Omeletpants

Any conversation (personal or email) with a sales person regarding price is negotiation.

IAS5

yeah, i know what email is...and i didn't say it was negotation, it was a negotiation tactic, and dealers see this as the beginning of negotiations almost every time.

the art of the deal is simply not limited to the handshake at the end. that is the goal, but what the goal ends up being, and how you get there is also part of the whole negotations process.

Your approach is simply a streamlined approach to finding the lowest price car by negotiating the market. Curious, why wouldn't you take the lowest offer and ask others (dealers closer to you) to match or beat it?

Reagrdless, my original post was simply pointing out other key factors in pricing differences, other than supply and demand......

Huey52

Yep, USAA is part of the Zag.com car buying service as well.

Well done!

GR8-LIFE

well then in that case rather than email a dealer and ask him if he is selling the car for under sticker, I think I am going to contact a dealer on my next purchase and say "Hey, whatver you are selling this model for, I dont care because I want the car. Just let me know your price and I will write you a check"

IAS5

as much as this looks like i am contradicting myself with the above post, that is not necessarily true. While i discussed the multiple dealer email approach brought forth by mark_nimda, which is a tactic negotiating the market (where the majority of users of this tactic take it to round two with the lowest bid, seeking a lower than current best offer...); a simple conversation, or email, with one rep is not always "negotiations."

in the purest form of one-on-one discussions, if there is an offer and counteroffer, you are in negotiations. A simple offer and accept (or reject), with no modifications (which is a counteroffer) is not negotiations.

From what i read into mark_nimda's post, he is simply looking to be in an offer-accept position.