Dr_Strangelove
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Adam
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2022
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 1,146
- Reaction score
- 5,249
- Location
- Henderson, NV
- Vehicle(s)
- '22 XLT Supercrew 4x4
- Occupation
- Art, Design, Photo & Video
- Thread starter
- #1
Here's a temperature check for everyone on what a "cold" dealer lot visit looks like. I'll get into the stuff I think everyone wants to know first and then I'll get into the nitty-gritty for the folks I don't lose.
Did I pay a markup? Yes, yes I did. All said and done it totaled $3,500.
I walked away from the truck and apparently so did two other people after me. On my first test drive the truck had 20 miles and I purchased it with 45. When the negotiation started the markup was $7,500. The dealership called me and said they would meet me halfway and agree to a "50/50" cash/value based markup. And so I believe I paid about $1,000 cash over MSRP and the remainder was honored by me purchasing an extended warranty from them. So, on that front, I feel alright about getting some value for the money. For the cash - I feel like a dirty, dirty man. And I am sorry for fueling this fire.
What are you doing, Strangelove? I dunno, man. Let me try to explain.
So I'm one of those "value guys" and I had run my 2008 Audi A4, purchased 4 years old, into the proverbial ground. It ran but... yeah. I had been a fastidious lad, I thought, and saved my money, and went quickly into "research mode." Did I come here? No. No I did not.
I went to CarGurus. For some reason - if you did not know - at least in the Las Vegas Metro area, every Ford that touches dealership pavement shows up on their "New" inventory listed at MSRP. This includes cars that are customer or fleet orders and are not truly for sale. Anecdotally, my finance guy told me the story of their dealership's "worst day ever" when 60 Hertz Rental Roush Mustangs showed up for PDI on their lot and also showed up on their website as available at MSRP. He said they pissed about "1000 people around the world off that day." And so, I also got caught in this web, in a much smaller way.
If you look right now - you will probably see between 15 and 45 New Ford Rangers available at MSRP within 50 miles of the Las Vegas zip code (89109) and so when I was "planning" to buy a truck, this was the intel I was going off of. Lots of inventory. Riiiiiight. On "car shopping day" (hooray,) I called the dealership with my #1 pick on it - essentially the truck I bought but an FX4. Do they have it? Nope. Do they have any? Nope. "But your website says you have 10..."
*dun dun dunnnnnn*
I call every dealership in the Valley. And Gaudin had two. The one I bought - and a Cactus Grey FX4. The Cactus sold while I drove there.
Being in this position I basically had no leverage whatsoever because I couldn't pull the old "well good luck selling it!" card on them. They had me - they were going to sell the truck quickly. I think I got really lucky that the two other blokes that looked at it also walked away because I think they softened the dealership up for me a bit. I'm very curious what the story with the individual that ordered my truck is. I'm curious if the Dealership tried to mark the truck up on them when they came to pick it up - and that is why they truly walked away from it? I understand the first person to walk away was the person that special ordered it and waited 9 months for it. That seems very bizarre to me...
As for me - I suppose all one needs sometimes is a little luck.
I do really believe that the era of the markup will be coming to an end soon but... I didn't make it. I'm hoping the fact that they were willing to entertain the idea of a value based markup is some light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for reading my tale - here's a fun picture of my truck with my son's 2019.
Did I pay a markup? Yes, yes I did. All said and done it totaled $3,500.
I walked away from the truck and apparently so did two other people after me. On my first test drive the truck had 20 miles and I purchased it with 45. When the negotiation started the markup was $7,500. The dealership called me and said they would meet me halfway and agree to a "50/50" cash/value based markup. And so I believe I paid about $1,000 cash over MSRP and the remainder was honored by me purchasing an extended warranty from them. So, on that front, I feel alright about getting some value for the money. For the cash - I feel like a dirty, dirty man. And I am sorry for fueling this fire.
What are you doing, Strangelove? I dunno, man. Let me try to explain.
So I'm one of those "value guys" and I had run my 2008 Audi A4, purchased 4 years old, into the proverbial ground. It ran but... yeah. I had been a fastidious lad, I thought, and saved my money, and went quickly into "research mode." Did I come here? No. No I did not.
I went to CarGurus. For some reason - if you did not know - at least in the Las Vegas Metro area, every Ford that touches dealership pavement shows up on their "New" inventory listed at MSRP. This includes cars that are customer or fleet orders and are not truly for sale. Anecdotally, my finance guy told me the story of their dealership's "worst day ever" when 60 Hertz Rental Roush Mustangs showed up for PDI on their lot and also showed up on their website as available at MSRP. He said they pissed about "1000 people around the world off that day." And so, I also got caught in this web, in a much smaller way.
If you look right now - you will probably see between 15 and 45 New Ford Rangers available at MSRP within 50 miles of the Las Vegas zip code (89109) and so when I was "planning" to buy a truck, this was the intel I was going off of. Lots of inventory. Riiiiiight. On "car shopping day" (hooray,) I called the dealership with my #1 pick on it - essentially the truck I bought but an FX4. Do they have it? Nope. Do they have any? Nope. "But your website says you have 10..."
*dun dun dunnnnnn*
I call every dealership in the Valley. And Gaudin had two. The one I bought - and a Cactus Grey FX4. The Cactus sold while I drove there.
Being in this position I basically had no leverage whatsoever because I couldn't pull the old "well good luck selling it!" card on them. They had me - they were going to sell the truck quickly. I think I got really lucky that the two other blokes that looked at it also walked away because I think they softened the dealership up for me a bit. I'm very curious what the story with the individual that ordered my truck is. I'm curious if the Dealership tried to mark the truck up on them when they came to pick it up - and that is why they truly walked away from it? I understand the first person to walk away was the person that special ordered it and waited 9 months for it. That seems very bizarre to me...
As for me - I suppose all one needs sometimes is a little luck.
I do really believe that the era of the markup will be coming to an end soon but... I didn't make it. I'm hoping the fact that they were willing to entertain the idea of a value based markup is some light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for reading my tale - here's a fun picture of my truck with my son's 2019.
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