sausesq9

My dealer has found the '03 A4 I want; it's in another dealer's port inventory and he wants me to make an offer. The MSRP is $32,400. Your advice? I know the special financing is ending 3/4, or is it being extended? Should I go with the standard 3% over invoice (excluding destination charge of $600) or is that not realistic when the exact car I want is so rare. Also, what sort of downpayment/deposit do dealers expect?

Thanks in advance.

821 dtw (Greg)

As for downpayment - I don't think it matters - as long as your credit works out.

I assume you've tried other dealers? Have you asked your salesman what price he'd sell it at or did he ask you to just "make an offer"?

518 Jersey03_T

How is it so rare, what are the options

518 Jersey03_T

waiting for it to come in, and see if he takes any more off.

LAK

I gave em a thousand dollar profit. They seemed happy.

LAK

You should be able to get more off list than that. Figure out dealer cost, and give them 3-4% profit

April

Conventional negotiation techniques aren't going to work as well. Recognize this is supply and demand at work. Shoot for the 3 to 5% range. Of course do the negotiation before the dealer trades for the car, since you don't want to be wasting time.

It now comes down to what the dealer will take, and what you will offer - as well as how badly you want the car. You might be able to order it for a little less, but that means a 3 to 4 month wait. Is the money worth the wait - if practical at all?

April

tracking it, notifying customer of updates, etc.

Once the deal has been negotiated, it is done. Just like most of you get outraged when a dealer goes back on their word and lies about a deal, the dealership feels the same way when a customer agrees to a price, then after all the work has been done, pisses backwards at signing time. It tells them that the customer (all customers) don't deserve fair treatment and honesty - that it is acceptable to do the same back to them.

When somebody tried that after I had ordered a car for them, I warned them and gave them one chance to retract their new offer, after which I tore up the deal, gave them back their deposit, and set the price to MSRP. I immediately would go to the manager's office and tell them we had a hot car that needed to be moved ASAP. All salespeople would be called to the office and given the details of the car. That car would usually be sold that day - and often for more money than the original deal.

The reason behind this it to prevent the customer from coming back to re-negotiate and waste even more time than had already been wasted with the order. It became clear too, that this wasn't the kind of customer we wanted.