48 months and no money down. 10,000 miles per year. A friend suggested that if you are serious about an end of lease buyout go for higher mileage allotment and underdrive the car...sort of paying the buyout as you go. Good luck.