I Bought a New Car By Getting Bids from Dealers

[Andrew Joiner]

I bought my wife a car by sending out emails to 20 dealers. First we test drove cars at our closest dealers. She decided exactly what she wanted in a car. I decided I wanted to simplify the process. I researched a few investing and finance websites. A few people got better prices than third-party car buying sites like Costco and Truecar by emailing dealers direct. I used an email address created just for this deal. Here is what I sent out:
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Hi,
I'm inviting you to bid on this deal.
I am going to buy a new 2018 impreza Hatchback. This will be cash, no trade in. I want to finish the deal and to pick up the car on or before 12/15/17.
My specifications: 2018 impreza Hatchback in grey or silver. Black or dark interior.
No options or accessories, just as basic as possible. Manual transmission.
I am sending this request to all Subaru dealerships in a 200-mile radius. Please provide your best out-the-door price including fees taxes and licensing for a car that will be on your lot by 12/15/17 . By out the door price I mean what the check's written out for.

Please provide me with your direct phone number so I may call you if your out-the-door price is competitive. I will not take telephone bids, please provide them via email only.
Thank you,
Andrew
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About 6 or 7 dealers never responded. 5 emailed "canned" responses that had no prices. Several had prices just below msrp. 3 dealers gave prices around $18,900. I told those 3 they were all close. When one dealer asked"what price do I need to beat?" it was surprisingly easy to email back and say if you beat $18,550 I'll come in today. He said "$18,500 and we have a deal."
I verified the vin# and that the car was on his lot. Also verified the price was "out the door" by saying I'm bring a check for $18,500 and want to sign and drive the car away in less than an hour of signing.
Everything went as planned except it took longer than 1 hour total at the dealer.

I'm happy with the price and my wife loves her new car. Mostly the process was fun and stress free. It was especially fun and easy to deal with the dealers at my own desk!

Happy to share more details if anyone has questions.

[Dave Lehnert]

I had a friend buy a car that way. He had to drive 3 or 4 hours but saved about $2K

The problem I have with it is I would want to test drive the actual car I was buying. I once test drove a F150 and there was something wrong with it. The dealer said they would send it through service and fix it. Right, I'm going to buy a new defective truck and hope they fix it.

[Larry Frank]

I am doing something similar. The wife and I found the car we wanted with what options and did a test drive. We had our financial advisor send requests out to 4 dealers with the requirement to respond in 30 minutes. In the end this saved us $1500 over a previous offer from a dealer.

I dislike buying a car as you always feel like you could do better.

Now, I just need to sell my 2004 Chevy Trailblazer. It is in good shape and someone will get a great deal. I may shed a tear or two when it goes.

[Wade Lippman]

If that included title and tax, good job. KBB says $20,000.

I once ordered a car, and a few weeks later the dealer offered me $500 to let it go. That might be the only good price I ever got.

[Frederick Skelly]

Good for you Andrew! I've done something similar twice. It was quick, easy and surprisingly pleasant.

Fred

[Jim Becker]

The same technique will work if you want to order a vehicle configured specifically to your needs for trim level, options, colors...everything. I stopped buying "off the lot" a few vehicles ago, preferring the few weeks wait for one built at the factory exactly the way I wanted it. Professor Dr. SWMBO's 2016 Outback Limited with Eyesight is the most recent example and our cost was well below invoice even with the factory order. If I were going to buy a new Grand Cherokee, my price would be 6% below invoice minus any available incentives. That's from a dealer 150 miles away from me, but it's a deal that my local dealers will not even come close to. Buy on price. The sales and services parts of the dealers are completely different cost centers and where you buy doesn't generally matter relative to where you service.

You did the right thing by sending a lot of inquiries and including very specific instructions. Anyone who responded but didn't give you what you asked for could be immediately eliminated and as you found, there are some retailers who 'get' the Internet side of selling and likely do a lot of clean business because of it.

[Edwin Santos]

Good for you, not only did you save some serious $$$, but you saved a ton of time and turned what is normally a tiring process to your advantage.

One challenge is that a dealer will often have their own unique reasons for being more negotiable at a moment in time than another dealer. Sometimes it's based on their particular volume for that month or quarter with the manufacturer and the effect it can have on their incentives and holdback formulae. There's no easy way for the customer to know any of this but your bid technique is a good way to flush these opportunities out.

[Chris Stephenson]

Smart man, we did the same thing when we bought my wife's cross-trek only I should have created a separate email as i'm still getting spam. I actually used the best offer which was an hour from us and took it to our local dealer, they beat the price by a smige and we purchased from them in less than an hour. The subie is a beast in the snow

[Michael Weber]

If that included title and tax, good job. KBB says $20,000.

I once ordered a car, and a few weeks later the dealer offered me $500 to let it go. That might be the only good price I ever got.
PT Cruiser? Crazy bidding wars for that nifty car.

[Steve Peterson]

That sounds like a great way to buy a car.

I tried using Costco once. The only response was a phone call from one of the local dealers offering $500 off MSRP. We ended up finding the exact car we wanted in the car section of the newspaper for about $5000 cheaper. I think they make up the difference by upselling the extended warranties, financing, and lowball trade in prices. We declined all of those and wrote a check for the purchase.

I miss the Saturn pricing models where the purchase price is fixed and known up front. I never bought one, but it seems like it would reduce a lot of the stress of buying a car.

[Val Kosmider]

My approach to buying a vehicle that i wish to own varies slightly, but only in the way I price the deal.

I determine the exact vehicle, just as you have. I then approach a dealer and tell him that I will purchase the vehicle right now at his documented invoice cost, and they get to add the tax and other minor stuff. I don't much care if they have the car on their lot, have to trade for it, or have to order it built.

There is no negotiation. Take it or leave it. They get to keep the floor plan or any other incentives which they get from the manufacturer. It gives them at least a few hundred, and could be thousands, depending on the vehicle. If they don't like the deal, I immediately move on. Very calm. Very simple. Very easy. Some times I don't even go to the dealer. They send over forms, i sign and send back, and they deliver the vehicle and I give them a check (basically cash)

Everyone is happy, especially me, because I don't have to deal with dealer nonsense, and I price the car!

[Andrew Joiner]

If that included title and tax, good job. KBB says $20,000.

I once ordered a car, and a few weeks later the dealer offered me $500 to let it go. That might be the only good price I ever got.
Thanks Wade. Yes the $18,500 included title and tax and plates.

KBB may say $20,000 but there's a lot of prices thrown around like " below invoice" "MSRP". It's so arbitrary in the car business. It's frustrated me since I bought my first new truck 1976. When I bought 2 Scions in 2006 I was amazed. Every dealer I contacted quoted the same price to the dollar. Scion had fixed published non-negotiable pricing at the time. Subaru for now wants to play the traditional game of playing with numbers from what I can tell.

Dave: Yes, we test drove the actual car we bought .

[Jerome Stanek]

I bought a 1972 Datsun 240z and when I went to pick it up I was offered $500 more than I paid for it. I had waited 7 months for one to come in and had put down $100 at 3 different dealers for one. I wanted a red one but ended up taking a blue one if I would had held out for the red one I would have had to wait another 4 months.

[Rick Moyer]

Thanks for sharing. Always good to know of others experiences, especially when car buying. I did something similar when I bought my last motorcycle (I don't buy new cars), except I actually called and spoke with someone at each (about 15) different establishments. Similar experience. I told them I was contacting x-number of dealers and I needed their best price and that they likely would never see me again unless there was a major problem. Similar responses as you received, too. Some not interested, some canned responses and some good offers. In hindsight, I like your e-mail approach. Unfortunately it's still not possible to know how great of a deal you're getting unless you know the inner workings of the dealership. Maybe you could do better with more pressure, but you certainly made it as pain free as possible and there is value to that.

[Mac McQuinn]

Thanks Wade. Yes the $18,500 included title and tax and plates.

KBB may say $20,000 but there's a lot of prices thrown around like " below invoice" "MSRP". It's so arbitrary in the car business. It's frustrated me since I bought my first new truck 1976. When I bought 2 Scions in 2006 I was amazed. Every dealer I contacted quoted the same price to the dollar. Scion had fixed published non-negotiable pricing at the time. Subaru for now wants to play the traditional game of playing with numbers from what I can tell.

Dave: Yes, we test drove the actual car we bought .


Andrew,
Great method of securing a good price. Just wondered, how did your price compare to the ACA/Subaru Pricing? I've used that in the past and it also seems to eliminate the fluff.
Enjoy your Impreza, perhaps add some feedback once you've acclimated to the vehicle.
Mac

[John Ziebron]

I bought my last new vehicle, a 2015 model, over the internet. I had some familiarity with a 2012 same model and knew exactly what I wanted and what color. I discovered that many dealers, at least here in SE Michigan, have an "internet salesperson" devoted strictly to that purpose. So I got bids from the 3 closest dealers, all were over an hour's drive, and took the lowest one. That dealer did not have the vehicle in stock but traded with another dealer to get it. Initial paperwork was even signed securely over the internet, although I did have to make a 2 trips there. One to sign some paperwork in person and one to pick up the vehicle.

But the process did save me a lot of time and travel miles because before dealers would not give you a "good" price over the phone thinking that you could just be another dealer checking the competition's price. And I did get a better price on the vehicle than if I just went to the showroom.

[Matt Day]

That's pretty much the way I bought my Forester back in 2003. I emailed 8-10 dealers within 100 miles or so and basically said "what's your best price for a black forester manual .....". I got a few responses that were essentially msrp, a few that wouldn't bite (this was 14 years ago, before the "internet sales dept" was a big part of the dealership), and 3 or 4 that played ball. I got them to go back a forth a few times each and eventually got the lowest price which was well below invoice.

I did the same with my wife's car and will do the same with my new car in the Summer - hopefully the new Subaru Ascent.

Nice work Andrew!

[Jim Becker]

I did the same with my wife's car and will do the same with my new car in the Summer - hopefully the new Subaru Ascent.



Good choice there...very attractive and very functional. I'm looking forward to 'fondling' one once they are out as someday, I'll need a new vehicle and as much as I love our Outbacks, I prefer the next size up which Subaru will now be offering.

[robert baccus]

I was born and raised on a large carlot and know how to make a deal. Find a company that does that on the internet--first read Consumer reports car issue for a month. Then contact the company and fill out theform on the I.N. You have notify them of--the exact model and trim line and equipment and how far you are willing to drive to purchase and drive home. If a tradein is involved it will be agreed upon at that time (a bad idea). They will do all the contactng by I.N. to many, many dealers --they will contact you with offers and perhaps near identical autos or equipment. Saved thousands this way on several cars and PU,s. But the best part is no hustle and game-playing with the sales team--I hate them.

[Andrew Joiner]

Andrew,
Great method of securing a good price. Just wondered, how did your price compare to the ACA/Subaru Pricing? I've used that in the past and it also seems to eliminate the fluff.
Enjoy your Impreza, perhaps add some feedback once you've acclimated to the vehicle.
Mac
I'm not an ACA member Mac, but price one as I specified and report back. I haven't driven the car at all, but my wife loves it.

[Mac McQuinn]

I'm not an ACA member Mac, but price one as I specified and report back. I haven't driven the car at all, but my wife loves it.

Andrew,
I believe pricing through ACA is somewhere around 2% below invoice minus any incentives in place at delivery.
Mac

[Jim Becker]

Affiliation discounts are typically 2% below invoice plus the benefit of any available incentives. Some programs also limit the fees a dealer can tack onto a deal on the backend. I did use one when I bought my JGC in 2012, but can get 6% below invoice at this point plus the benefits of any available incentives via a "group buy" from a Jeep focused forum I help moderate. Subaru has their ambassador program (generally an extra $500 off if you can get a certificate from one of their "ambassadors") and they also participate in some incentive programs.