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Tried (and failed) negotiating on a Rubicon today...thoughts?

hazylogic

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Backstory to this is I've currently got a 2021 yellow Sahara on order. It's built, and in transit to the dealer. The dealer has been horrible w/ customer service, and I've not been able to actually negotiate a sales price on it. I'm getting annoyed w/ them, and happened to be out of town today, and ran across a 2020 Rubi that's yellow as well from another dealer. Thought I'd stop in, test drive, see what was up.

It's listed as MSRP of 54,495. The website say's they're offering a discount of 1,635 off that. Went on the test drive, and it was good. Didn't have all the features I wanted. I was willing to live with that if they'd give me a good offer, and I'd add/change what I could afterwards. Being a 2020 figured I could get a good deal. I see people on the forums getting anywhere from 1%-8% below invoice.

During the drive he tries to explain all the bs stuff they added as the dealer. Some tracking feature...some type of glass coating that increases strength 80% (he said something about withstanding a bullet...sound like a lot of bs to me)

I have a trade in, they looked at that, and said they'd do $15,000. I was fine with that, as that's what Carvana said they'd let me sell it to them for.

Went to talk price, he came back with some bullshit $500 off the MSRP. I asked him about the website price. He said that was if you "qualified" for certain offers. So he pulls out a sheet....college grad, military, etc, etc. Goes through it and I got the college grad, an another that was $500-1500. Asked him what determines that. He didn't know...went back to talk to the sales manager again.

Came back, said he shouldn't have pulled out that sheet, as that was only when special incentives were offered, and there were none right now, but they'd do the -$1635 from the website. Ticked me off a bit, but wasn't surprised. Car dealerships are so shady.

Anyway, he immediately starts trying to ask me about monthly payment. I tell him that's not a concern, the concern is the number at the top...the price of the Wrangler. I ask if that's all he could do, and he said yes. So, told him we'd think about it over lunch, and if we decided to do it, needed to call the other dealer to tell them we wouldn't be getting the ordered Jeep, just to make sure there were no repercussions. (They didn't even take a deposit, so pretty sure there wouldn't be)

Go to lunch, and I pull up the April 2020 order guide and figure out the invoice price. It's $51,406. I feel at the very most, that's what I should pay. Again, given the deals I've seen here, something below that doesn't seem unreasonable.

Called him back, and explained I had the order guide, found the fleet price, gave it to him, and told him I wanted it 3% below that ($47,807). Figured that's a good starting point. He went in again about their "upgrades" they added, and told him those had no value to me and was a risk they took when they put them on. He had me text the numbers, then he sent a bunch of texts that made me think he was confused about what I was asking, so we went back.

Explained again to him. He went to the manager (stayed back there for a good 5 mins), came back and just said "he's not willing to do that" No counter offer, nothing. Then he said that if we find someone that will do that, let him know so he can let his manager know he needs to be more aggressive on pricing. I explained I've seen all kinds of people online getting great deals like that.

So, thoughts? What'd I miss? Was my ask too aggressive? Keep in mind I'd like to get a similar price off invoice on what I actually ordered, so any tips would be helpful. And again, the other dealer seems like a pile of steaming crap too.

Summary:

$54,495 MSRP
$52,860 was what dealer wanted.
$51,406 was invoice price from April order guide.
$47,807 was what I was willing to pay. Not even a counter offer here.
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Strommen95

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BackstoryGo to lunch, and I pull up the April 2020 order guide and figure out the invoice price. It's $51,406. I feel at the very most, that's what I should pay. Again, given the deals I've seen here, something below that doesn't seem unreasonable.
IMO your expectations are unrealistic. If you want to pay the low prices you see on the forum then contact the dealerships that are recommended on here. Reality is they represent a small minority of dealerships out there. The deals made here give many people a false impression. Most dealerships at the best will do invoice and even then many markets won’t. The dealerships recommended here are rock bottom when it comes to new vehicle pricing. Their business model is to sell a lot of volume, reach quotas and have enough purchasing power to buy their vehicles at cheaper prices than other dealers. Many dealerships don’t have this model and aren’t able to compete with pricing. To put it more simply it’s similar to why a local mom and pop shop won’t have the same prices as Amazon or Walmart.

Ordering a vehicle without an agreed price is a big no-no. You don’t have any leverage there.. If you want to play ball with a local dealer than bring real quotes from another dealer of other Jeeps you could buy, that’s the best way to get them to bite potentially. Otherwise the back and forth game with the sales manager almost never works out in your favor.
 

Notorious

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The OP’s offer of $47.8k is unreasonable. The salesman’s offer of $52.8k is slightly high but decent.

Want forum pricing? Go thru forum friendly dealers. Want regular everyday pricing? Go to any dealer.
 

balbright18

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Backstory to this is I've currently got a 2021 yellow Sahara on order. It's built, and in transit to the dealer. The dealer has been horrible w/ customer service, and I've not been able to actually negotiate a sales price on it. I'm getting annoyed w/ them, and happened to be out of town today, and ran across a 2020 Rubi that's yellow as well from another dealer. Thought I'd stop in, test drive, see what was up.

It's listed as MSRP of 54,495. The website say's they're offering a discount of 1,635 off that. Went on the test drive, and it was good. Didn't have all the features I wanted. I was willing to live with that if they'd give me a good offer, and I'd add/change what I could afterwards. Being a 2020 figured I could get a good deal. I see people on the forums getting anywhere from 1%-8% below invoice.

During the drive he tries to explain all the bs stuff they added as the dealer. Some tracking feature...some type of glass coating that increases strength 80% (he said something about withstanding a bullet...sound like a lot of bs to me)

I have a trade in, they looked at that, and said they'd do $15,000. I was fine with that, as that's what Carvana said they'd let me sell it to them for.

Went to talk price, he came back with some bullshit $500 off the MSRP. I asked him about the website price. He said that was if you "qualified" for certain offers. So he pulls out a sheet....college grad, military, etc, etc. Goes through it and I got the college grad, an another that was $500-1500. Asked him what determines that. He didn't know...went back to talk to the sales manager again.

Came back, said he shouldn't have pulled out that sheet, as that was only when special incentives were offered, and there were none right now, but they'd do the -$1635 from the website. Ticked me off a bit, but wasn't surprised. Car dealerships are so shady.

Anyway, he immediately starts trying to ask me about monthly payment. I tell him that's not a concern, the concern is the number at the top...the price of the Wrangler. I ask if that's all he could do, and he said yes. So, told him we'd think about it over lunch, and if we decided to do it, needed to call the other dealer to tell them we wouldn't be getting the ordered Jeep, just to make sure there were no repercussions. (They didn't even take a deposit, so pretty sure there wouldn't be)

Go to lunch, and I pull up the April 2020 order guide and figure out the invoice price. It's $51,406. I feel at the very most, that's what I should pay. Again, given the deals I've seen here, something below that doesn't seem unreasonable.

Called him back, and explained I had the order guide, found the fleet price, gave it to him, and told him I wanted it 3% below that ($47,807). Figured that's a good starting point. He went in again about their "upgrades" they added, and told him those had no value to me and was a risk they took when they put them on. He had me text the numbers, then he sent a bunch of texts that made me think he was confused about what I was asking, so we went back.

Explained again to him. He went to the manager (stayed back there for a good 5 mins), came back and just said "he's not willing to do that" No counter offer, nothing. Then he said that if we find someone that will do that, let him know so he can let his manager know he needs to be more aggressive on pricing. I explained I've seen all kinds of people online getting great deals like that.

So, thoughts? What'd I miss? Was my ask too aggressive? Keep in mind I'd like to get a similar price off invoice on what I actually ordered, so any tips would be helpful. And again, the other dealer seems like a pile of steaming crap too.

Summary:

$54,495 MSRP
$52,860 was what dealer wanted.
$51,406 was invoice price from April order guide.
$47,807 was what I was willing to pay. Not even a counter offer here.
My local dealer (not a large volume) gave me 4% below invoice. 51,560 MSRP , 48,860 invoice, 46,865 out the door. Just for a reference from a non volume dealer. Three other dealerships around me were all above invoice in July when I ordered.
 
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hazylogic

hazylogic

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I've been researching this evening, looks like there's a forum-friendly dealer in town that's at 7% below invoice for orders with tread lightly. Will probably reach out to them. With that, can get a Rubi with everything I want at the same price of the Saraha @ invoice. (still less than what either of these other dealers want for the 2020 on the lot or the 2021 already ordered). Guess I'll be waiting another 3 months for a wrangler :-D
 

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I've been researching this evening, looks like there's a forum-friendly dealer in town that's at 7% below invoice for orders with tread lightly. Will probably reach out to them. With that, can get a Rubi with everything I want at the same price of the Saraha @ invoice. (still less than what either of these other dealers want for the 2020 on the lot or the 2021 already ordered). Guess I'll be waiting another 3 months for a wrangler :-D
theres some good dealers over by you too. Check out Austin jeeppeople and go to the recommendations tab or something. A lot of folks come over to our neck of the woods to Demondtrond in Conroe. Talk to Neil carpenter. Very realistic to get 6-8% under invoice without any haggling. We always order ours and it’s a painless process and still get a great price.

brett
 

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I second Neil at DeMontrond in Conroe. No games or BS, 7% below invoice. Low doc fee, maybe $200 or $250 I don’t remember. No deposit required when I ordered. Did the whole deal via 2 or 3 emails, never met or talked to him until I picked it up. Best new vehicle buying experience ever.
 
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hazylogic

hazylogic

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I second Neil at DeMontrond in Conroe. No games or BS, 7% below invoice. Low doc fee, maybe $200 or $250 I don’t remember. No deposit required when I ordered. Did the whole deal via 2 or 3 emails, never met or talked to him until I picked it up. Best new vehicle buying experience ever.
I’ll first try the recommended dealer here. (Nyle Maxwell). If that doesn’t work out will for sure check these guys given the two positive reviews here. Thanks for the info!
 

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jeepingib

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I bought mine at Nyle Maxwell in Austin when the JLs first came out in 18. Got the first Punk'n Rubicon that they received. I definitely had to play hardball to get a good price though.
 

Punjabi New Yorker

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Many dealers have started becoming tough with negotiations due to COVID as profits are way down versus a year before. This was also another reason why the dealer was being hard. FCA as a whole is also now operating rather slim. Although B2C sales such as dealerships have stabilized, the B2B sales such as large corporations and fleet agencies are in the toilet. Unfortunately the B2B is what pays the bills...
 
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hazylogic

hazylogic

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I bought mine at Nyle Maxwell in Austin when the JLs first came out in 18. Got the first Punk'n Rubicon that they received. I definitely had to play hardball to get a good price though.
what’d it end up being? (Compared to invoice)
 

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I emailed Maxwell when I was buying and got some clown who wouldn’t even discuss price unless I came in to the dealership in person. Nope. I didn’t go any further. Maybe it was just the one idiot and most of them are good.
 

MDRubicon

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Or if you don’t want to wait, email the dealership offering 7% below on a 2021 and have them send you the total out the door price on a 2021 model that has the same package as the 2020 yellow jeep you liked. Contact the other dealership that has the 2020 model and tell them you’re going to buy a new 2021 at 7% below invoice - mention that due to Covid-19, waiting a few months means nothing, unless they meet you at 7% below invoice on the 2020. Stay cool and stand your ground, it’s your narrative vs. theirs in the end. Get their best and final offer if they won’t come to 7% (say that too) and make sure it’s total out the door (to compare apples to apples) and make your decision.

Feel free to mention that the 2021 has a higher value (newer, less depreciation), improved steering and additional features not on the 2020 (no need to go into detail, if needed - the full time 4-wheel drive, etc.).
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