Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

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MortgageOnBlack
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Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by MortgageOnBlack »

I saw the thread about used vehicles and I'm curious if the same applies for brand new vehicles at the moment.

We are in the market for a brand new Toyota 4Runner. With the computer chip shortage and the demand for vehicles picking up, are we out of the luck with trying to buy a brand new 4runner? Unfortunately, Toyota 4Runners appear to be in high demand in my area (Colorado).

The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?

A little bummed this is happening, but perhaps more of a reason to keep the wheels turning on our old tired SUV. Appreciate any advice on this matter.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by cheese_breath »

MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs? ...
I'll ask a different question. What could it hurt?
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
onourway
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by onourway »

Simply asking a dealer for their best out the door price is never going to get you much of a deal. Go ahead and ask for their price, but unless you have two or more specific vehicles of identical trims that you can play the dealers off each other with, you'll never get much of a discount. Even this strategy may or may not work right now depending on the specific vehicles and your location.
Madbull
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Madbull »

onourway wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:29 pm ...unless you have two or more specific vehicles of identical trims that you can play the dealers off each other with, you'll never get much of a discount....
And right now, especially for 4Runners, you'll be lucky to find 'one' that has 'some' of the options you want. It never hurts to ask, but I would expect to pay MSRP on a 4runner until at least this fall. Some regions already have customers on wait lists for a new build. If you do get a break on something you find on the lot, it's not going to be the usual invoice + 2% haggling of days past right now.
gllong0808
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by gllong0808 »

Supply chain issues, especially the chip shortage have certainly hurt inventory and had some impact on negotiating. A few weeks ago, I helped a friend with the purchase of a 2021 Acura RDX with the advance package and specific color combination she wanted. I contact 7 dealers in a 200 mile radius asking for OTD price, no trade was involved. One dealer had exact car and offered it at 11% below msrp. Two other dealers were at 7 and 9% below msrp. I sent one final email to the 3 lowest offer dealers requesting final price and finalized deal at 12% below msrp, which included $1k rebate. The car was not in inventory, but due to ship from the plant.

Friend received her car 3 weeks later, even delivered by the dealer. In my experience seeking multiple otd offers still worked, but certainly a little more challenging given inventory issues.
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MortgageOnBlack
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by MortgageOnBlack »

Thanks. The cost of the 4runner is already a splurge on our end and I don't want to pay any extra "fluff" on top of it. Based on my research, it sounds like late year might be the best time to do this. Also, it has come to light that the 2022 year will be the final year of this current generation (which we love). I'm not sure if this will be an advantage when the new 4runner is re-designed for 2023. If demand is high for the newer generation, maybe next year (end of year) will be the best time to buy. I'm concerned that the 4runner enthusiasts will buy-up the current generation to avoid going with the new generation, so that is a bit of a gamble on our end to wait.
Horologium
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Horologium »

This is my experience, ymmv.

I know my current vehicle could get top dollar in trade or selling to Carmax, Carvana, etc. (excellent condition, low miles, top trim level). So, just out of curiosity, I contacted a local dealer about the new vehicle I am interested in: specifying the color, engine, trim level, and option package. Almost immediately, I received a call, text, and email from different people at the dealership thanking me for choosing their dealership and how happy I would be with them. Those contacts were followed up with subsequent calls and emails describing the dealership, their contact-less delivery options, etc.

It's been several days, but I have yet to get any communication indicating whether they have the vehicle I inquired about.

What a waste of time.
Soon2BXProgrammer
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Soon2BXProgrammer »

This morning i was at a Toyota dealership... there was 35 total cars available on the lot, and not all of them are new. Normally they have 350+

I was offered $5100 cash for my wifes 2008 Scion XB.. if we had an extra 3rd car, i would sell it. (not to them but on the open market), because its value had been below $3k

There are no new cars. There are no used cars.
Earned 43 (and counting) credit hours of financial planning related education from a regionally accredited university, but I am not your advisor.
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Watty
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Watty »

MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?

You can likely see their inventory online to see if they have many is stock but that may be overstated since they may not have updated cars that have already sold.

Don't expect any laughs, but their best price might be well above MSRP or to just ask you to come in to talk about it. If you offer them some price that is way low they may not respond.

In normal times I have done this and about a third of the dealers just replied asking me to come in to talk about it, about a third gave an unrealistic high price for the market at that time, and a third were serious about dealing by email. As I recall other people have posted getting similar responses.
Californiastate
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Californiastate »

We’ve bought our last 5 new vehicles through email quotes. We’d email 3 local dealers specific vehicle specs. I don’t expect now is any different except for pricing. I wouldn’t expect any good deals for a few years.
helloeveryone
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by helloeveryone »

MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm I saw the thread about used vehicles and I'm curious if the same applies for brand new vehicles at the moment.

We are in the market for a brand new Toyota 4Runner. With the computer chip shortage and the demand for vehicles picking up, are we out of the luck with trying to buy a brand new 4runner? Unfortunately, Toyota 4Runners appear to be in high demand in my area (Colorado).

The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?

A little bummed this is happening, but perhaps more of a reason to keep the wheels turning on our old tired SUV. Appreciate any advice on this matter.
Another BH is considering selling a 2017 4runner....viewtopic.php?p=6063785

If you are willing to consider used and the price is right he/she might be an option
Shallowpockets
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Shallowpockets »

I bought my Subaru last month through the Costco car program. Part of that deal is that the dealer has to show you invoice price.
acegolfer
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by acegolfer »

MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm
The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?
I literally got laughed at when I presented my offer to a few dealerships. It didn't affect me. Some dealerships are easier to negotiate than others.
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Tubes
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Tubes »

What is going to be the best way to know when this shortage ends?

When toilet paper became available, you had to be in the stores to know. The news didn't report that the shortage was over, because I guess that doesn't push the click meter. I found out from sites like this because I wasn't going to stores.

The same is true with dealers. I don't normally know what their inventory is, so I don't know what is normal or not. The online inventory at these sites seems to have more obfuscation than it did 12 years ago when I was last buying, so I'm not sure if checking on-line is any good either.

I guess we'll discuss it here, but I was wondering if there were any other tricks.
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by bottlecap »

acegolfer wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:19 am
MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm
The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?
I literally got laughed at when I presented my offer to a few dealerships. It didn't affect me. Some dealerships are easier to negotiate than others.
I think they intend for you to feel ashamed to make a low offer. The last time I was essentially laughed at a dealership, I got my price from another dealer two weeks later.

JT
Senti
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Senti »

MortgageOnBlack wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm I saw the thread about used vehicles and I'm curious if the same applies for brand new vehicles at the moment.

We are in the market for a brand new Toyota 4Runner. With the computer chip shortage and the demand for vehicles picking up, are we out of the luck with trying to buy a brand new 4runner? Unfortunately, Toyota 4Runners appear to be in high demand in my area (Colorado).

The reason I ask... If I send an email to all of the Toyota dealers in my area asking for them to give their best out-the-door price, should I expect some laughs?

A little bummed this is happening, but perhaps more of a reason to keep the wheels turning on our old tired SUV. Appreciate any advice on this matter.
I just bought a 2021 Prius Prime using the email method. The problem I had was few in stock in dealership, and if they had it, it was being sold quick. Many of the dealerships wouldn't budge on price and had delivery dates in July. There is a NY tax incentive that is going down at the end of the month, so I wanted to get a deal done in June.

Anyways, I got $1000 off MRSP and the dealer had to get the car from another dealership. Prius prime is not that popular, so there were massive discounts from Toyota and there are good tax incentives for me to feel like I got a deal. It might be tough to get a deal on popular cars, but do email around.
sureshoe
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by sureshoe »

I'm sure people will disagree with me, but from my experience, shopping online typically gets you the best price without a lot of haggling.

Find the car you want and go to the dealership. You'll see the "internet price" is $2-4k lower than the sticker price. The reason is they know they have to show their rock bottom price on the internet or people will cruise by them. They might give a little more, but not much, because there just isn't much room to give.

You can find it at 2-3 dealerships and their prices are going to be in line. You can go to multiple dealerships and show them the identical cars, and they will do their best to match, but there just isn't much wiggle room at that point. Dealers will try to slide in a "delivery fee" or "floormat upcharge", but if they are within an hour of each other, they're probably paying the same for the car and you're usually talking a price difference of less than $500 on a a $40k purchase. For some people the fun is in haggling/shopping/irritating salespeople all day (whether they admit it or not).

On your Forerunner, tax and title is going to be an addon that all dealers charge, period. Beyond that, let's say you buy a "SR5 Premium", you're going to pay $46k for it in Ohio. I could go to the dealership and squeeze them for maybe an extra $500, but not much more.
Ramjet
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Re: Negotiating on a brand new vehicle in current environment. Seller's market?

Post by Ramjet »

sureshoe wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 7:38 am I'm sure people will disagree with me, but from my experience, shopping online typically gets you the best price without a lot of haggling.
This has been my experience as well
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