negotiate with out of state car dealer

[BoosTT]

I'm debating on looking at (purchasing) a truck in MI. It's about 340 miles/6 hours away. If I drive there, I'm basically going to buy it. The price listed online is fair, but ofcourse, I'll take a discount if I can. How can I negotiate? I think they are going to say the website price is the best price. Suggestions?

[The Shaolin]

If you call them with questions or whatever now, don't mention you're out of state. When you go to look at it, don't let them know you're not local. Do your negotiating in person, just as you would if buying from a local dealer. Get the price in writing before you show your ID or let them know how far you came to look at that truck. ;)

[BoosTT]

If you call them with questions or whatever now, don't mention you're out of state. When you go to look at it, don't let them know you're not local. Do your negotiating in person, just as you would if buying from a local dealer. Get the price in writing before you show your ID or let them know how far you came to look at that truck. ;)


This way I would be required fo finance it thru the dealer though or come back again too pick it up/finish paper work. I kinda want to have everything set to go when I get there. Simply test drive and sign if it's as described.

[WI_Dave]

Sometimes the "internet manager" will offer better prices than a salesman. (before the negotiating at least) so you could try emailing asking the best price, I would email them and call a salesman just not give your last name unless you commit to it, either way it wont hurt maybe you'll end up with a decent price maybe not.

[STANMAN]

I went to Minnesota to trade my 05 Mustang for an 04 Cobra (Mystichrome) after they ASSURED me the car was showroom perfect (they were asking a premium for it, which I was OK with if it was perfect, as repairing Mystichrome paing is not cheap). I got there and there were rock chips in the hood, I asked for their best price because I came all that way and they assured me it was perfect, they told me to go pound sand as there were 4 other people in the showroom waiting to buy it, and they weren't lying, when I told them to shove it I watched the guy who was next do a victory dance as they handed him the keys. The sales manager called while I was on my way home, he got an earful, about 1/2 way through my rant he hung up on me.


That's my horror story, lol, hope your's turn out WAY better!!!

[spooln30]

My mom was just shopping around two months ago and almost every dealer said the internet price was their lowest price. Some came down from $100(LOL) to $500 even talking to both the sales manager and or the internet manager. I would def go to the dealer to make the deal and also to look over the car your buying. Online pics don't always show everything and some dealers will even know there's a dent, scratch or imperfections and will avoid taking pics of that area. Plus they always want to sell a vehicle so by you walking away from the deal they may come down more on the price verses when you buy online they most times don't take your seriously.

[BoosTT]

Well, a somewhat unique twist to this one. The truck is sold. The internet manager's wife crapped out a kid and he has been out for the last few days... leaving my voicemails and emails unanswered. Somone local must have snagged it. It wasn't that rare, so not a biggie.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

[Crawlin]

WOW, how much is your time worth?

I get the fact about buying cars cheaper and if its a select car like STANMAN's example, you gotta.

But if its a run of the mill vehicle that just so happens to be in MI for $2000 cheaper, I'd be perfectly fine buying local if I could make it only a $1000 difference. My time/free time especially is just worth so much more and I'm poor as shit.

I see your last post just now so sucks it got sold, but good luck in your search

[BoosTT]

It's a 6 hour drive. I'll blow a day to get the price, color, miles, options I want. I wouldn't fly somewhere and drive it home, but an all day drive is acceptable to me for something like this.

[wrath]

If you stumble upon another one I could probably go take pictures of it for you depending on where it is.

[Slow Joe]

Make sure you tell them you're out of state when you call. It may not help with negotiation, however it will help with making sure that a salesman on the other end isn't saying "yeah yeah, it's still for sale, when do you want to come see it?" just to get you in the door.

I've seen it happen, a lady drove from Detroit to Cedarburg to look at a Lexus GX because a guy said it was there... It had been sold two days prior. He thought she was local and that he would be able to switch her to another SUV.

And I'm going to add that most dealers today don't have a ton of negotiation room. They price their cars agressively, and move on with life. Don't expect to negotiate thousands off of an internet sale price. More like hundreds.

When we drove to NJ to buy our Viggen I got a few hundred off the price, which was already a good price. And they were very thorough with me on the car since they knew we were driving 16+ hours. I told them before we drove there that we were coming from WI and had the price pre-negotiated.

[Waver]

Wow, there is a lot of terrible advice in this thread. Joe is 100% correct in this statement:

Make sure you tell them you're out of state when you call. It may not help with negotiation, however it will help with making sure that a salesman on the other end isn't saying "yeah yeah, it's still for sale, when do you want to come see it?" just to get you in the door.

I've seen it happen, a lady drove from Detroit to Cedarburg to look at a Lexus GX because a guy said it was there... It had been sold two days prior. He thought she was local and that he would be able to switch her to another SUV.

And I'm going to add that most dealers today don't have a ton of negotiation room. They price their cars agressively, and move on with life. Don't expect to negotiate thousands off of an internet sale price. More like hundreds.

When we drove to NJ to buy our Viggen I got a few hundred off the price, which was already a good price. And they were very thorough with me on the car since they knew we were driving 16+ hours. I told them before we drove there that we were coming from WI and had the price pre-negotiated.

The only other statement in this thread that was correct is that pictures done always show everything. You have to keep in mind that these are USED CARS and unless they are rare vehicles or have super low miles for the year, chances are that the vehicle will have a few flaws. The only time a car is "perfect" is when it is new.

[WickedSix]

even that statement isn't always accurate...plenty of cars make it to the showroom with fit and finish issues from the factory...

[Waver]

even that statement isn't always accurate...plenty of cars make it to the showroom with fit and finish issues from the factory...

That is why I put it in quotation marks.....you also forgot the dealer installed swirls in the paint from inexperienced lot guys.

[WickedSix]

funny that just happened to my in-laws.... now they get to repaint a quarter panel a n00b buffed thru....

[Rocket Power]

It's a 6 hour drive. I'll blow a day to get the price, color, miles, options I want. I wouldn't fly somewhere and drive it home, but an all day drive is acceptable to me for something like this.


Hope your luck is better than mine. We drove to Ann Arbor to look at a Achieva SCX W-41 , was assured by the seller on the phone and emails that it was in great shape with no problems at all, and looked like it in the pics (which turned out to be old) . Got there and the heater core was leaking while it was cold, had a hack job single outlet exhaust, and they rewelded a door hinge on with some of the worst welds I've ever seen.
A complete waste of a day.

[Waver]

Hope your luck is better than mine. We drove to Ann Arbor to look at a Achieva SCX W-41 , was assured by the seller on the phone and emails that it was in great shape with no problems at all, and looked like it in the pics (which turned out to be old) . Got there and the heater core was leaking while it was cold, had a hack job single outlet exhaust, and they rewelded a door hinge on with some of the worst welds I've ever seen.
A complete waste of a day.

A car like that wouldnt be on a larger lot in Wisconsin. Unfortunatly, most states are buyer beware states, where Wisconsin is a buyer protection state.

[fivonut]

It's a 6 hour drive. I'll blow a day to get the price, color, miles, options I want. I wouldn't fly somewhere and drive it home, but an all day drive is acceptable to me for something like this.

There are rare occasions where flying to pick up a vehicle isn't a bad idea. I bought my truck in New Hampshire. There was nothing special about it except the price. After the cost of tickets and fuel to drive back i still had $2000 less into it than it was worth. I did make the dealer guarantee that it was safe to drive the 1200 mile trip home. The reason it was so cheap was that it wouldn't pass NH very strict inspection laws.

Like i said though this was a very rare occasion for a run of the mill truck. But any way you figure it i came out ahead.

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[pOrk]

I called on a mini on clist, internetnpriced at 12,800 and on the phone I asked for bet price and he came down to 11,200