Buying my first Wrangler (Price Advice)

[Richtor]

My gut was telling me what you just said. I'm currently looking into Tread Lightly.

Might want to try Koons....
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=301102261

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=302337721

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=302134325

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=300666101

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[SASQUATCH3000]

Might want to try Koons....
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=301102261

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=302337721

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=302134325

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/s...Helper.selectedEntity=d2412#listing=300666101

I attempted another dealers with some of the tips I learned. I focused on the sale price and never mentioned payments. This was for the same model I originally posted. I got the same results.

 

[rhjeep89]

In the description of this video there's a map link that shows some dealers and their % off invoice (not official based on word of mouth). Again going this Tread Lightly FCA route you have to do a custom factory order as far as I understand, email the fleet managers your build sheet and ask them to have it priced out and tell them you're a Tread Lightly member. Downside to this is waiting 4-6 weeks for your new Jeep to arrive, but it's built just for you with exactly the options you want. I honestly only emailed the one dealership in Irvine because the map showed them at 4% below invoice and the salesman actively posted on these forums as well.

 

[rcadden]

Some *GREAT* advice on this thread already, but I'll throw mine in there:

1. Definitely expand your shopping radius, and especially to dealerships in smaller towns, more rural, etc. They operate from a smaller base, so if they know they can get you to drive out from "the big city", they're often more willing to give you a good deal cause it doesn't tap into their existing market and raises awareness outside their normal market (you driving around, word of mouth, etc). Source: my personal experience and two friends that sell vehicles in Abilene, TX

2. IF you're not in a hurry*, waiting ~4 months might net you an even better deal. The 2022 order sheets will likely drop in ~a month or two, and (based on past years) the '22s will likely start delivering around August, maybe September. Which means any 2021s that hadn't sold by then will be anchors on the dealers lots. ALSO, there will likely be a surge of folks with 2019-2021 trading in, especially depending on what (if any) upgrades the '22 models bring (new colors, Uconnect 5, etc)**, so you may could get a great deal on a 1-2yo vehicle. There is also...a lot...happening in the auto industry right now with production delays/constraints, the rental car agencies buying up used models, etc, all of which should start to settle down by August/Sept, bringing prices down a bit as demand loosens.

3. When you walk into a dealership, understand that the salesperson's job isn't to "help you find the right car" - his #1 focus is to make sure you leave in one of his cars. Every single thing that he does is going to be centered around making that happen. Doesn't necessarily mean he's shady, trying to "pull one over on you" or is otherwise dishonest, that's just his job. So you have 2 jobs - leave WITHOUT buying anything BUT having gained enough knowledge to know IF you should buy something from him. Do be up front and honest with him, and as others have highlighted, stay focused on the total price. Know what your target total price is before you get to the dealership, and just keep saying it over and over in your head. Don't *ever* accept their inevitable offer to "drive it home tonight to see how you like it". If you do that, you've lost and he's won. And get everything in writing, and ensure that you understand what that writing says.

MOST IMPORTANT: Always, always be mentally prepared to walk away.

*I.e. if your existing vehicle is running fine, etc, and you have the willpower. One (or both) of those may break in the meantime, lol
**nobody knows *exactly* what the 2022 model year will bring. It's not likely to be a BIG overhaul or anything, but new colors, Uconnect 5, etc are at least *possible*. All speculation, of course.

 

[Richtor]

I attempted another dealers with some of the tips I learned. I focused on the sale price and never mentioned payments. This was for the same model I originally posted. I got the same results.

Was that the dealers near you advertising $3k off of rubicon’s?
Did you physically go into the dealer?

 

[SASQUATCH3000]

In the description of this video there's a map link that shows some dealers and their % off invoice (not official based on word of mouth). Again going this Tread Lightly FCA route you have to do a custom factory order as far as I understand, email the fleet managers your build sheet and ask them to have it priced out and tell them you're a Tread Lightly member. Downside to this is waiting 4-6 weeks for your new Jeep to arrive, but it's built just for you with exactly the options you want. I honestly only emailed the one dealership in Irvine because the map showed them at 4% below invoice and the salesman actively posted on these forums as well.

Was that the dealers near you advertising $3k off of rubicon’s?
Did you physically go into the dealer?

This was Ray Price in the Poconos. I don't believe they were advertising a deal. I'm starting to think I picked bad time to buy. lol

 

[SASQUATCH3000]

Some *GREAT* advice on this thread already, but I'll throw mine in there:

1. Definitely expand your shopping radius, and especially to dealerships in smaller towns, more rural, etc. They operate from a smaller base, so if they know they can get you to drive out from "the big city", they're often more willing to give you a good deal cause it doesn't tap into their existing market and raises awareness outside their normal market (you driving around, word of mouth, etc). Source: my personal experience and two friends that sell vehicles in Abilene, TX

2. IF you're not in a hurry*, waiting ~4 months might net you an even better deal. The 2022 order sheets will likely drop in ~a month or two, and (based on past years) the '22s will likely start delivering around August, maybe September. Which means any 2021s that hadn't sold by then will be anchors on the dealers lots. ALSO, there will likely be a surge of folks with 2019-2021 trading in, especially depending on what (if any) upgrades the '22 models bring (new colors, Uconnect 5, etc)**, so you may could get a great deal on a 1-2yo vehicle. There is also...a lot...happening in the auto industry right now with production delays/constraints, the rental car agencies buying up used models, etc, all of which should start to settle down by August/Sept, bringing prices down a bit as demand loosens.

3. When you walk into a dealership, understand that the salesperson's job isn't to "help you find the right car" - his #1 focus is to make sure you leave in one of his cars. Every single thing that he does is going to be centered around making that happen. Doesn't necessarily mean he's shady, trying to "pull one over on you" or is otherwise dishonest, that's just his job. So you have 2 jobs - leave WITHOUT buying anything BUT having gained enough knowledge to know IF you should buy something from him. Do be up front and honest with him, and as others have highlighted, stay focused on the total price. Know what your target total price is before you get to the dealership, and just keep saying it over and over in your head. Don't *ever* accept their inevitable offer to "drive it home tonight to see how you like it". If you do that, you've lost and he's won. And get everything in writing, and ensure that you understand what that writing says.

MOST IMPORTANT: Always, always be mentally prepared to walk away.

*I.e. if your existing vehicle is running fine, etc, and you have the willpower. One (or both) of those may break in the meantime, lol
**nobody knows *exactly* what the 2022 model year will bring. It's not likely to be a BIG overhaul or anything, but new colors, Uconnect 5, etc are at least *possible*. All speculation, of course.

I'm considering waiting a few months. I've been getting a lot of push back on negotiations.

 

[Richtor]

This was Ray Price in the Poconos. I don't believe they were advertising a deal. I'm starting to think I picked bad time to buy. lol

I gave you 4 adds close to you. Rubicon’s from about $44k or $3k less than msrp. Stop by those dealers.

 

[SASQUATCH3000]

I gave you 4 adds close to you. Rubicon’s from about $44k or $3k less than msrp. Stop by those dealers.

I was practicing my negotiation skills lol. Do you think I can get them down to 40K?

 

[Richtor]

I was practicing my negotiation skills lol. Do you think I can get them down to 40K?

In this climate it will be tough. Koons may be your best shot. However if your spending $44/45k definitely get the rubicon. OTD costs at msrp or lower is great.

My story goes like this. Dealer was advertising $8k off JL summer of 2020. I wanted a 2dr rubi stick, they had 4 on their lot and had not sold one in 3 months. There was also another 16 or so JL within driving range.
Walked in, salesman said they were the best dealer, best prices people fly in to buy from them. I said I wanted $6k off the Rubicon, they were advertising $8k off JL. haha
The manager came out, said the best they could do was $2.5k off. I walked across the street and ordered an F250 Tremor for the same price they wanted for their 2dr Rubi. Haha.
Best part, the manager emailed me on my drive home, saying they had a meeting and were granting special pricing on the Rubicon(no he did not know it was me that had walked out an hour before).

Good Luck

 

[SASQUATCH3000]

In this climate it will be tough. Koons may be your best shot. However if your spending $44/45k definitely get the rubicon. OTD costs at msrp or lower is great.

My story goes like this. Dealer was advertising $8k off JL summer of 2020. I wanted a 2dr rubi stick, they had 4 on their lot and had not sold one in 3 months. There was also another 16 or so JL within driving range.
Walked in, salesman said they were the best dealer, best prices people fly in to buy from them. I said I wanted $6k off the Rubicon, they were advertising $8k off JL. haha
The manager came out, said the best they could do was $2.5k off. I walked across the street and ordered an F250 Tremor for the same price they wanted for their 2dr Rubi. Haha.
Best part, the manager emailed me on my drive home, saying they had a meeting and were granting special pricing on the Rubicon(no he did not know it was me that had walked out an hour before).

Good Luck

Thats wild. Dealers just never made sense to me. Like I get the process and why they do it but give a guy a break lol. I'm currently waiting for my tread lightly membership. I got a lot of good advice and I plan to you use it. Thank you for all the tips!

 

[Ratiogear]

I'll add this: I found a youtube video advertising the google maps site someone from this forum created and general custom order process. That led me to more googling and brought me here.

I see a lot of talk about what to do and what to bring to your dealer. In all honesty? It's going to be a shitshow crapshoot. Even at a dealership, some salespeople will work with you and some won't. Plenty of them are just not knowledgeable, some are just greedy.


I emailed or called fifteen different dealers in my area (I'm in DFW so no shortage of options). I was upfront with what I wanted--I wanted to custom order a jeep wrangler and I wanted to pay 5% below invoice price and I wanted to use FCA affiliates 1% off. I sent them my build sheet. Here's some of the things salespeople told me:

• Best we can do is MSRP and take off our dealer fees.
• Affiliates pricing doesn't work for wranglers.
• No one does below MSRP.
• No one does below invoice.
• If you custom order, we can't give you a price till it gets in because incentives are determined monthly. That's the same for all jeep dealerships, it's a nationwide policy, no one will sell you below MSRP without incentives. ( this is after I told him I already had 1% off from another dealer)

In the end, not a single dealer in my area was willing to deal, except for one salesman at Huffines who offered me the 1% off invoice for affiliates. The rest were willing to follow up several times and keep coming back with MSRP or knock a few bucks off however.

So I used the recommended dealer thread and both Mark Martinez at Mac Haik Georgetown and Neil Carpenter at Demontrond were able to offer me 4% below invoice without any hassle or haggling. I'm looking at a 3hr drive, but 4% below invoice is like 9% below MSRP, and I'm not paying any extra for features I don't want or settling for a color I'm not in love with. I'm also not going to sit down to pay and find 2k dealer fees slapped on after we agree on a price because they tint the windows, lojack the car, put a 35$ security bolt on the tires, and add plastic bump-guards to the doors (looking at you, grapevine DCJR)

 

[dalema]

you’re getting a lot of noise on this thread.

As the person above just posted you can cut through all the BS and work with a couple of the known “friendly” dealers. In your neck of the woods I always hear of Craig from Tysons or Leon from Criswell. You give them your exact build, they order it and you have it in a month.

up until a week ago they were doing 7-8% off Invoice (not MSRP), but now seems to be more like 3-4%. Make sure you take into account their fees and need to finance. Hopefully that will change back eventually.

if you email them (make sure it is specifically them) they will email you back your build showing the invoice price and their price below that. Simple as that.

please check out the Recommended Dealer thread and just read a little:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/recommended-dealers-list.1227/post-1413586

there is a great search button at the top right - once on the thread search koons, criswell, or New Jersey etc. (select just search this thread)

also here is a spreadsheet you can select you model and options and it will tell you the invoice price and MSRp

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ng-worksheets-for-2021-jl-jlu-wrangler.52566/

 

[Richtor]

Everybody has to remember, why would a dealer sell you a car at invoice if they know they can sell it to someone else for $1k more? When you sell your house do you take the lowest offer or the highest one? Same thing with dealers. Whether we like it or not there are a ton of people who believe everything the dealers/salesmen say and will pay msrp plus add on packs that are pure profit.
Secondly dealers do not make money on new car sales. After all their costs and expenses and discounting from msrp their is no profit in new car sales.
Third there is more mark up in a gallon of milk than a new car at msrp. When was the last time you were haggling or asking for your milk at 10% below sticker?

 

[dalema]

Everybody has to remember, why would a dealer sell you a car at invoice if they know they can sell it to someone else for $1k more? When you sell your house do you take the lowest offer or the highest one? Same thing with dealers. Whether we like it or not there are a ton of people who believe everything the dealers/salesmen say and will pay msrp plus add on packs that are pure profit.

and then there are those people who found their way to this forum, do a little reading to educate themselves and pay a decent amount under invoice + get the exact rig they want as they built it. This forum is the best, and normally all very helpful.

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