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

[HoneyBadger]

Today I finally decided that I've had enough of my truck: Bad gas mileage, even worse turning radius, and a much worse time trying to park it in my garage. I want something smaller, with better MPGs, easier to drive, safe, capable for reasonable offroad adventures, and capable of fitting a carseat or two in the back. I want something different and I'm ready for change.

I've been doing research for about 2 months now and while I was previously looking at Subarus (as some may recall), I decided to take a look at the 2014 Nissan Xterra. On paper, it fulfills all of my needs for a car. The only thing I wasn't sure about was how it actually felt to drive one. I hadn't seen one up close yet.

I have previously paid too much for a car because I needed a car that day and I was not at all prepared for the car buying adventure. I got taken for a ride and probably paid $2-3k more than I should have for it. I am still bitter about it. Today I went to the stealership (Woodmen Nissan) and walked in with a plan in mind. I was not going to leave the lot with a new car under any circumstance. I want to play the game a little and see what kind of offer I can get down to. Here's the details

I want a 2014 ProX4 (5 speed automatic) with the tow package. MSRP is about $32K
I have a 2001 Silverado Extended Cab LS with 120k miles in KBB "excellent" condition. It has a brush guard and high-end toneau cover, along with a rear "airbag" suspension system and a brand new upgraded audio with an underseat subwoofer. Interior and exterior are in "like new" condition. No rips, tears, scratches, dents etc. Never been in an accident, etc. I expect that I could sell it private party for $9-10k

I spent about 90 mins at the dealership. Several times they asked for my truck keys, to which I politely requested that the keys remain in my hands, but I would show them anything they wanted to see (thanks to the horror stories in another thread). About 45 mins was spent driving the Xterra and test fitting Little HoneyBadger's carseat in it. I told them upfront that I preferred to take care of my own financing and that I wasn't going to make a purchase today.

In the end, I gave them my name and email address (one that I hand out to collect junk mail). I gave them limited information about where I work and where I live (although I allowed them to make a copy of my DL before the test drive, the address on my DL is out of date on the front). I made myself clear that with the trade in value of my truck, they could take into consideration my military service, my USAA membership, my Costco membership, or my Cheyenne Mountain Zoo membership if they wanted, but by the end of the week I wanted their best price. At one point I threw out the number $21k, but that might be a bit ambitious.

Bottom line is this: I don't have any requirement to buy a new vehicle. I just wanted to see what kind of year-end offer they could make me. If they can offer me anything under 22k, I will strongly consider taking it. If they refuse to go under 24k, I'll walk away and hang on to my truck for a while.

If you awesome folks have any advice, inputs, suggestions or general harassment, I'd love to hear it! I will post any correspondence I have with the sales staff at Woodmen Nissan as it comes in.

[mcjhr]

Did you look into Toyota Tacoma?
Sounds to me like you got your ducks in a row.

[rtr]

Listen to this http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radi...e/513/129-cars

[Rooskibar03]

Are you looking for a 21k price on the truck itself or an OTD price?

A few things come to mind. Nothing personal just thoughts from an insider.

Your truck. Nothing with 120k miles is excellent in the eyes of a dealer. The extra stuff on your truck while nice adds no value or consideration to a dealer. Sell the parts you can seperate, you're not getting extra for them. Not knowing cab and motor I can't look up for sure but auction prices are 4-6k. KBB, edmunds, NADA are Irrelevant. They don't spit out check and have no bearing on what a dealer will pay you. Used car values are set on current market trends. With a few mouse clicks we can tell how many of that car are on market, how long they are taking to sell, and for how much.

Private party you may have luck, especially being a truck in winter. If you want a dealer to give all they can for your trade, inflate your payoff. Dealers will always try to chase the payoff.

Don't be opposed to dealer financing. 1 there is some good money out there, two there might be incentives tied to financing. You can always have USAA re-fi later. (And don't let dealer tell you you can't, no prepayment penalty)


The new car. Again not knowing if your price was OTD with trade or just for the truck. That said, there isn't crap for markup in that truck. You are also trying to get a deal on a 14. Deals on are the 13s, there's still lots of time to move 14s. Check the Edmunds incentive page for rebates or cash, right now there's a whopping $500 dealer cash on 14s and less than 2k markup. Asian Import brands have crap for markup, if you want massive discounts shop domestic.

[HoneyBadger]

Are you looking for a 21k price on the truck itself or an OTD price?

OTD. Is that unreasonable?

[Rooskibar03]

OTD. Is that unreasonable?

Probably not to far off. See my above modified post.

[HoneyBadger]

Probably not to far off. See my above modified post.

Thanks for the good insight. Your "inside advice" is exactly what I was hoping for. I'll see what they come back with about the trade in value for the silverado.

The only reason I was looking at the 2014 model was because it comes standard with heated seats and the 2013 didn't even have it as an option. I'm sick of having a cold keister! The online prices I saw for the two model years were almost identical. If they can offer me a much better price on a 2013, then I wouldn't hesitate to take it.

@mcjhr: I did look at Tacos and I like them, but I think the Xterra offers a better feature set for the money. I don't need a pickup truck anymore.

[KS63]

Better luck for a "deal" on a 2013. $8K under MSRP for a 2014 is a pipe dream. You may not even get that price for a 2013. Like Rooskibar said, imports generally have less markup from Invoice than Domestic. Perhaps a lease return model that has a maintenance record with the dealership. Yes, it's a used vehicle, but at least you won't be taking the huge depreciation in the first year of ownership. Good luck.

[colorider]

Was going to give advice but Rooskibar hit every nail on the head. Be prepared to cry when they tell you your new sound system is worthless to them. Probably tell you that the sub under the seat is a big minus for resale rather then a plus. I sold a Yukon Denali a while back that I put a very nice sound system in. The dealer (who is a good friend) told me to yank the subs and the amps because if I don't, they will and then I'm left with nothing. They had zero interest in the system. I yanked all the stuff out and they rewired up the head unit to the speakers.
Good luck on the transaction. Buying new cars can be a major stress.

[HoneyBadger]

Better luck for a "deal" on a 2013. $8K under MSRP for a 2014 is a pipe dream. You may not even get that price for a 2013. Like Rooskibar said, imports generally have less markup from Invoice than Domestic. Perhaps a lease return model that has a maintenance record with the dealership. Yes, it's a used vehicle, but at least you won't be taking the huge depreciation in the first year of ownership. Good luck.

Did you see the part where I'm trading in my truck?