With - car sales taking a historic dive and - hundreds of cars stacking up in inventory - as sales staff spend their days with their hands in their pockets when they're not smoking cigarettes - and many dealers in a liquidity crunch and in danger of going under - easy credit over, making it hard for people who want to buy a car to get financed, reducing the number of potential customers - people who can afford to buy now hunkering down and conserving their resources - while we enter the very slowest car buying time of the year, the Christmas season,
I'm interested in discussing the best opportunities for getting a hilariously good car deal right now, especially for those of us who could walk in and pay "cash." (In quotes since it may be AOR cash or HELOC proceeds.)
An angle I've been pursuing is shopping for 2005 model imports, usually in dealers' inventory, and, if you Carfax them, usually off a three-year lease with at least some factory warranty remaining. )There are entire independent car lots in my town that have sprung up to sell off-lease luxury makes in great condition, many with low miles.) You can get Volvos for less than half of what was their new MSRP three years ago. Nice options like leather and sunroof cost mere pennies extra. Dealers are pricing the cars much more aggressively than private sellers, who seem in denial and not pricing the cars realistically. Are there other makes where you've observed a glut of cars and attractive pricing? There's a weirdly flat curve where an 06 costs much more than an 05, but an 04 or 03 are not much cheaper than an 05.
What about new cars? What are the best incentives you've seen? I imagine there's some sort of floor price, even in this market, as no one wants to sell below actual cost, especially when they're not making money. But if there are extra cars, they aren't getting any newer sitting there. What's the best markdown you've seen? Or should we just wait for the cars to get repoed by dealer credit line providers, who will then liquidate them? How would you expect them to be liquidated? I imagine used car inventories repoed will simply go to auction, where they'll drag down auction prices and therefore used car prices in general.
Any other ways those of us who kept our powder dry while everyone else was leasing a new car every two years can meet our automotive need/want/lust on the cheap in this environment?
Or should we hold off a month or two more and wait for things to get worse, making prices even cheaper?
Looking forward to the discussion.
Message edited by: VanceWade on 2008-12-09 13:19:13 CST
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The formula that is referenced below is pure nonsense, it simply does not work. This has been discussed many times already. You simply can not deduct $2000 from a deal calculated at invoice and expect to be taken seriously.
In light of the perpetuation of this myth from this character: mrblackpcs said: I'm an a**whole plain and simple.
---------------------What the price I should offer?---------------------------------- MSRP or Sale Price= $XXX Est Invoice= Black Book Value for vehicle Dealer Prep= ~$500est(Most dealer dont put this much into a prep a car for sale) Est Tru invoice= Black Book Value plus Dealer Prep tax/tags= (Depends on your state for TTL) Low ball offer= (true invoice plus tax/tags - 2K) Target Price= (MSRP or Sale price Low ball offer) / 2 Good Price= Something in between your Target Price and your Target Price plus TTL Too High= Anything over Target Price plus TTL
----------------------Post your Deal/Dealer details here---------------------------- I think if you can post your car details and dealership information including any other suggestions here, it would help others like me immensely. Thanks!
Message edited by: ranchopedro on 2009-02-27 16:43:39 CST
You're right... Used car prices are amazing right now. I'm also looking at used imports, but 06 models and above. Most of the luxury imports that were under lease in early 08 are still sitting on dealer lots and the deals to get rid of them are amazing. For example, right now I'm looking at an off-lease 2006 MB C280 4MATIC, with 26k miles for under $18.5 and it's still under factory warranty.
I just bought a 2003 4x4 4runner v8 sport edition for 9900. Sold new for >30K. Search craigslist for someone to take you to a dealers only auction for a nominal fee. The deals at auction are crazy.
Updated quick summary to include used car formula from other thread... Should be easy to do it yourself now that the Black Book information is easier to grab.
Dealers used to have incentive to make year end numbers, and would give crazy deals on Dec 31. Now that they're not going to make any quotas, and that they may be in line as a creditor to collect on any incentives, I'm not sure that that will be the case any more. But worth a try.
mojoworkin said:"Target Price= (MSRP or Sale price - Low ball offer / 2 plus the low ball offer)"
Absolut9: What does this mean? Thanks in advance.
Take the MSRP or Sale Price and subtract the low ball offer from it, divide that number by 2 and then add the low ball offer back in. For example, let's say the sale price of this car is $15,000 and the low ball offer that you got was $10,000.
(15,000 - 10,000) / 2 + 10,000 = $12,500
the formula above would yield a target price of $12,500. Hope that helps.
My mom is in the same boat. She got an offer on a 2007 Audi A4, loaded with everything except the AWD for 20.5K plus tax/license. This is with 18,000 miles and before she really even tried to bargain. The blue book in a dealer was something like 25.5K. She hasn't bitten yet but I'm curious to see what she can get.
Message edited by: rizorith on 2008-12-09 13:04:07 CST
Absolut9 said:mojoworkin said:"Target Price= (MSRP or Sale price - Low ball offer / 2 plus the low ball offer)"
Absolut9: What does this mean? Thanks in advance.
Take the MSRP or Sale Price and subtract the low ball offer from it, divide that number by 2 and then add the low ball offer back in. For example, let's say the sale price of this car is $15,000 and the low ball offer that you got was $10,000.
(15,000 - 10,000) / 2 + 10,000 = $12,500
the formula above would yield a target price of $12,500. Hope that helps.Yep. Thanks.
rizorith said:My mom is in the same boat. She got an offer on a 2007 Audi A4, loaded with everything except the AWD for 20.5K plus tax/license. This is with 18,000 miles and before she really even tried to bargain. The blue book in a dealer was something like 25.5K. She hasn't bitten yet but I'm curious to see what she can get.
When you say she got an offer, do you mean this is what the dealer offered to sell it to her for? Your wording makes it seem like she is the one selling the Audi. Of course, I could just need my afternoon caffeine fix!
FWIW, my girlfriend and I are about to embark on a journey to find her the best deal on a low mileage used or new 08/09 Honda Accord coupe. Should be fun dealing with some of these dealers. As far as getting a price on a new one, we will probably figure out the exact options we want and e-mail all dealers in a xxx mile radius to see what they come back with and go from there.
Message edited by: BMRisko on 2008-12-09 13:14:33 CST
Just edited OP to add two factors in our favor that I left out originally (and perhaps the two root causes of the whole auto mess):
- easy credit over, making it hard for people who want to buy a car to get financed, reducing the number of potential customers - people who can afford to buy now hunkering down and conserving their resources
Absolut9 said:mojoworkin said:"Target Price= (MSRP or Sale price - Low ball offer / 2 plus the low ball offer)"
Absolut9: What does this mean? Thanks in advance.Take the MSRP or Sale Price and subtract the low ball offer from it, divide that number by 2 and then add the low ball offer back in. For example, let's say the sale price of this car is $15,000 and the low ball offer that you got was $10,000.
(15,000 - 10,000) / 2 + 10,000 = $12,500
the formula above would yield a target price of $12,500. Hope that helps.LOL. Why not just (sale price + low ball offer) / 2?
scripta said:Absolut9 said:mojoworkin said:"Target Price= (MSRP or Sale price - Low ball offer / 2 plus the low ball offer)"
Absolut9: What does this mean? Thanks in advance.Take the MSRP or Sale Price and subtract the low ball offer from it, divide that number by 2 and then add the low ball offer back in. For example, let's say the sale price of this car is $15,000 and the low ball offer that you got was $10,000.
(15,000 - 10,000) / 2 + 10,000 = $12,500
the formula above would yield a target price of $12,500. Hope that helps.LOL. Why not just (sale price + low ball offer) / 2?
Yup.. I wondered the same thing, but it's the same formula from the old used thread and in the new car thread.
It would be interesting to know from a FW member who is also a car salesman . I am sure there will be a ton of surprises on what goes on with pricing and sales pitch for new cars.
Message edited by: smurth on 2008-12-09 14:24:36 CST
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