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Help deciphering this offer.

cbrenthus

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Lots of people make this way harder than it is, and get so worried about getting the best possible deal that they drive themselves nuts. Here are the simple steps to follow that have never failed me:

1. If you have a trade, get a reasonable value by checking KBB, current similar listings, and ebay completed listings.
2. Find the vehicle you want, and what you think the price should be
3. Figure out the OUT THE DOOR Price - take the price you think it should be, add in a little something for dealer doc fees (~$500), subtract your trade in and add in tax (many states don't charge tax on the trade in value), and then add any payoff on the trade.
4. If financing, get preapprved and have your interest rate and terms
5. Go to the dealer if local, if far then you can call but showing up ready to buy holds a lot more weight. Tell the sales guy "I have this vehicle for a trade with this payoff and if you can put me in that vehicle for X amount OUT THE DOOR I'll buy it right now."
6. When appropriate, bring up the fact that you're already approved at x amount interest for x months, but you'll let them try to beat it.
7. Get their number, and either buy the vehicle or walk away.

Tips:
Be prepared to go a little higher than what you ask for - if you're telling them $30K, and its the EXACT vehicle you want, are you really going to walk away for $75.32? What about $500?

Remember that it is better to pay a little more for what you really want than get a great deal on something you didn't really want, maybe you hate the color, or wish you had gotten a hard top instead of a soft top - you're going to live with that for the next several years.

Most importantly DO NOT stress over the added fees or your trade value - the OUT THE DOOR price is the ONLY thing that matters. One dealer might give you $2K more for your trade, but is still $1K more out the door. Another dealer might charge $1500 in fees, but still has the best OTD price around. Who cares what the fees are - it's really only the bottom line that matters.

Also, I didn't read the whole thread so I apologize if I'm repeating anything,
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Cuyose

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Yes, this is exactly how I went into this as well as my last Vehicle. I put a number range in my head I would be comfortable with based on research for out the door, was willing to walk if it was well out of the range. At the end of the day I was within $1000 of my initial low realistic offer, and well within what I was expecting to pay.

If you start thinking of it as a competition with them or others and the deals they got it will drive you crazy.
 

Cuyose

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Its official, and I got the 0% APR / 36month financing. I'm happy with the deal. Will be picking it up tomorrow.

InkedIMG_59321_LI.jpg
 

LawrenceR

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.... FYI to all of you out there who are either wanting a Jeep product or actually have orders waiting to be built.

I spoke with my dealer yesterday, according to him, better incentives are on the way. We saw that first, Jeep offered their "friends and family" discounts - that ended not long ago, only to be immediately replaced by Jeeps "Employee Pricing" which offered better prices.

I'm told that, in May we can expect that Chrysler will offer not only the "Employee Pricing" discounts but additional rebates will also be available.
 

Moreace

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.... FYI to all of you out there who are either wanting a Jeep product or actually have orders waiting to be built.

I spoke with my dealer yesterday, according to him, better incentives are on the way. We saw that first, Jeep offered their "friends and family" discounts - that ended not long ago, only to be immediately replaced by Jeeps "Employee Pricing" which offered better prices.

I'm told that, in May we can expect that Chrysler will offer not only the "Employee Pricing" discounts but additional rebates will also be available.
Any concept of when or how much? Do they give dealers this info in advance? Would they stack with tread lightly?
 

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Notorious

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What happened to the OP? Did he get the Wrangler or did he just waste his time playing games with the dealerships?
 

Pumping4Jane

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Good advice...

Also, hold the "I'm paying cash" card. Tell them you will only discuss financing once you are in the finance office. All dealerships earn a portion of the interest (known as "Reserve") on vehicles financed through them. Also, and only if you are a person of absolutely no scruples (and I do not recommend this), you could hint to Sales Personnel that you are really interested in all things aftersales. The extended warranties, that rustproofing and undercoating, the Joint Credit Life and all those other "goodies" that tack up dealer revenue after the sale. Then flat-out refuse all aftermarket items once in the finance office. Once again, i do not recommend this and it might probably "muck-up" the deal. Please play straight and keep your integrity intact.
 

ToPar9

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Good advice...

Also, hold the "I'm paying cash" card. Tell them you will only discuss financing once you are in the finance office. All dealerships earn a portion of the interest (known as "Reserve") on vehicles financed through them. Also, and only if you are a person of absolutely no scruples (and I do not recommend this), you could hint to Sales Personnel that you are really interested in all things aftersales. The extended warranties, that rustproofing and undercoating, the Joint Credit Life and all those other "goodies" that tack up dealer revenue after the sale. Then flat-out refuse all aftermarket items once in the finance office. Once again, i do not recommend this and it might probably "muck-up" the deal. Please play straight and keep your integrity intact.
Hmmm... Keep your integrity, when dealing with the bottom of the barrel when it comes to morals and ethics? When buying anything of great value, take control. It's not mandatory you leave with keys in hand. If you are forking out a 4-5 year commitment, make it on your terms.
Take your time, do research, figure out what you want your payment to be based on the price you want. Broaden your search to 50+ miles, find the Jeep you want, not the one you settle for. Take a day off, midweek, clear your schedule, and plan to be there for a good majority of the day. Write down questions, thoughts, terms, ask to see the numbers prior to agreeing to anything. Write down everything you want to know for a few reasons. 1. You don't panic and forget to ask questions. 2. They don't rush you into something you're not interested in. 3. They will attempt to upsell you. If you have a model/budget/features in mind, they will try to talk you into a more expensive Jeep that you are not familiar with. It might have a few better features, but it may not have a feature you were looking for.
Pre-approval if possible. Write down payment options, @ 3.9% 48/60/72 month payments are X/Y/Z, @5.9%, X/Y/Z. Have an idea of what you will pay in taxes. KBB your trade-in. I'd highly discourage trade-ins when upside down. Don't let them play the, "what do you want your payment to be" game.
Flat out ask, without all the back and forth, what is your absolute best deal on this vehicle? That's not close to what they will end up selling it for. Round off the numbers. Nothing worse than a purchase price of 53,827.92. Whatever ends up being the rock bottom, can't do better, you're robbing the dealership, we aren't making any money on this transaction, tell them 53k even. They will say they can't do it and ask them if they want to lose a sale over 827 dollars. I've yet to be denied. That 800 bucks is 15/month over 60, 19 over 48, and 12 over 72 months. Half tank of gas, unless you have a pandemic going on and don't drive anywhere. 15 bucks in gas has lasted me 2 months.
Also, be aware of money displacement. Yeah, you got 3k off the MSRP, but they are shorting you 4k on your trade-in. VIN etching, tint, "dealership upgrades", don't pay for that. It will turn a 50k Rubi into a 56k Rubi very fast, with the dealership's upgrades that run them a couple of hundred bucks. I may be a 1-time Wrangler owner, but I've purchased enough cars in my life to learn how to play the game.
I've left dealerships without a vehicle more times than with one.
I can ramble on more, but I'll stop. I am sure less than 10% have read this far, as I am not talking about 5" lifts and 40" tires. ;)
 

EZMFE

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We will make you wait and see how you feel about it tomorrow:

As you can imagine there are thousands of salesman and hundreds of different tactics that they have come across over the years to get people to buy cars. So sometimes you find yourself the guinea pig to some of those tactics. One of the more popular ones is to wait you out when you will not budge. They know you want to buy a car. They know you are interested in a specific one. They know for the right price you will buy their car. All of this from just talking to you for a few minutes. Since they have tons of face to face experience with people in this same situation, they tend to be able to read people pretty easily because they have seen it all before. They know the verbiage and "tells" that people give when they are serious and when they are just messing around. Not all of them but as you would with anything your trying to get good at, they are aware of and are looking for those tells.

So what they will do is not sell you the car for the price you want it for. They know you want it and they know the price you will buy it for, right (-5% invoice)? So they can now tell you no and let you leave. If someone else comes along and they can sell it for more than what you offered they will. This gives the buyer, that they already know wants the vehicle, a little more time to think about it. They usually plant seeds for you to think about and may even write down some number on their business card for you to take home. This will catch some people due to the fear of missing out...

What you may also find is that the next day they may just call you. Of course they are not just going to offer the vehicle to you for the price you wanted it for but they will ask if you still want it for the price they were asking. These are all tactics that catch some people off guard and they will end up paying more for something the dealer would sell for cheaper. They may sound as if this is your last chance to buy it... just checking if you wanted before we sell it to the next guy type or some other made up story/tactic....these are going... going... gone..

If they call you at all, you know you have them... this is when you must stick to your guns. Tell them you will be down there to sign the paper work if they can sell it to you for the price you asked minus $20 bucks...hehe. That $20 if for the time they wasted of yours when they could of just did the deal the night before. It is meaningless and you don't care about it but it shows up front that you don't plan on paying anymore and if anything they will be taking some 'additional" off to get you to come back in... ah, make it $200...

Because there are so many personalities and types of people, you are bound to come across some very strange tactics... Your best bet is to write down the price you want to pay, refer to that as often as needed, stick to your guns, and keep your eyes on the final price.

In the end, I think it's in everyone's best interest to think about big purchases like this. Even after you have made a deal, you can tell them that you want to 100% be sure this is what you want and will need a night to think about it. If the next day you still feel the same way, the vehicle will still be there and you can then go down and buy it. A quarter of the work will be done and the rest will just be you saying no...hehe
 

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EZMFE

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Interest Rate Shuffle:

Many people don't look at the cost of the vehicle after interest charges. They just want it now and that is what the dealers count on.

In Cuyose's purchase above the 0% rate is saving them thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. So not only did they get the % off the vehicle they wanted, they also saved more money than others may have due to the interest rate.

One individual could of paid less for the vehicle initially but since they had a higher interest rate on their loan, they will end up paying substantially more in the end.

This means that those that can qualify should go for the zero percent or lowest possible rate even if the term is shorter. It also means that one should shop around for the lowest rate. There is nothing wrong with getting three "estimates, bids" from multiple local financial institutions. It is actually recommended. This lets you get to know the business, the people inside (customer service), and the ease of going there if/when needed. This also allows you to see if you have a CU/Bank that is not giving you the best deal. They all might be close to the same rate.. but there might be one that is far higher than the others. You might of went there first and not of checked any others. Now in this case, you have just saved yourself multiple percentage points which will add up over the life of the loan.


Credit Unions working with dealers:

What is going on is that some Credit Unions that used to put the customer first are in agreement with the car dealers. The more business they bring the credit union, the higher the "finders fee" per se for those loans. You tell the dealer that you plan on financing through a specific CU and they will pull out a laminated "CU" cheat sheet with the credit scores = percentage right there. Like it is set in stone and there is no room to budge. I mean rates change right but that thing is laminated and most likely been there for some time. Also, those could be inflated numbers and who is to say the CU had anything to do with that chart. It might be the dealer that put it together themselves and the percentage numbers are are a little high. Either way, why do they have that and I'd take it as a sign to check with a different credit union.

So you need to be careful with the credit unions/banks, since some may bump the rate up a bit. That is why it is suggested that you shop around like you do for other items in your life. Get a pre-approval from multiple credit unions/banks and let them compete for the loan. You can tell them that you are shopping for an auto loan and can be up front about going to multiple CU's/Banks. You do not tell them the rates of the others until you have all their rates... or all they would need to do it beat the lowest rate. Once you have all the rates you could call the others back and see if they can beat the lowest. Also, the dealer may beat the CU/Bank rates... if that is the case pick up the phone and call the CU/Banks you applied through back and see if they can beat that rate... and when they do... go back to the dealer and repeat the process. That is only going to work once but could save .25 - 1% point. You have went this far and every percentage point matters when dealing with loans that are years and years of your life.

If you had a big home project that needed to be done. Something bigger than you could do yourself. You would have at least a few contractors come over to bid the job. This way you know if the first one is being honest about the price and you can get to know each contractor in case one gives you a better "feeling" than another. Same goes for the CU/Banks... Checking rates from multiple places allows you to get a feel for the place/people also. You might find that the lowest rate is from the CU that gave you the best service. You would also want to follow that up with checking the online ratings of the establishments and the BBB website.

There will always be the option to just take what the dealer gives you :)
 

EZMFE

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Who's incentive is it anyway:

When looking at incentives. Don't get all hung up in what is available and what is not. Dealers tend to like to talk about the items that reduce the cost of the vehicle. You don't really care about all that, you just care about the final price of the vehicle.

What they may do is bring out a incentive brochure and say this $3000 incentive is only available if financed through the dealer. So now they are attempting to make it look as if you must allow them to finance the vehicle for you. Take a look a the fine print on those incentive documents and straight up ask if you are unsure. They will most likely tell you that they are unsure and will go check with the finance guy but they very well know already. Even if they tell you yes it does, you may find that the loan they arranged for you is not through the dealer... even though they said something specific about it needing to be... to get you where they wanted you. It may be that the incentive in this case is not dependent on who the vehicle is financed through and so don't let that catch you off guard.

Now there may be 0% financing offers that are dependent on dealer financing. This would be a good time to bring that up to the CU/Bank that you plan on financing through... you could always tell them that you can get 0% from the dealer so then ask if they can get anywhere near that. The CU/Bank is in the business to make money so will need a one or two points at least but may be able to pull a couple of percentage points off their original rate, if that is what it will take to get your business. If you can get zero percent from the dealer than that is most likely going to be the best option but maybe you have a existing loan/relationship with a CU/Bank and want to keep you stuff under one house... no need to pay any more than needed even if that is the case.

0% is just a number we are using today and usually only offered by the mfg, but that could be any percentage based on that days going rates and the financial institution.
 

EZMFE

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Practice the art of buying a car:

My advice to anyone that wants to learn more about how to do something is to practice. It is most likely advice you have heard before. If you want to be confident at something, it is best to have some previous engagement in that situation. The more you know about a specific topic the better you can describe it and more confident you are in yourself/subject.

One may want to go to a few different dealers and just get a grasp for how things work. Even if you are not interested in a specific type of vehicle, there may be one or two that you wanted to check out... now is the time to do that. You may be surrounded by salesman just begging for you to buy from them or you may be left on the lot to fend for yourself. You want to learn the basics of how the operation works, That way when it does come down to the real deal you are that much more prepared.

You can take this as far as you would like... go inside and talk numbers... or you can keep it basic and just get a feel for how salesman are. Look for the "sales" man in them so you can easily spot it next time.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread something about playing games with the dealerships. What one needs to realize is that the dealers and salesman at these dealers have been playing games with your entire families finances for years now and taking advantage of every single one of them. That is all these people know is games and as a matter a fact, the games they play they have perfected due to playing them so much. Many people will walk out of auto purchase paying more than what they "should" have based on the trade value, vehicle price, and interest rate of the loan.

Some people are being taken advantage of and just like with anything else, the more you know about something the better off you are going to be. You don't have to do anything different than you do right now. You can still go in and buy a vehicle just by asking the price and paying it. Take their word for what your trade is worth and don't worry they'll have your back as far as the financing is concerned...

The best thing I can say about these salesman and the people that stand behind them is that they are sharks and should never be trusted. You treat them as if they are there to steal your wallet and possibly more. Their entire purpose in life is to persuade you to give them as much money as you are willing to give them. They have multiple ways to make money on these deals and take advantage of most people in each of those opportunities and will promote those that follow that same mindset.
 

EZMFE

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The sob story - Guy is mad:

So after they agree to some deal and start talking real numbers. They may use some sort of tactic on you to make you think they should get another few hundred more dollars from you. When you are going through the numbers paperwork and you are crossing items off with a pen so they can itemize those for you... They may give you a story about the charges.. like the sales manager is going to be pissed if we take those off... Remember, they already agreed to sell you the vehicle for the % under invoice you agreed on. Don't let anything these people say get under your skin. When they agreed to the cost of the vehicle, did they take into account that you would be a pushover and agree to all these other charges or were they already willing to sell it to you for that price and now are nickel and diming you to see how much cash you are willing to give them. Everything is money to them so if they can get $50 to 500 they will try. Tell them that you will grab him a tissue if he gets made about the extra costs that you are not paying since they are not required charges.


Don't be a smart ass / Don't push your luck:

Remember the dealer doesn't have to sell the vehicle to you for the price they are going to and so when you play hardball with them they tend not to reward it. Don't expect too much as far as good attitude/gratitude goes. They will be cordial but would be much more friendly to those that they make more money from. This of course stems from them attempting to get more money out of you and hearing no over and over... as the process goes on, their tactics tend to wear thin on you and you holding to your guns wears thin on them. Just don't expect anything "given" to you as you have already "taken" in some cases more than what they are wanting to give. I would not feel bad in the slightest but a cold shoulder would not mean anything is wrong it just means they have no additional reasons to please you at this point.
 

Cuyose

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EZMFE broke it all down for everyone. Its not complicated. Do research, find out what people are paying for the jeep you want, find out what your trade in is selling for. Then find the doc fees governed by your state, refuse any other charges, and come up with a number you will be comfortable paying out the door for you dream Jeep. Don't make a ridiculous lowball offer, that makes you look like you haven't a clue and aren't serious.

The dealer isn't in the business to spend money to hold Jeeps for you to pick up, they need to make a profit somewhere. Be reasonable, you are not going to get the best deal in the history of Jeep sales. You just need to get a deal that you expected and were expecting you might have to pay.
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