A4EP

I was just wondering if anyone has had experience negotiating with dealers who claim outright that they "Smart Price" their cars and they refuse to negotiate at all on the price of the car?

I just had an experience with this and even though the car has been on the lot for 90 days and is priced about 5% too high they have refused to budge even a bit off the price of the car.

The market is not that strong yet for such a firm position, especially seeing that 5% is not excessive to make a sale.

Any advice or should I just avoid dealers like this because it is a waste of my time.

USMC_DS1

Walk away or just contact their GM if you're serious about closing the deal at 5% off their asking price. Most GM's will get their top rated SR or SM to work with you afterwards. BTW, this will not work with Carmax... but they have their own issues beyond pricing and I would not recommend them.

pewter82

Pass....

It's a gimmic. Its rare we put a car or truck on a true 'blow out' price, if its gets old enough, its taken to the auction and sold there. Old for us , its more than 30-40 days, due to turning inventory fast, but old age vehicles have spiffs for the salesman, so I would think they're too deep in the car to take it to the auction and loose money.
They should take your offer and move on.

A4EP

Thanks for the advice. I have a specific budget that is more than reasonable seeing what some dealers are pricing their cars at, I am just picky with some of the options so willing to pay a bit more to get them.

We are close to the end of the month as well as Memorial Day so I will wait till the end of this week and then make a few calls to the GSMs with a very fair (5%-7% off) cash offer for cars that are listed in the middle of the price level for the year I am looking for and offer to close on the deal and fly out to get the car this weekend.

I hope it works.

pewter82

A ready and willing customer ? I would say yes to the deal and be glad to have it !

Zeus993

On this subject you sound like you are in the know and can perhaps shed some light on how two 2012 GTS 4's with great option are off the list price of 134k down to 114k. They seem like GREAT deals. I too am confused about the issue of pricing. How long can a dealership hang onto a car? I was recently offered 4k off (a 3.4% discount) of a 2010 997.2 C4S Cab with very low miles. The car has been on the lot for 6 weeks or so now. I've countered with a good healthy 15% and sure this may be unrealistic but what the heck, right? 3.4% seems a bit, hmmm, small!

Marine Blue

My only suggestion is not to say anything about paying cash up front. If they ask you can tell them you have rates from your local bank but are open to what they are offering too. The reason I say this is because dealers can make money on the financing of a car and will often go for a lower price if they think they can make it back in the financing. Negotiate the price and when you're sitting in the finance managers office you can tell them you're paying cash.

BoxsterG

Move on and go elsewhere. Why waste time.

Mike Andrews

Apparently it is, or you would have paid the 5 percent and be in that car.....

A4EP

High ticket purchases are meant to be negotiated. Can I afford to pay list, yes. Will I ever pay list, no. When I buy diamonds for my wife I negotiate and get a discount. If I buy a new car I get a discount. When I redo my home theater...discount. Watches, discount....you get the point.

Out of principle I will not pay a list price that is 10% more than the similar competitors, just for a different standard color that is not black or silver. 5% i will pay but a 10% premium and not even coming down a bit is just a bad way to show a customer focus.

X51

It all depends on what the dealer has into the car as well. That said, I'm 100% in favor of negotiating on the one you want, and not worrying about "insulting" the dealer with a low offer. They are in the business of selling cars - you're interested in being an astute buyer. Plenty of fish in the sea as they say, so if you can't strike a deal, go onto the next desirable car on your wish list.

A4EP

Agreed. Part of the fun of buying a car is the negotiation and you are right if the outcome is not liked then walk. It just seems there have been quite a few dealers who have gone to this no-negotating policy for the "ease of their customers" and the educated buyer can see they are simply gouging their customers.

fast1

Since Porsches are sold in very low quantities, dealers will try to maximize their profits on used cars which in many cases are their big money makers. So negotiating for a good price can sometimes be quite challenging. I have followed the following two principles on my last two car purchases: 1. I show no emotion after the test drive, and point out all of the car's shortcomings to the salesman; and 2. I do all of my negotiation over the phone.

I have found that some dealers will work with you on price whereas others will only give a few percent off their initial offering. Fortunately there are lots of dealers selling certified cars and with the help of the internet, they are easy to find.

Iceter

A true "no-haggle" sales strategy only appeals to customers who are intimidated by negotiating and gives them a way to justify why they paid too much for a car. The way to negotiate in these situations is have a trade.

If the store won't move on the price and you have no trade for them to overpay on, then your only alternatives are to buy at their price or walk away. I have found that walking away is the best tool in negotiating the price on a car.

USMC_DS1

+1
I've negotiated the price up front via phone, email, and txt messaging on 4 vehicles prior to the test drive. This works for me. I avoid the emotional affects/excitement of test driving the car upfront from clouding my financial judgement... Make sure you have a paper trail/emails re the vehicle and agreed upon price. BTW, some SR's will refuse to negotiate until you've test driven the car... a silly notion especially if you're remotely located. Just ask for the SM instead and for their best SR. I've found that the highest revenue producing SR's are typically internet savvy... which is how they produce higher revenues then their counterparts. I negotiated, for example, the price of my wife's new Lexus over 3 txt messages and one phone call to close the deal with the highest volume SR at the higher volume Lexus dealership in the country. Got $10K off a $56K SUV. It was the best vehicle purchasing experience of our life... wish they sold Porsche.