How can I get the salesman to lower the sticker price of the car?

Question

I'm looking into buying my first new car. I did the "build your car" on the web site and got the MSRP price.

How much can the salesman lower the price?

And how do I get him to do it?

Answer 1

Depends on the car price and Car. Average of a few 1000.

Say your a few 1000 dollars short, and will not do any financing.

Answer 2

You should use one of the sites that tells you the manufacturing cost of new cars and gives advice on how much profit a dealer might expect on various sizes of vehicles.  Consumer Reports used to have this in print (at the library) don't know they have it on line.  

   Typically, the dealer has to make $200-400 above manufacturer cost plus delivery charges.

  You won't get any cut on popular cars (whatever those are).

  And you pay for the thrill of a new car because its value drops the instant it become a used car (leaves the lot.)   If you were to sell it during the first year you would almost certainly have to pay cash to who ever did the financing because the car is worth less than the loan at that time.  A one year old car with 20,000 miles or less is usually a much better value than a new car.

Answer 3

It's very easy these days to get the invoice price.  Ignore the MSRP - get the invoice price and negotiate up from there.

You can get invoice prices on edmunds.com, for instance.

Answer 4

a...whole lot....09 is almost here..wait a few weeks and the 09 s will be out....my advice to you would be to start at 7000 below sticker...stand your ground...take a offer you can live with

Answer 5

It usually helps if you know someone at the dealership, and the MSRP you get when you build a car online is usually higher than the price that they offer at dealerships. You can offer him a counter price about 2-3 thousand less than what the car costs and then he'll counter your price and you continue to do this until you both reach a price you both agree on, or you can continue to offer a certain price and sometimes eventually they will budge and give you a lower price.

Answer 6

Salesman is out to make as much money as possible.  So you just have to bog him down until he makes bare minimum.  

1) Don't give in to his sales pitch.  He will throw the whole book at you.

2) Don't feel bad for him, he makes plenty.

3) Give some time to negotiate and barter.

4) Blame your cheapness on your significant other, gas prices, etc.

Answer 7

Tell him you're going to buy a car and you don't care who you buy it from.  Tell him to put his BEST  price down on a piece of paper.  There won't be any haggling.  Tell  you're trying to be fair to him and yourself and you just want the lowest price that he can sell you the car.  Put HIM on the spot.  Tell him if it's a good price you'll consider buying the car.  When he gives you the price, tell him you'll consider it, and walk out.  Do the same to a number of other dealers.  Right now, you're holding all the cards with the econonmy the way it is.  Once you have a number of prices, decide which one you want and go back to that dealer. Tell him he's going to have to lower the price more, and if he does, you'll buy the car right there.  He'll lower the price again, because he wants the sale.  If he doesn't lower it, walk out and go to the next guy and do the same thing.  You'll eventually get a nice car at your price.  Good luck.

Answer 8

First, find out what the invoice price is (what the dealer paid for the car) and assume that's the lowest they will go. They won't sell you a car unless they make some kind of money, or else they wouldn't be in business.

Answer 9

It's a fact that the salesperson can lower the sticker price of a car to JUST above cost.

It's also a fact that they could be fired for doing so.

Car dealerships are never micromanaged, as they are HORRIBLE businesses... almost none of them are good with teh better business borough.

BBB.com

The best way to get any dealer to lower the sticker price of a car is to simply say :

"I'm not buying this car for that much, I'm sure there's a better price you can offer."

The most expected reply to this is "Would you be interested in a less expensive car?"

Don't fall for it, every dealership has one or two complete lemons that they want to get rid of. Stay on that car and keep asking them the question above until they actually give you a better price.

Answer 10

Be brave.  Make an offer.  Instead of being worried, try to make it fun.   The car salesman will probably working in another job in 6 months.  Car sales don't pay very well or very consistently except for a very few.  

To get the biggest bargain, buy the car that no one else is buying.  If you buy a Prius, you won't get any discount.  If you buy a Chevy Equinox, you'll get a discount.

Answer 11

If it's a car you really like and really want:

1st do you home work.  Go to the Blue Book and look up the value of the car.

2nd go to other car lots and locate the same care and write down how much they are offering the car.  Also include small car lots as well as big (name brand) ones.

3rd talk to the sale man concerning the car.  Ask him the history behind the car, and who pre-owned it and other personal question.

4th have at least four prices and one major price you will not exceed.

Answer 12

Take up a lot of time, over an hour. Test drive many cars. Do so at 9 PM on a snowy day. Then walk out. "I have to think about it. Thank you so much." See what happens.