Who wants to be a part of my car buying experience?

Somewhat related, yet somewhat not: I went to purchase a car earlier this year. We found (somewhat accidentally) a dealer who was super nice, and said his passion was fixing cars more than selling them. However, what he did was take us to the dealer auction where we found a great car for quite a bit less than most places were selling (I think it was ~11k, normally selling at least 14-15 iirc). It was a 2012 with ~20k miles on it, had been a rental and was in great shape. He sold it to us for that 11k plus a few hundred dollars. All in all he was a really great guy.

If you can find someone willing to do something like that (take you to the dealer auction...not technically supposed to but *shrug*), you can find a much better deal. We were lucky in finding this on the first auction we went to, rather than going back multiple times, but even so it could be worth it.

I imagine they would offer you 6-7500 for your truck. Pull the accessories off it and sell them on Craigslist.

Trade in also is a benefit because it reduces the tax you would pay on the new vehicle. So really if you got 7500 trade in, it would be equivalent to selling it outright for 8300ish depending on what your sales tax would be and you Dont deal with the hassle.

2013 vehicles will give you the best discount. If you Dont get one during a Christmas sale or new years sale, wait till memorial day and they have great sales then.

I would wait until 12/30 or 12/31 and go in then to see what the end of year deals are and ask them if the new years prices are out yet.

Getting $$ is harder than getting them to include extras like a maintenance plan or extended warranty or tinting or paint protection or interior treatment or clear bra or dealer added accessories. Those have a major mark up on them and they are more willing to give you those extras.

It just occured to me how funny this thread title is. I'm waiting for the "Who wants to be a part of my divorce experience" and "Who wants to be a part of my back surgery experience" threads. Hahah

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Originally Posted by Irving

It just occured to me how funny this thread title is. I'm waiting for the "Who wants to be a part of my divorce experience" and "Who wants to be a part of my back surgery experience" threads. Hahah

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Be patient, grasshopper. All good things come with time. [ROFL1]

Have you considered a Prius...they're good for the environment you know...[Coffee]

Just be prepared for the kick in the nuts from the state when you go in to register your new what ever you decide to get.

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Originally Posted by sroz

Have you considered a Prius...they're good for the environment you know...[Coffee]

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Right up until the moment that the battery craps out and it has to be disposed of!

And another thought of mine...I saw someone recommend the USAA car buying experience. I used that when buying my new Jeep back in 2011.

I sat down at the dealership after telling them prior to coming over that I was not up for a BS deal. I said I wanted to be in and out in an hour since pricing was already handled and they could start the paperwork since I was paying cash and had paid my deposit. Long story short I get the paperwork in front of me and the price is 3k higher than the USAA price I had printed out and brought with me to the dealer. I told them straight up that it was the wrong price and I wasn't signing. They gave me the old "Let me talk to the boss" line and came back with a price of 2k higher than the USAA price. I was enraged at this point and told them I was out and that I wanted my deposit back immediately. I started to walk out and they said they would honor the USAA price. I could not believe those shady bastards. On top of that I got treated like shit the rest of the time and I swear they were purposefully taking FOREVER to complete the titling paperwork. It was Centennial Chrysler Jeep by the way. I will never return there!

Breaking news: they never contacted me. I called the salesman up and he apologized for not getting back to me. He said he would call me back in a little bit with some numbers. An hour later he called me back and made the following offer:

Sell the Xterra for 28500 and give me 5500 trade in value on my truck. Somehow with taxes and fees it comes to 26200 Out The Door.

I laughed.

I told him that I know how much they pay for the Xterra. I know how much my truck is worth, and I know how much profit they can make off my truck. I countered with 21000 and he said he would have to call me back. That was at 4pm and I didn't hear back.

I'm guessing he'll call tomorrow and offer something like 25800 as "the absolute lowest he can go without losing money" or something similar. If they don't get down around 22k, I'm keeping my truck.

While I feel for your position I'll tell you it's unlikely that numbers gonna come. There just isn't that kind of range in a 30k car. A grand, maybe two and you're all in and come January one your trade value drops and the incentive to dig deep on the new car goes away.