[66danny66]

I will be purchasing a 2016 Camaro shortly so I can have it in time for the summer. Im fairly young so this will be the first time buying a brand new car and dealing with car salesmen. I read online that the hotter the car, the colder the deals will be, and Im assuming the camaro is very popular car right now.

Does anyone have negotiating tips for a first time buyer especially on a car like this? Im also looking to factory order

Thanks guys

[Glen e]

Did you see this forum?

http://www.camaro6.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=226

[My87z28]

I think Glen was trying to post this, I ASSume

http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=441732

[Glen e]

No I was linking to the entire forum, because there's lots of good information besides that thread.

[My87z28]

Originally Posted by Glen e

No I was linking to the entire forum, because there's lots of good information besides that thread.

My bad, there certainly is.

[90503]

Originally Posted by 66danny66

I will be purchasing a 2016 Camaro shortly so I can have it in time for the summer. Im fairly young so this will be the first time buying a brand new car and dealing with car salesmen. I read online that the hotter the car, the colder the deals will be, and Im assuming the camaro is very popular car right now.

Does anyone have negotiating tips for a first time buyer especially on a car like this? Im also looking to factory order

Thanks guys

They'll see you coming from a mile away. It's not your fault, but seriously, you don't stand a chance. They will know you are inexperienced, anxious, have your mind made up, and can't wait to get behind the wheel of your first new car.

Never buy just on what the monthly payment will be....Salesman know that game, you don't....Shop as if you are paying cash for the whole thing, get a price, then talk financing....

Go window shopping...shop on-line...call Becky....You will find a deal if you can be patient....Good luck.

[Capisce]

Truecar.com, input your car, look at the number all the way to the left of the bell curve, go to one of the dealers that are partners with them, and pay no more than that number

[fastball]

First you need to figure out EXACTLY what you want. Interior and exterior color, exact trim level, exact engine/transmission combo, and exact options.

Never negotiate off MSRP or even invoice. Dealers still make a couple thousand on a sale at invoice otherwise they wouldn't sell them at invoice. Work to get lower. Then, take $5000 off of your final MSRP, and make that your OUT THE DOOR offer, including tax, title, and ALL dealer/doc fees. Then SLOWLY, METHIDICALLY work up from there. Walk out if you can't get it out the door for at least $1000 under sticker.

You really need to be firm, all business, and kind of a jerk. It's your money, you need to own the negotiations. Frankly you need to act like you don't really need and DEFINITELY do not want the car. Soon as you smile and act friendly you'll never get their best deal.

Remember, it's a business transaction and its your money. The salesman is not your friend. Don't believe a single word they say.

This is how my parents and I have negotiated for every new car we've bought. I've learned from them by watching them negotiate buying every car they've bought since the early 80s.

[6th Gen SS]

Originally Posted by Capisce

Truecar.com, input your car, look at the number all the way to the left of the bell curve, go to one of the dealers that are partners with them, and pay no more than that number

That's good advice. Then post back the MSRP, agreed on price (b4t tax) so we can calculate % disc. off MSRP b4 tax. 6.2-7% off MSRP b4 u dip into their holdback if memory serves from research and 1 dealer visit in Houston. (On 2ss)

[6th Gen SS]

Originally Posted by fastball

First you need to figure out EXACTLY what you want. Interior and exterior color, exact trim level, exact engine/transmission combo, and exact options.

Never negotiate off MSRP or even invoice. Dealers still make a couple thousand on a sale at invoice otherwise they wouldn't sell them at invoice. Work to get lower. Then, take $5000 off of your final MSRP, and make that your OUT THE DOOR offer, including tax, title, and ALL dealer/doc fees. Then SLOWLY, METHIDICALLY work up from there. Walk out if you can't get it out the door for at least $1000 under sticker.

You really need to be firm, all business, and kind of a jerk. It's your money, you need to own the negotiations. Frankly you need to act like you don't really need and DEFINITELY do not want the car. Soon as you smile and act friendly you'll never get their best deal.

Remember, it's a business transaction and its your money. The salesman is not your friend. Don't believe a single word they say.

This is how my parents and I have negotiated for every new car we've bought. I've learned from them by watching them negotiate buying every car they've bought since the early 80s.

Interesting. Thanks

If you arrive at 1,000 below MSRP out the door price due to a tax savings from a trade in- does that still count? I suppose that would allow you to ask for more discount. However, the dealer accepting your trade at a FAIR price gives buyer a (tax)discount while allowing dealer to make holdback + a bit more to keep the doors open. I believe in getting a darn good (respectable) price but not necessarily rock bottom. They have to eat!

[BrianInJackson]

Well, now that the car has been out for a while... prices has stabilized. So, if you are ordering one, they should be able to give you a firm price before hand. Get everything done as far as price when you order. Don't order, and wait 10 weeks for the build to show up to talk price... because then you are emotionally invested... and will be willing to pay more. Things are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. If other people are willing to pay a higher price, and the dealer knows this.... Why would they sell you the car at a huge discount? But for the most part, Truecar as someone mentioned earlier is a great resource. I got my car at the upper end of the "Fair Price" zone. Did I over pay by $100?... Maybe, but on a $40,000 car I am not going to argue over the last $100 for 2 hours. If you have more than one dealer in the area... call all of them and tell them what you want... Look at the best deal, and decide for yourself if it close enough. Now, as far as being a "Hot Car".. No, these are mass produced standard cars... Camaros are not limited editions. So, pick out what you want... tell them the price you are willing to pay... and be willing to walk away from a bad deal. I will say, the car is amazing... and worth every penny. Good luck.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by 6th Gen SS

Interesting. Thanks

If you arrive at 1,000 below MSRP out the door price due to a tax savings from a trade in- does that still count? I suppose that would allow you to ask for more discount. However, the dealer accepting your trade at a FAIR price gives buyer a (tax)discount while allowing dealer to make holdback + a bit more to keep the doors open. I believe in getting a darn good (respectable) price but not necessarily rock bottom. They have to eat!

I've never traded a car in. We've always sold them outright ourselves in my family. You get more money that way.

Don't worry about them. They're going to eat no matter what they sell the car to you for. Worry about yourself only. It's a business transaction. Strictly business. Own the process from the start...... Also I've spent 15 years purchasing medical equipment for a hospital. I deal with salesmen on an hourly basis.... That will really make me the wrong person to ask if you think they need to eat. Trust me.... They do!

[Egon]

I highly recommend negotiating everything over the phone before hand before ever setting foot into a dealership. There are so many things that they can do to an inexperienced first time buyer to jack up the price and you will be on their turf. If you are lucky and you have multiple dealers within a reasonable distance the best way is to solicit every one for a quote and let them know you are contacting multiple dealerships. This gives each one an incentive to give you their best deal or they will lose out to a competitor.

When I bought my 2014 1LE I contacted 8 dealerships within 40 miles of my home. (10 should be the max if you can find that many within a reasonable distance) I did about 5 to 10 min of research on each dealership to find out who the internet sales manager or fleet sales manager was and called the dealership and asked to speak to that person directly. If they were not immediately available I left a message that I wanted to discuss a new car purchase from them. (The internet/fleet sales manager is used to dealing on volume not on jacking up the price on each individual sale) I asked each one if I could send them a proposal with the car I wanted to order and to reply by email or phone with a quote. If they agreed (every single one of them did) I mailed them my proposal. Here is what I included.

• That I was interested in a factory order and that they must have allocation (if you don't want to order the car omit this)
• A complete list of all options with Invoice and MSRP listed including destination charge (all of this is available on the internet)
• I let them know that I was aware of regional advertising fees that would be included as part of the price (don't argue over it you won't win)
• I let them know that I also knew about how holdback works (so they can't tell you "I am not making any money off of this deal!" nonsense)
• That I was contacting other dealers and was going to go with the best out the door price
• The best 2 to 3 dealers would get one option to counter but I would not endlessly negotiate because I wanted to get this done quickly
• Let them know that you are aware of CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) that they are measured on and the incentives they get for good surveys from buyers and how I looked forward to "giving them the highest marks" (this is extremely important, they get a lot of money for hitting these targets every month and a customer that basically guarantees a good response will carry a lot of weight especially if they have recently had a few bad ones)
• That I intended to bring my car to their dealership for service if they were close to me (if they aren't close ignore this)
• And finally good contact info and when and how they can reach you

I received a response from every dealership within 24 hours and called the best 3 back the following day to let them know what the best price was. One dealership tried to counter the best price but they took too long to get back to me so I went with the first offer which was $700 under invoice. This was during a time when the 2014s were just hitting the streets and there were no incentives and everyone was telling me I would never get a good price. I walked in the following day to the winning dealership with their email quote printed out and spent less than 1 hour doing a small amount of paperwork, giving them a deposit and watching my salesman order the car on their computer. (I got a print out of all of that to take home)

When the car arrived at the dealership I went in and finished all of the paperwork after thoroughly inspecting the car during the day. (don't inspect a car at night!) I already had 1.99% financing in place before hand through my insurance company (make sure you have financing ahead of time, its easy to do online or through your insurance company or credit union) but let their finance department see if they could get me a better deal. (they couldn't) I also politely but flatly refused all additional upsales from the finance department. (GAP insurance, undercoating, etc) We finished all of the paperwork in a little over an hour and after that the salesman showed me all of the gizmos and then I drove the car home.

I am absolutely certain that other people out there got better deals than I did, but considering I spent less than 2 hours at the dealership, none of which was negotiating with a salesman going back and forth to their sales manager playing games I think it was a pretty damn awesome way to buy a car. I never once mentioned a starting price or spent a moment haggling and still got $2200 off of MSRP. (I had GM card points and USAA discount to sweeten the deal but not everyone has those) Although the salesman didn't make a killing on the sale they also didn't spend much time on it either so I am certain that they were happy with the transaction. It takes a little bit of research and preparation, but this was also my first new car purchase and I couldn't have been happier on how easy the entire thing turned out.

[enzia35]

Just call Becky.