New Car Buying Tips

[Brian Elfert]

Payment method and trade-in, if any, should not be discussed until after you reach a price on the new vehicle. If you tell them about the trade-in right away they will use the trade-in as part of their sales pitch. They do things like reduce the value of your trade so they can claim they are giving you a better deal on your new vehicle. Before cars were sold at full MSRP if you wanted more for your trade they would just jack up the price of the new vehicle and give you more for the trade. The bottom line cost of the new vehicle doesn't change when they change the numbers.

[Myles Moran]

Never discuss how the vehicle will be paid for until a final price is agreed upon. If you ask that question, you are giving the dealer an opportunity to direct the negotiation rather than it being you.

So I'm not super well versed in car buying, but my experience in the last few years has been dealers giving a number of "x below MSRP, that's our price". Are there places that are still doing the big production of back and forth to the managers desk on car prices? We've only had to play that game with trade in value.

[Jim Becker]

While some dealers offer "their price", it's always still negotiable if they want to actually sell to a savvy buyer. I frankly don't look at MSRP. I focus on Dealer Invoice because that's the most I'm willing to pay. In some cases, one can get 1-5% below Dealer Invoice, either through certain programs or through negotiation. Remember, dealers have quite a few incentives available that put their actual costs much lower than "Dealer Invoice". But this is also why it's often possible to get better prices from high volume dealers than the smaller dealers. While it's nice to support your local, small town dealer, if price truely is important, then being willing to travel to complete a purchase is a consideration. And to your question, some dealers are still doing the "dastardly dance". You cut that off at the knees by being prepared and informed and as has been noted already, being willing to say "have a nice day" and walk out the door with your money.

One other thing that folks often make the mistake of creating "personal time wasting" is being too focused on that last five dollars of discount. "Well, that dealer in the next town offered it for $100 less..." That's kewel, but is $100 worth the extra time and effort? For a more substantial difference? Yes. But know when to just accept a reasonable offer that gets you what you want and maybe use that to get an accessory added at no cost to you for accepting the deal, even though it's not "the lowest".

[Rick Potter]

If you check You Tube, you will find many short videos by people in the biz who say that times have changed, and dealers are way overstocked on High content (expensive) cars, and few less optioned ones. $70-100K pickups are loading many dealers lots, while it is hard to find a 'work truck'. Some of the 'on-line used car companies are already gone, and Carvana is hurting because they bought so many expensive vehicles thinking the shortage would never end.

One guy shows pics of repo auctions with loads of fancy pickups and Dodge Hellcats, etc., bought by people who had a down payment but couldn't keep up the payments, especially since the interest rate has gone up so much.

No real advice, except do your homework and study the current financial conditions and inventories, for what best suits you.

[Jim Becker]

Rick, "basic work trucks", while still available, are not really being ordered for stock by many dealers because most of the market is the higher trims that are essentially passenger vehicles. Not many folks show up off the street looking for them. IE, the profits are in the non-work-focused vehicles. There are some dealers that are exceptions who have a dedicated sales operation for trucks and vans focused on the trades. If someone wants a basic work truck, order it if it's not readily available in your area. Honestly, I order vehicles the way I want anyway, so if I were needing a "work truck" (not that it's going to happen), I'd likely order that too. BTW, all the contractors that I know buy the nicer trucks anyway.

[Pat Germain]

If you check You Tube, you will find many short videos by people in the biz who say that times have changed, and dealers are way overstocked on High content (expensive) cars, and few less optioned ones. $70-100K pickups are loading many dealers lots, while it is hard to find a 'work truck'. Some of the 'on-line used car companies are already gone, and Carvana is hurting because they bought so many expensive vehicles thinking the shortage would never end.

One guy shows pics of repo auctions with loads of fancy pickups and Dodge Hellcats, etc., bought by people who had a down payment but couldn't keep up the payments, especially since the interest rate has gone up so much.

No real advice, except do your homework and study the current financial conditions and inventories, for what best suits you.

I have seen some of those videos. And yet, I don't see any evidence of dealers lowering their prices to move all that inventory.

I'm a member of a Ford Mustang club. We hold our meetings at a local Ford dealership. During the recent pandemic, that dealer couldn't keep anything on the lot. They had very long waiting lists for trucks, Broncos, the "Mustang" Mach E and the new Maverick. The waiting list for the Maverick got so long, they stopped adding people to the list.

Now that dealership is chock-o-block with inventory. It's mostly full size trucks. And yep, they are all loaded with options. The MSRP on these trucks is typically $80,000 to over $100,000. The interest payments on these trucks has to be killing the dealership. Ford recently cut the price of the new Mach E because demand collapsed after Tesla lowered their prices. I'm not sure what's going on with the new Maverick. People still want those trucks, but I've have seen only two on the road and I've never seen one at the dealer.

So do they lower their prices to move out all that inventory? Absolutely not! Sure, they're not asking $20,000 over MSRP like they were a couple of years ago. But you'll have to fight very hard to get them to come down much below MSRP. Not sure how this is a viable business model. I get the impression the National Automobile Dealers Association is telling them to hold tight lest the bottom fall out of the new vehicle market; which is really what should be happening.

[Jim Becker]

Pat, my good friend just finally took delivery of his Maverick truck and I got to drive it. It's a really nice vehicle. Comfortable and well equipped in the top trim level that he bought. It's also getting him 36 mpg (hybrid) compared to the high teens/low twenties he was getting with the Acura he drove previously. And it has a (small but) usable truck bed that's supportive of what he likes to do. For bigger stuff, he borrows my utility trailer. The one reason I wouldn't buy one is that it's 2WD in the hybrid format. I'm a committed AWD person.

Dealers are not giving away vehicles because they don't need to...people are buying despite the higher prices and interest rates. But at least negotiation is back on the table, unlike when supply was seriously constrained.

[Pat Germain]

Pat, my good friend just finally took delivery of his Maverick truck and I got to drive it. It's a really nice vehicle. Comfortable and well equipped in the top trim level that he bought. It's also getting him 36 mpg (hybrid) compared to the high teens/low twenties he was getting with the Acura he drove previously. And it has a (small but) usable truck bed that's supportive of what he likes to do. For bigger stuff, he borrows my utility trailer. The one reason I wouldn't buy one is that it's 2WD in the hybrid format. I'm a committed AWD person.

Dealers are not giving away vehicles because they don't need to...people are buying despite the higher prices and interest rates. But at least negotiation is back on the table, unlike when supply was seriously constrained.

I've heard those Maverick trucks are indeed great. Did your friend have to order his Maverick and wait months to get it? I'm just confused as to why these trucks just don't seem to be available to buy.

Certainly people are buying vehicles. But they don't appear to be buying the $100,000 pickups at my local Ford dealer.

[Jim Becker]

I've heard those Maverick trucks are indeed great. Did your friend have to order his Maverick and wait months to get it? I'm just confused as to why these trucks just don't seem to be available to buy.

Yes, my friend had to wait a very long time for his order...many months but I forget how many. They reason they are not just available for sale on lots is that Ford cannot produce them fast enough to keep up with existing customer orders yet. The pre-order process was insanely popular and even after that the fervor continued. There are similar waits for other vehicles, like the Toyota RAV Prime.

[Ron Selzer]

Largest local dealer is advertising 133 new F150's, starting just above 40k with 3k discount, 72 month zero financing, 4 Mavericks 28k to 40k. all at MSRP
Ron