ajynx

iTrader: (2)

I am looking around for an Evo SE so I have been calling around asking for the best price. So far all the dealerships are giving me MSRP and telling me to come on in so we can talk. Is that normal? I mean I am ready to buy, but I am not driving 300 miles, across two states just to find out you can't beat the price of a local dealer. After two days on the phone with several different Mitsubishi dealerships I am quite frustrated. Other than being hesitant to give my SSN over the phone for a credit check, why are dealers so insistent on me being there in person?

seanr8368

ah to sell you a car, cause if you drive there like you said your going want to buy or drive all the way some where else to save 5 bucks a month on a car payment

highlyevolved

You have to play hardball with dealers. Let them know you are ready to make a deal, you talked to other dealers and they are offering 30-32 grand for the car, and wondering if they can make a deal. If they say they don't want to make a deal on the phone just threaten to hang up.

wwEVOsss

I dealt with the same crap. If you want an exact quote you'll have to give your SSN. I was able to get rough quotes by telling them my credit score. Around here they understood I wasn't driving 100 miles to see the car. I told them 'I know what it looks like and how it drives, I just want your best price...'

Evod350z

iTrader: (6)

where r u located?

Exyia

iTrader: (6)

the idea that you have to "shop between dealers" is so overrated

every dealership pays the same amount for the same exact car. the only incentive is that if the dealership knows they risk losing the sale, they'll give you a lowball offer that other dealers can't beat. This is a somewhat faster way to buy at lowest price possible, but if you just use the online resources that are all over the internet these days, you can find out what the invoice is (and what others are paying)

Just find the exact car you want (color/options/etc). Find which dealer has it. Find out how much that EXACT car costs. Be serious and lowball them that price (be reasonable). At this point, any dealership should be wanting to get rid of 2010's (even if they're Evo's)

vleigh6

It's not hardball... it's just no-nonsense negotiation so you can compare and don't get bamboozled.

Always negotiate on the same figure. People talk about "out the door" pricing - and that's fine. But, in reality taxes and fees to the state are fixed in amount or as a percentage, so it's really the underlying price that is moving.

Watch out for other adds to the price. Maintenence Agreements; various "supplemental insurance" for paint, wheels, or interior trim; Lo-Jack; "Gap" Insurance - there is a list as long as my arm. Some of those things might be worth buying in your estimation, but negotate those on their own merits. If the dealer want to sell you an auxilliary insurance program for your wheels at $700 - they have plenty of room to move on that. If you want it (ok...) try offering them $500.

Attached is a TrueCar price report. I figure if you're talking about a SE, you're looking at leftover 2010 Evos. Good plan - I did the same thing with my MR.

Never negotiate price and financing at the same time. If you use the dealer's financing, fine. Shop your bank or credit union first to see the best rate that you can get and use that to negotiate as "Part 2" after you agree on a price. If the best rate that you can get is 3.9% for 60, tell the finance manager he needs to do better than that.

I looked at dealers from the Bay Area to San Diego in CA. I talked with a lot of sales people that tried the two-step shuffle and to bamboozle me and to get me to come in an "talk". Neh! I made my deal over the phone - oddly enough at a dealership only 28 miles from my house in Corona although I work outside Oakland and hit up about 20 dealers throughout the state.

Good luck.

ajynx

iTrader: (2)

I live in Baltimore MD area. Called pretty much all the dealers within a 250 mile radius (NY, NJ, PA, and VA). I told them I would buy a SE this week for 32-33k with the 0% financing instead of the 2k rebate. I know the SE are going for less than that price at Don Herring/So Cal Mitsu and some other dealerships in FL. However since I am so far away I preferr to buy it locally. I even told them, the dealers that is the price I am willing to pay. However they won't even tell me if they can beat or match that price. I always get "why don't you come in and we can talk". Why would I drive 200 miles to "talk" and it ends up they can't beat the price and I have to drive home another 200 miles empty handed

HudsonFalcon

iTrader: (9)

I'm in sales and I use the same tactic. I get dozens of call a day from people that just want pricing, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this but I give them the retail price. If they want to set up a meeting, meaning they're serious, I'm more than happy to work out a deal.

TheRedBaron

You are getting good advice in this thread but vleigh6 has the best advice in my opinion.

I also agree with HudsonFalcon and think the "you showing up part" is sign to them that you are serious about the car. A 200 mile drive is no trip to the grocery store though so I understand your frustration. Let me summarize my SE purchase in hopes of giving you some insight. It was a carefully planned process that had its ups and downs. I roughly knew what I'd be paying before I even showed up to my dealership of purchase. Hopefully you can do the same.

Step 1 - Test Drive the car, know it before you are even serious about buying.

Where did I do this? At a local dealership, same one where I bought my previous (current at the time) used car and I actually became a regular customer of the service department. I know many will bash me for going to the dealership for service but it was for a purpose, 15% of every transaction went into an account that could be used towards the purchase of the new car. So this for me was October 2010. I was having my oil changed since I had some coupon, when I was ready to leave I walked up to a group of sales guys, 3 older gentlemen and a younger guy. I wasn't wearing anything fancy, I'm a young guy, but I asked with confidence "Would it be possible to test drive the Graphite Grey Evo SE out on the lot there?". I knew the exact product I wanted. They looked at each other and young guy said "sure, let me get the keys but I need your license etc etc". We walk out to the car, I clearly know more about it than him, but the questions start. "What do you do for a living". Fire back with the answer he wants, full-time job, vague but difficult sounding work "engineering". Follow up statement to keep him listening "I bought my previous Mitsu here and have been a customer for 6 years". There's another + for me, loyalty. I tell him, "I need to research and test drive other cars still, STI, Speed3 etc". After the test drive I tell him I enjoyed it, agreed to go "talk at his desk". I was there that day knowing it was on sale from 36,849 MSRP down to 32,942, having amassed about $600 in my dealer account mentioned earlier. I could potentially be getting this SE for under 32K. I complain they don't offer customer loyalty for a current Mitsu owner, say I don't want the 6 disc changer in there. He picks up the phone, makes a BS call. I then inform him I'm a recent college grad, he makes another call trying to find out if there are incentives, "none on the Evo". I act disinterested, he gets flustered and brings over the sales manager, they start handing me all these coupons and gimmicks, trying to get me to leave in the car at that price. I said, "just test driving today guys, much research left to do". I leave that day, no purchase. Follow up calls from the salesman and manager a week apart. I don't call either of them back.

Step 2 - Pick a color, start price hunting.

White, gotta have white, white is the only choice. This was my mindset even though I test drove GG. I now started playing my part in the game. These dealer websites give you an advantage with these "sales chats". I messaged a few and said "I want this car" and need your best price. No instant replies for price in the chat, but some lengthy discussions nonetheless. In some cases I waited for e-mails, got some offers around 33 and change, another requested I call the manager (didn't bother - you don't contact me I don't buy from you) and in another I got tough and ended the conversation stating "If you can't beat $32,000, don't bother contacting me because another dealer has a $600 advantage on you". That $32,942 on the GG was no longer valid but it's still a ballpark to toss at others. I was told invoice on that vehicle was $34,641, so chances are they fluffed that up and they are paying at most 33 to get these SE's at the dealer.

Step 3 - Wait for antsy sales people to come crawling back, but don't take their bait.

That dealer chat where I said, don't contact me if you can't beat this price was clutch. I only gave her my first name, e-mail only, no phone number, I was the mystery buyer who was definitely interested. I wanted the White still, but they also had Blue. I was contacted multiple times, after about 10 e-mails and 3 weeks later, I agreed to an appointment. Crappy weather came along and I couldn't make it. I called that dealer and said, "you are at 31,999, is that the best you can do?". He says, I've got somebody coming from out of state to see the WW soon and I'll give you the price I gave him "$29,999 using the $2,000 rebate". He even offered to come pick me up so I could make the appointment. He was desperate to sell. I refused and now knew it was possible to see the high 29's with the rebate. I was now in control, I had essentially maintained interest but let the days go by to get it down to a price level where I wanted to be.

Step 4 - Find money.

I was going to finance, so I shop around for loans. Most rates were averaging 3-6% depending on some factors. I ultimately apply for $30,000 from my bank (needing less though), which had the lowest rate at 2.9%. I later find out they'll only give me $20,000 at 3.25%. My intent was to put 20% down so I was dead in the water. The dealer had to become my money source now.

Step 5 - Show up at dealer with confidence.

I open up my e-mail and find out the WW had sold. Great....only OB and I had never seen it in person. I show up 7pm, close to closing. OB SE is on the showroom floor. I say, no need to test drive, I have before, but they move all the cars out and let me take it for a spin since I looked legit, came with leather binder in hand, still in my work attire.

Step 6 - Buy the car if the price is right. Walk away otherwise. (We are now in January 2011)

Another e-mail before this latest appointment got me $500 off the 31,999 or 29,999 based off which route I take. Why? I claimed I didn't want Blue. Once I saw it I was a fan so this was just additional savings. After the finance dept was done running some numbers, I discover local banks won't give me what I need and would have to use the 0% financing.

In the end I got the SE for $31,499 before tax / tags. The GG from the original test drive was long gone, and probably sold for closer to 33,000 + TTL. I wanted to use my $600 but couldn't since this was a different dealer, but I found a deal that was fair and I'm not paying any extra for the loan. Did I even test drive another vehicle? Nope, the X SE was the EXACT car I wanted and now I'm in love with the blue. Color choice may be limited for you at this point but the moral of the story is shop around, don't fall victim to dealer tactics and don't pay more than 30K with the rebate or 32K with the 0% if you are scooping up an SE at this point. If your credit is bad, you have might some trouble, but this same dealer I bought from said he sold the WW to a guy who took a 72 month loan and could barely put 5% down. Maybe I got a good deal because all the profits will be made off that sale?

Sorry for the long story, just a glimpse at my buying process. They always want you to stop in, but be aggressive, fight back and you may not have to take a road trip.

popdakebin

wow. can't believe i read your story.

NJ Drive

iTrader: (6)

^^^ Excellent detail on how to handle dealerships. This is exactly the approach I take when dealing with them. Well done.

Don't let the whole 'Limited Edition' SE mantra get you to pay more than you should either. They are leftovers no matter what dealers say. You can easily locate or order a 2011 MR the same exact way as the SE, but you'll get BBSs instead of Enkeis and lose the heated seats.

TheRedBaron

Thanks NJ Drive, I think the best part was when I pulled out the laptop with an Excel program to compare potential financing rates, sales guy had to be $hitting himself.

Back on topic, the 2011 MR is merely identical but you will end up paying more, the SE is truly a bargain and was designed to be the poor man's MR if you ask me. One other piece of advice to you ajynx (or anyone for that matter) would be don't let a dealer con you into the newer model solely because they are unable to locate the one you want. In this case, I'm sure there are at least 90-100 SE's still available nationwide.

HudsonFalcon

iTrader: (9)

Good advice Baron. You're an intelligent buyer and you know the game well, you're a dealers worst nightmare lol.

sohlman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPor5b7JLLE