Turbodan

not me but a friend who has some very old porsches is buying a 2011 toyota matrix. the model he wants is called value or something similar; it has a/c and is automatic.
anyways, he went in to a dealer and they told him to make an offer. he said but what is the price they said make an offer.
I know there is a service that will tell you the dealer cost and maybe standard markup. does anyone have a suggestion how he should proceed?

Onami

From my experience most new cars have 8% margin plus 2-3% hold back. 6% seems like a very good deal for most brands. 4% is the minimum I would expect....

jasonintoronto

www.apa.ca and carcostcanada will provide invoice and msrp for all cars, but you have to pay. both have a "fixed price" buying service he may be interested in.

BIMMERMIKE

There's low inventory of vehicles because of parts shortage from Japan. Dealers are not willing to discount when no cars are avaialble. 4% is reasonable although now sure how this applies for Japanese cars these days

gtihop

My brother just bought one 3 months ago, it was $29k tax included for the XR version.

Turbodan

Thanks for the info. I have passed on the info to my friend.

LastMezger

+1. There isn't a lot of room on a $20K car. Take the MSRP - 8% and add 13% tax and there you go. Make them that offer and walk if necessary.

KillPhil

You never know! I hope the deal is done because if not your friend just missed a great window of opportunity, the end of the 2nd quarter. Yes, there is short supply of Japanese cars in showrooms, but Ford, GM and Chrysler sales are all up in June by 6.6%, 8.7% and 27% respectively. Toyota is down 27%. Sure it's lack of cars in the showroom with many still floating around in the Pacific Ocean, but it's also worry about lack of parts for future service issues.

To keep their monthly car allocations coming in at the agreed to number of vehicles, dealers must sell their showroom inventory or the cars go elsewhere in future months. Shop at the end of the month or at the end of the quarter whenever possible. Make sure the dealer has a few hours invested by then.

Don't walk in on the 30th and expect him to go under MSRP, but if you've made several visits and he/she has invested some time, maybe even put the sale in the forecast, then you might even get the car under cost just so the dealership has sold their entire allocation and they keep there future allocations of vehicles for more profitable sales in the future.

Also, negotiate the options, PDI, rust proofing, a few free oil changes, etc. before you "press the flesh" or you'll give back everything when you go into "over-buying" mode on the euphoria of the sale.

Phil Downe
PCA/UCR
Publisher, PROVINZ
Founder, Yorkville Exotic Car Show

For more information and articles, please visit:
http://www.YorkvilleExotics.com

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sp000lin

Out of curiousity which dealership was/ is he dealing with?