How To Negotiate Price With Dealer

Salmonfishn

New member
Hi,

I'm new to this forum and would like to share a little information first. My wife & I plan on purchasing a 2015, 170"WB, high roof, V-6 Mercedes Sprinter. We both are very handy and plan on a DIY conversion. We have never purchased a new vehicle, so neither one of us have a clue how to begin negotiating a price. We understand the salesperson and dealer need to make money, but we don't want to be taken advantage of. Your experiences and advice would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!
Salmonfishn
 

driveon

New member
Do not visit any dealers without out first checking out the online reports available from Consumer Reports which will list many of the hidden incentives the dealer will received from the factory. This detailed reports (which you will have to pay for) will list the pricing for all options as well as your market area pricing based on sales in your city or region.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...vice-and-prices-on-buying-a-new-car/index.htm

In the report will be suggestions for bottom line pricing . In my case I offered less than the bottom line recommended and my offer was accepted. Without this information I would have no idea how much to offer and what would be considered a reasonable offer

Other options are available from other online sites but many do not list the Sprinter Van as a choice.

You need to have the pricing "Intel" in hand before you approach any dealer regardless of how 'nice' they may seem. It is all about how much money the dealership can squeeze out of you. Be aware of the back end office if your are financing as they will attempt to slip in extra items such as extended warranty, etc.

You must look at the total purchase amount including all options not the monthly payments to analyze if you are indeed receiving a bad, fair or excellent deal.

After you have the report shop around at different dealers to discover which one is willing to accept your offer. Then go to another dealer and ask if they can beat that price.

When you have reached a verbal agreement with a dealer insist they put present the deal to you in writing immediately prior to wasting hours in the sales office where they can change the deal. Place a strict time limit on how much time you are wiling to wait for the dealer to respond to your written request. 15 minutes is more than enough time to receive a good faith written deal. If the dealer continues to stall leave. The moment you are heading out the door the more serious you are about not wasting your entire day to be played with by the sales staff as they try to "wear" you down and finally give in to their "best offer",

Never sign the final sales contract without reviewing all the line items to confirm all the numbers add up correctly with your written agreement. You will be amazed at how mysterious hidden charges can be inserted unless you analyze all the figures.

Do not give your phone number or email out to any dealer unless your are certain this will be the final dealer you intend on buying the vehicle from. If you must give out your email I recommend creating a "disposal email" address with google or yahoo which will only be used for the car buying process. Long after your shopping is done you will receive non-stop correspondences from all the dealers you visited and provided your contact info.

The drawback of giving out your contact information when you are still in the research stage is that you will be bombarded daily with a pesky and maybe a rude salesman who will call you nonstop. I had a local salesman harass me twice daily until I told him never to call back again as I had decided I would never buy from him considering his tactics as well as high pricing. He lied about fuel economy of the vehicle overstating the actual real world mileage.

In contrast the dealer I finally purchased from did not harass me with a single phone call and allowed me to call back on my terms when I was ready to purchase.

Some dealers are very aggressive and downright troublesome to deal with whereas others are not.

It is your hard earned money so be prepared to spend time, effort and research to find a vehicle which fits your budget and needs.

Lastly NEVER and I restate NEVER be pressured into a deal because the salesman states the offer is only good today or the last one available. You always have a choice to walk away and give yourself more time to consider a deal.

FYI buying at the end of the month or year is a great time to buy as sales quotas increase the need for dealers to clear merchandise.

I wish you the best with your purchase.
 

hayduke

2005/2006 leisure travel
Very good advice.I would add:never speak directly with a salesman.Once they get your name,they get a cut.
 

RocketSurgeon

New member
Drive on made many great suggestions -

Here are a few more to consider:

1) Consider purchasing or at least get pricing for a dealer who is 'out of town'. I found the price to be cheaper at a dealer who was located 25 miles out of town.

2) You may want to also consider the dealers track record. Do they provide good service? You could obviously get the vehicle served at any shop but it would be useful to get it serviced at the same place you bought it. You may get priority over others ect ect if they are a good outfit that appreciates your business.

3) Watch out for red flags that driveon mentioned. Why buy from people you can't stand? If they pull out the sleezy sales tactics simply walk away.

4) Consider what your time is worth? Is it worth 3 days of grinding to get a 500 dollar break?
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
fax attack

send a note about the build you want to every dealer within a few 100 miles of you, and ask for their best price "out the door" (no hidden fees or costs). Make sure they know all the other dealers received the fax/email.

You can then narrow it down to 2-3, and ask them if they will beat the other's price. You will eventually be coming in and dealing with the fleet/online sales manager, no vulturous consignment salespeople will accost you.
 

floydturbo

Folsom, CA 2015 w170ex i4
Costco

Here in California near Sacramento, the local dealer has agreed pricing through Costco. I believe it is $500 above invoice.
 

JP4

New member
I've gotten several offers that have been at $500 above invoice on custom ordered Sprinters lately. That's right at about $3k below MSRP.
 

kendall69

New member
You will never get the best price till you get up from the table and walk away. i literally finished negotiation one time with a sales guy with one foot outside the door and the other foot inside the door. BEST unintended negotiation technique I ever used, because I was really leaving and he stopped me at the door and agreed to my terms while I stood half in half out.

Also NEVER let them pull your credit report unless you are signing paperwork.
When they ask you what payments you want tell them $1.00 a month for three years.
Come to the dealer with a pre approved loan for the lowest rate you can get confirming you are serious, and ask them to BEAT the low interest rate.
Deal ONLY with a sales manager or fleet/internet guy.
Never sign ANYTHING like a piece of notebook paper with terms on it. A sales guy pulled that on me ( I did sign it because I knew it was crap, but I wanted to see what he would do with it) I found out as I was doing the final signing the interest rate was SKY HIGH, and I said this is BS I can get (X) amount anywhere on the planet why are you charging me (y) amount. He said ....you signed here on the yellow legal pad.

I said you can wipe yourself with that and walked out of the finance managers office. They were a signature away from a sale a pulled that crap and suffered the consequences and wasted all afternoon on me for nothing.

Never ever buy any paint coating, alarms, special fabric coating, pin stripping, etc etc. simply say either don't charge me or take off the pin stripping if you want to make a sale - they always cave, because they know it's a BS charge.
 
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unless they have a special low interest loan from the factory bring your own pre approved financing. Always look at the interest not the payment.
 

downunder

Active member
Similar to what Surlyoldbill suggests, avoid stepping into any dealers premises until the end, and get the contract with total price emailed in advance so that you are not 'snowed' or pressured to make a decision and sign on the spot.
Know all he options that you want if possible - a good read is this weeks thread by Zither99 re: 2015 4x4 order (assuming Canada build is same as US). Download the appropriate pages from the 30 on offer to see what works for you.
At some point scope the service areas and workshop to see if there is much action with them servicing Sprinters, especially if you want service/diagnosis/advice from them down the track.
Hope it all goes stress free for you both, you and the dealer are happy, and hope to hear what you eventually order/get.
 

6cyclone6

Member
Shop before you go. There are several reputable dealers that frequent this forum. Some may be too far away to be feasible, but they will at least let you take the temperature of the market before walking on a lot. Dave the "Sprinter Guy" is on here, and I am sure he would be happy to quote you on what you are looking for. I would be happy to quote you as well. What part of the world are you in?
 

driveon

New member
Some additional items I would like to add.

I recommend comparing vehicle prices with out of town as well as nearby out of state dealers. However depending on the lemon laws in your state you may be ill advised to purchase out of state if the other state has weaker lemon laws. Nevertheless you may find pricing will be cheaper out of state but certain administrative fees may be higher which is a scheme dealers will use to make up for lowering the vehicle pricing.

The point of this exercise is to discover exactly how low will any dealer consider and use that intel to counter against the chosen dealer which meets your requirements (closer location, friendly sales staff, no pesky abusive salesperson.)


Avoid outfitters who claim to have a tie in with a certain dealer and/or factory stating they can get you a better "deal" on the vehicle if you choose to purchase the vehicle and outfitting from them. You will always obtain better pricing yourself without a middleman.

As an example I personally compared the written pricing of the vehicle offered through a major outfitter with the abbreviations SM as posted on their website versus the final pricing I was able to obtain. It was clear there was no better "deal" going through the outfitter. I don't fault the outfitter for marking up the vehicle as they have to cover their internal cost of operations but you can choose not to pay for it.

Always keep the vehicle purchase and outfitting firm deals separate transactions so you maintain the control and decision making independently.

Always maintain the frame of mind "You the consumer are in control of this negotiation not the dealer". You have the option to immediately leave the dealership once the sale staff refuses to meet your offer. Do NOT under any circumstance play the of game of tossing the pricing "ball" back and forth for hours on end until one party relents due to emotional exhaustion. In most cases you will be the one who relents and loses out. FYI you may wish to not have your spouse at the final negotiation as the dealer can pressure your significant other to convince you to close the deal.

The consumer will always have greater negotiating power when they exercise their option to immediately walk out of the office (thereby giving the dealer the big F off"). The sale person will indeed chase you hoping to convince you to stay longer.

Again I stress from the beginning of the negotiation you specifically place an exact time limit (15 minutes or less) to the sales staff for them to present you the written offer of acceptance. Not the final contract but written acceptance which outlines the final amount you have offered out the door (vehicle VIN Number, Tax, license, accessories and options etc).

Lastly out of respect for the honest dealers and your own time please do the proper research in advance and understand all the options you want as well which options are available on the stock model or specially ordered from the factory. This forum is a wonderful resource for discovering many of the options available.

The last thing you want to have happen is forget about an option or have the salesperson tell you they can't offer an option because it is a special order after you have received the written offer.


In conclusion "Buyer Beware", you are only entitled to the best deal "YOU" negotiate not the one you dream of.


Good luck to all.
 

rdvan@sbcglobal.net

2017 Unity MB
After you done everything noted by all of the other forum members and have reached a deal you can live with (of course they don't know what that amount is) and feel ready to do the deal, do one last thing. Stand up, thank them very honesty and profusely for trying to help you but tell them "thank you for your time, I appreciate you trying" and then ask them where the rest room is as if you are leaving. They will tell you and then head to the rest room. This gives them one last chance to sharpen the pencil (come up with one more offer) in private. Take your time in the John and then make it a point to walk past their office. I guarantee you they will come out and sweeten the deal just a little bit more. If you like it, buy, if you don't, walk. Good luck.
R. D. Vanderslice
2014 Unity MB
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
Sometimes they come down as far as they can, but might be able to "throw in" some dealer added options or offer a deep discount on them (especially if it was something they just took off another van...).
 

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