It's a game of giving and receiving...
Before buying a new car, I did my research and figured out what I wanted. That alone was an adventure in itself. Long story short -- there is no "ideal" car; some have features that the other ones don't and miss features that other cars have. It's about giving up something and gaining something else. Then I called Costco, and I was kinda sure that they'd have a representative up here for the car I wanted. None. That alone almost brought everything to a screeching halt, because I am not the one who likes negotiations. But I had to do it. So I went. I went prepared though -- I had some cards up my sleeve that were supposed to help, I just needed to deal them at the right time.
I walked in and talked to a manager whose name I got as a contact from the web site (I submitted a request for a quote to the dealer through the manufacturer's website). He quickly reassigned me to an idle person staying around. That's the guy I was going to make the deal happen with. He was very nice, and not one of those who'd be pushing you to the limits. So we sat down, he looked at my card number 1 -- I printed out a page from the website that had the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price). He immediately noted something -- it turns out that the remote start is not quite feasible for the place I live in -- it has a short range and does not work from within the building. He suggested replacing it with another one of his for a price slightly higher than the one on the web site. Ok, so I asked him what the price was. He showed me the MSRP + remote start.
Then I mentioned that I also had quotes from another dealerships, and the price immediately went 2% down. "Because it's a standard discount of this dealership." Unfortunately, they are pretty much the only one big dealership of this brand around here, otherwise I'd have more leverage. Anyway, he did not want to go down anymore than that. Then I dealt my card #2 -- I built and priced the same car on Costco's web site, and he looked at it and it looked like there was a "light of hope" for more discounts. So he asked "what is the price that are you ready to pay for this vehicle?" At this point, I made a mistake. I should have set a price that was lower than I said. I kept in mind my card #3, and it was a quote from edmunds.com (very nice web site), where they show the MSRP, invoice price and what others are paying for the same type of car. I made them a reasonable offer, but instead I should have made it less, then I'd win more. Actually, comes to think of it, we're only talking about a couple of hundred dollars, so it's not a big deal. However, the negotiations theory says that I should have made a lower offer.
The seller took my offer and went "to talk to a manager." I honestly don't know whether he did talk to him/her or just grabbed a cup of coffee and talked to his buddies while I was chilling in the main area (it was cold, by the way). Then he came back with an offer below MSRP but much above my offer (see -- if I'd made a ridiculously low offer, he'd made his offer lower! He wants my money, I want his car!). Seemed like it was his final decision until I said that the purchase is not urgent for me and I could possibly wait some more. That, together with a quote from the Costco web site seemed to disappoint him and he did not know what to do. That Costco quote was only a couple of hundred dollars above the invoice price, and he would have no profit out of that one. However, it would also mean a lot of headache for me, I would not be able to get that price here. So I told him that I would be interested in purchasing the vehicle locally, and he picked up on that, reassured that the deal will happen today.
We went back and forth until I made an offer and said that it was final. The guy asked if he could add a 50 to it to show that I was ready to give up some more just to get the deal. It's a very fine game, and one has to enjoy playing it, otherwise it's a nerve-wrecking thing. And one has to know his acceptable highs and lows.
Part 2
I walked in and talked to a manager whose name I got as a contact from the web site (I submitted a request for a quote to the dealer through the manufacturer's website). He quickly reassigned me to an idle person staying around. That's the guy I was going to make the deal happen with. He was very nice, and not one of those who'd be pushing you to the limits. So we sat down, he looked at my card number 1 -- I printed out a page from the website that had the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price). He immediately noted something -- it turns out that the remote start is not quite feasible for the place I live in -- it has a short range and does not work from within the building. He suggested replacing it with another one of his for a price slightly higher than the one on the web site. Ok, so I asked him what the price was. He showed me the MSRP + remote start.
Then I mentioned that I also had quotes from another dealerships, and the price immediately went 2% down. "Because it's a standard discount of this dealership." Unfortunately, they are pretty much the only one big dealership of this brand around here, otherwise I'd have more leverage. Anyway, he did not want to go down anymore than that. Then I dealt my card #2 -- I built and priced the same car on Costco's web site, and he looked at it and it looked like there was a "light of hope" for more discounts. So he asked "what is the price that are you ready to pay for this vehicle?" At this point, I made a mistake. I should have set a price that was lower than I said. I kept in mind my card #3, and it was a quote from edmunds.com (very nice web site), where they show the MSRP, invoice price and what others are paying for the same type of car. I made them a reasonable offer, but instead I should have made it less, then I'd win more. Actually, comes to think of it, we're only talking about a couple of hundred dollars, so it's not a big deal. However, the negotiations theory says that I should have made a lower offer.
The seller took my offer and went "to talk to a manager." I honestly don't know whether he did talk to him/her or just grabbed a cup of coffee and talked to his buddies while I was chilling in the main area (it was cold, by the way). Then he came back with an offer below MSRP but much above my offer (see -- if I'd made a ridiculously low offer, he'd made his offer lower! He wants my money, I want his car!). Seemed like it was his final decision until I said that the purchase is not urgent for me and I could possibly wait some more. That, together with a quote from the Costco web site seemed to disappoint him and he did not know what to do. That Costco quote was only a couple of hundred dollars above the invoice price, and he would have no profit out of that one. However, it would also mean a lot of headache for me, I would not be able to get that price here. So I told him that I would be interested in purchasing the vehicle locally, and he picked up on that, reassured that the deal will happen today.
We went back and forth until I made an offer and said that it was final. The guy asked if he could add a 50 to it to show that I was ready to give up some more just to get the deal. It's a very fine game, and one has to enjoy playing it, otherwise it's a nerve-wrecking thing. And one has to know his acceptable highs and lows.
Part 2
posted by Eugene at
7:53 PM
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