Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Pro negotiators - any new buying tips?


Nitrousbird

Recommended Posts

I've decided to buy a new '18 GMC Sierra SLT short box, crew cab, 4x4 Premium Plus truck due to the massive incentives.  No one else is touching the incentives on the GM full size 1500 '18 trucks.  Only other option I want is Sunroof, black interior (no cost) and I'm good with most colors.  6.2L motor is rare, max towing package is non-existent, All Terrain package is rare with bad incentives.  Truck will be a 5.3, 8-speed, 3.42 gear setup just out of availability alone.

I've contacted at least 30 dealerships and probably more, trying to work an online deal.  I'm getting nothing but MSRP minus incentives and some aren't even applying all the incentives correctly.  I've spoken to a couple and none seem interested in dealing over the phone either.

Invoice pricing is a bit hard to tell on this truck, but appears about $3500 below MSRP.  Obviously dealer has hold backs and volume incentives to make cash off of.  

Any negotiating tips?  I've never purchased new and purchasing used is a different ball game, as you don't deal with incentives, compare mileage/condition/model year/options.  What tricks do you use to get the best out the door deal?  I'm not dying to play the dealer games and am always willing to walk at any time; that's why I was trying the e-mail method without much success.  There are three trucks at a dealer I drive by daily that fit my criteria.  I'm in no rush as my truck runs fine...but the current incentives are good through 10/31 and may/may not continue.

Link to comment

Find a dealer that does no haggle or invoice pricing if you can   

On some brief research I was doing earlier, this dealer seems to advertise their lowest price with no hassle pricing   The Ford dealer by me does this, but I haven’t done it with GMC before   

https://www.laurabuickgmc.com/VehicleSearchResults?make=GMC&model=Sierra 1500&year=2018

Sorry, that doesn’t help much in negotiating persay, but is how I usually go on the cars.  

Edited by hethj7
  • Like 2
Link to comment

Yup.  Find yourself the biggest volume one price dealer and pay what they are asking, using their financing to maximize rebates. 

Locally that woukd be www.jeffbelzer.com for virtually any brand that matters. 35k for a 53k sticker on my 2018 ram - advertised price, no screwing around. 

Sunroof will be the tough part, so a volume dealer is your friend. 

 

Something close, but a chevy

http://www.jeffbelzer.com/new/Chevrolet/2018-Chevrolet-Silverado+1500-lakeville-new-prague-mn-a787c63c0a0e0ae93110b9ec2ad6c991.htm

 

Edited by oldjeep
Link to comment
ahopkins22LSV

Have you tried looking at dealers on the metro Detroit area? I’m crazing the Chevy market to maybe flip my truck for no cost to me (not looking like that will be quite possible), but I’ve been able to find plenty of max tow z71’s in the crew cab. They definitely aren’t as common but they are up here. I’d start with looking at this dealer in metro Detroit: https://www.lafontainegm.com/

As far as negotiating, I just hold firm at what the number I want. It goes round and round but walk away if you have to. Also wait u til the last week of the month. 

Edited by ahopkinsVTX
Link to comment

Laura Buick GMC.  Incentives will vary from truck to truck, even the same models, based on things like build dates, etc.  When I bought my truck from them, they were quite a bit lower than GM supplier pricing and no local dealers would even attempt to match their prices.  It was cheaper for me to fly there, buy it, and drive it home than it was to shop and negotiate locally.

https://www.laurabuickgmc.com/VehicleSearchResults?make=GMC&model=Sierra 1500&year=2018&bodyStyleClassification=Crew Cab Pickup - Short Bed&trim=SLT

Edited by UWSkier
  • Like 2
Link to comment

I agree to find large wholesale dealers, meaning you have to be willing to travel. I’ve bought a new f150 both in 2014 and 2016 and paid thousands less than local dealers could touch, without even haggling. Definitely worth a day trip or more in my opinion. 

Link to comment

I bought my GMC Yukon XL Denali about 3 years ago and think I got a decent deal on it. I found the internet sales manager from every dealership in 100 mile radius and emailed them the exact truck I wanted, while cc'ing the other managers. At the bottom of my email, I simply said, "Make me an offer." Half of them never replied back, couple wanted to talk in person, some gave me quotes. I "reply all'd" any offers sent to me so others can see. In the end, I took the lowest offer....

Link to comment
1 minute ago, shawndoggy said:

dang, looking at that laurabuick site, they totally bone you for the sunroof.  Like $3K cheaper without ticking that option.

Sunroofs are like that people either hate them or will pay through the nose for them.  

Link to comment

You have to find a competitive brand truck, not just competing dealers. Act like you don’t care what truck you buy, but acknowledge what you like about each brand truck. Get one or both of the competing brand trucks to drop their price.

time is their currency. You’ll have to spend 2-3 hours at each dealer at least once, usually twice. Get them to commit their sales target to include your truck. Every hour they spend with you is an hour they didn’t get to sell to someone else. It’s called “sunk cost” mentality.

i do this with every new car I buy and I consistently get $5-10k off the msrp plus incentives. I haven’t done with trucks, but successful with minivans, sedans and 2-doors

Link to comment
17 minutes ago, braindamage said:

You have to find a competitive brand truck, not just competing dealers. Act like you don’t care what truck you buy, but acknowledge what you like about each brand truck. Get one or both of the competing brand trucks to drop their price.

time is their currency. You’ll have to spend 2-3 hours at each dealer at least once, usually twice. Get them to commit their sales target to include your truck. Every hour they spend with you is an hour they didn’t get to sell to someone else. It’s called “sunk cost” mentality.

i do this with every new car I buy and I consistently get $5-10k off the msrp plus incentives. I haven’t done with trucks, but successful with minivans, sedans and 2-doors

Man, no wonder folks hate car shopping.  2-3 hours at each dealer at least once?  Yea, the dealer lost time, but my time is sunk as well.    I guess I'm fortunate to have a Ford dealer right up the road that does invoice pricing.   $5-10K off MSRP seems pretty easy just given internet shopping these days, even when I have just recently been looking at other brands (the F-250 is too long for my garage, but the Dodge and GMC's are 10" shorter, hence I had found that Lara Buick site doing research).   

Link to comment

Costco has pricing deals that are supposed to be similar to supplier discounts.

I've bought two used cars at a dealership that I feel I got a very good deal.  I just told them I was paying cash, and gave them a number of what I would spend.  

Guess I am lucky, as I can get employee pricing on MOPAR (my brand of choice).  As long as I don't have a trade in, I can buy a car in less than 30 minutes if I have my finances in order before I go in.  I can't imagine spending 2 - 3 hours at multiple dealers just to get through the pricing point.  No thanks.

Link to comment
19 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

Man, no wonder folks hate car shopping.  2-3 hours at each dealer at least once?  Yea, the dealer lost time, but my time is sunk as well.    I guess I'm fortunate to have a Ford dealer right up the road that does invoice pricing.   $5-10K off MSRP seems pretty easy just given internet shopping these days, even when I have just recently been looking at other brands (the F-250 is too long for my garage, but the Dodge and GMC's are 10" shorter, hence I had found that Lara Buick site doing research).   

12 hours for avg $7.5k, that’s $625 an hour. Not sure what you do for a living but that’s some pretty good coin for a few evenings and a couple weekend days. 

“Internet prices” are BS. I got Toyota to drop $13k plus incentives and was $10k+ below anything on the internet from any dealer within 100 miles.

my neighbor took my advice on a VW purchase and dropped $9k below the lowest price he could get from 3 dealers.

The OP was asking how to get a lower price. I’m just saying what works.

Link to comment

The employee discount price is really just invoice minus the holdback, minus whatever rebate is being offered.  IOW, a scam.  In fact, most of those invoice pricing ones are.  Even Internet pricing has turned into a bot.  FInd the vehicle(s) - yes, have options - and visit the two or three largest volume dealers and  be prepared to walk.  BTW, the best way to get a low price is to ask the dealer for thier "cost".  Very few will do but large volume dealers usually have a backchannel to other factory incentives so that even that value is inflated. 

Link to comment
19 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

The employee discount price is really just invoice minus the holdback, minus whatever rebate is being offered.  IOW, a scam.  In fact, most of those invoice pricing ones are.  Even Internet pricing has turned into a bot.  FInd the vehicle(s) - yes, have options - and visit the two or three largest volume dealers and  be prepared to walk.  BTW, the best way to get a low price is to ask the dealer for thier "cost".  Very few will do but large volume dealers usually have a backchannel to other factory incentives so that even that value is inflated. 

Not sure how other employee purchase prices work, but what you described isn’t the way Chrysler works. They show you the green sheet price and you get that plus all available incentives plus dealer hold back. 

Chrysler actually pays the dealer what amounts to a commission for facilitating the deal  

Maybe what you are describing is friends and family or supplier pricing. 

Link to comment

I just added an aftermarket sunroof in my 2018 dodge 3500 negotiated on the deal for $1500.00. The controls aren’t  quite as nice as factory. But doable. Another thing is aftermarket automatically closes when the key is shut off. 

And i say go by the dealer and show them a face. And negotiate let them know you are looking on line and at other dealers. I got 11,750.00 off of MSRP. And probably could have got another $1000.00 if I wanted to spend the time. By the way I got  $12,000.00 off of my 2014 Dodge 3500. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

+1 on the high volume dealers as they're usually worth the travel cost and time. They're also used to dealing over the phone/internet so they'll agree to a price before you ever show up.

As far as additional discounts goes, even the fixed price, high volume dealers will start negotiating near the end of month and fiscal quarter. Dealers have slim margins but there's a huge amount of profit in every light truck for the manufacturer and the factory will kick them extra incentives at certain times of the year.

GM will give certain VIN specific incentives to the dealer to move vehicles that are sitting too long. Those can be somewhat random and start at different times but finding a truck on the lot for 60+ days is like finding a bag of cash in the cab. You may still have to haggle with the dealer to get that extra discount, and it may not have the exact color or options you want.

GM Financial also gives cash back in exchange for their high rate loans. However, you only have to keep the loan for 4 months to get the deal, and it's a handshake deal at that. Then you can pay it off or refi into a normal lower rate loan, and you've saved the $1500-2000 cash allowance.

Link to comment
3 hours ago, hethj7 said:

https://www.laurabuickgmc.com/VehicleSearchResults?make=GMC&model=Sierra 1500&year=2018

Sorry, that doesn’t help much in negotiating persay, but is how I usually go on the cars.  

OMG, that selection.  They will be hearing from me tomorrow!

3 hours ago, oldjeep said:

Sunroof will be the tough part, so a volume dealer is your friend. 

Something close, but a chevy

http://www.jeffbelzer.com/new/Chevrolet/2018-Chevrolet-Silverado+1500-lakeville-new-prague-mn-a787c63c0a0e0ae93110b9ec2ad6c991.htm

 

I like the styling of the GMC's better.  That would be the equivalent of the regular premium package on a SLT GMC.  I need the Premium Plus to get the 8 speed transmission and some other goodies. Sunroof seems to be a dealer to dealer thing.  Some have few to none...others have them on most models.  I use mine very regularly so I'd miss not having one.

 

3 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Have you tried looking at dealers on the metro Detroit area?  https://www.lafontainegm.com/

As far as negotiating, I just hold firm at what the number I want. It goes round and round but walk away if you have to. Also wait u til the last week of the month. 

I'll check them out tomorrow.  I haven't went the Michigan route yet, mostly Ohio and Kentucky so far.

2 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

dang, looking at that laurabuick site, they totally bone you for the sunroof.  Like $3K cheaper without ticking that option.

I wasn't seeing that.  Sunroof is a $995 option.  But usually not optioned on the Premium trucks (but can be and sometimes is), but more often on the Premium Plus I am looking for.

1 hour ago, RyanB said:

Costco has pricing deals that are supposed to be similar to supplier discounts.

No pricing deals on the '18 models (I spoke with them yesterday).  I do get a $500 cash back voucher with them on top of my best negotiated deal, which I will be using.

Link to comment

I don't understand why so few dealers bring in the 1500 with the 6.2l and max towing. Of course the large dealers do but for the 30 or models my dealer has only a small handful are 6.2. 

Link to comment
17 minutes ago, Cole2001 said:

I don't understand why so few dealers bring in the 1500 with the 6.2l and max towing. Of course the large dealers do but for the 30 or models my dealer has only a small handful are 6.2. 

How many Denali’s do they have?   

Link to comment
6 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

I don't understand why so few dealers bring in the 1500 with the 6.2l and max towing. Of course the large dealers do but for the 30 or models my dealer has only a small handful are 6.2. 

Cost, I'm sure.  But even looking at Laura GMC, with their huge selection, I didn't see a single SLT with Max Towing.  GM is super funky with their options on these:
- No max towing option on the Denali, so it is impossible to get a 6.2L with the 3.42 gears in a Denali
- SLE can't get the 6.2L, only SLT and Denali.  So if you just needed a heavy towing 1500, you have to get the higher trim with leather
- Max towing with the lower SLE and 5.3 gets you 3.73 gears and 6-speed.  SLT can only get the 8-speed and 3.42.

I've given up on finding max towing.  I'm sure this was one an option that could be found, but everything ordered now is keeping it to specific packages and that's it.  I've not seen one truck with eAssist, Texas SLT Package, Max Towing, or Black Pack.  I've seen only a few All Terrains and a single All Terrain X.  The All Terrains don't have a deep of incentives either so they end up costing more with less features than the Premium Plus; I only like it because of the body color bumpers but have settled that I will have to stick to Chrome to meet my budget.  Hell, for the price of an All Terrain Premium, you are approaching too close to Denali prices to make sense unless you really want that Z71 suspension.

Denali's are still plentiful but their MSRP is about $4,000 more with less incentives, so they become about $6,000 more expensive.  Resale is a little better, but you'll only make up about 4k in resale now and probably less as they get older as I have a 10 year goal, so I'd assume only a 2k difference at 10 years/100k miles.  The Denali gets you is Mag Ride, painted bumpers, nicer gauge cluster and the fancy Denali badges (and the cluster is an easy swap from what I've read, which I would likely do eventually).  

Edited by Nitrousbird
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...