Ah, hate to tell you this, but that isn't a Trans Am

sorry, I didn't mean to come off in a negative way. (I probably typed too fast)

What I’ve done a few times when thinking of making an offer on a vehicle, was I looked up the same year/make/model with roughly the same mileage and ideally the same options (this part is difficult on the used market). But if you can get the year, mileage, trim etc, then you’re nearly there. I would then search about 75-100 mile radius of my location (or the general location of the dealer that has the car you’re interested in) on Autotrader, or something of the like.

I then logged the vehicles I would be interested in, into a spreadsheet, with all the information, location, price etc. Essentially just to get an average price, give or take. When I made my offer, I felt confident in what I was offering – so (if need be) I could demonstrate ‘how’ I was coming up with my offer. In the case of my wifes Xterra, they were pretty much within a few hundred bucks of the average – maybe a few hundred higher if I recall. But, it was a fair price, so I offered them a round number very near their price. And didn’t feel bad about it. Could I have spent all day haggling over $200? Sure. But my time is worth more to me than that. As long as I’m paying market value, or thereabouts, I feel good about deals and don’t lose any sleep about possibly saving a few hundred bucks on a vehicle north of $20k etc

shady memory here, butI think market value at the time was something like $21k and they wanted like $21.7 or just north of #22kk. I offered $21.5k and the deal was done. Even explained how I came up with the figure, showing them the other listings etc. My experience with car dealers is; - if you make a fair offer, they’ll take it 9 times out of 10. I showed them the comparables, and what I was willing to pay, and it’s really as simple as that. A lot of folks get hung up on the idea that the dealer shouldn’t make a dime – somehow thinking they should get a $30k car for $18k or something as equally unrealistic.


Once you find market value – you then know roughly what you should pay. Or rather, what they will likely accept as an offer. How much beyond market price you want to pay, is up to you (based on options, condition, etc). But I certainly wouldn’t go in there (not saying you are, but just as an example; I’ve had friends and relatives do this) pounding your chest saying “KBB says it’s $17k!!!!!! I’ll buy it at $17k”. They could really give a shit what KBB says.
New car offers are a breeze.

Thank You

I don't race for pink slips anymore

He took $22K. Thanks for the head's-up on this.

LMAO

All that research and you didn't even try...

My Nissan family thanks you.

This thread is full of bad advice. Offering 4 or 5 grand less than asking price on a vehicle is a good way not to get taken seriously.

The good advice is coming from Dayze and knowing what the market is bringing on a vehicle. If you know what the market is bringing, you can decide if you are getting a good deal or not.

The day of getting 2 grand off asking price on everything is GONE. Vehicles are priced to sell now a days, especially if they seem like a good deal. A typical used car in my inventory has somewhere between ZERO and a grand mark up. Rarely will we have anything with 2 grand mark up. So no, Mr. Customer, you and your 'cash' cant get 2 grand off of my car that I'm selling for 1800 under cost. Sorry.

Used cars is a BUYERS market, made so with the help of the internet. When you have a buyers market, you cant afford to have massive mark up, because the guy down the street wont, and your traffic is driven by the internet, and they can shop you and him at the same exact moment. So, when a dealer prices a car, they are typically priced to sell. If they aren't, you can tell by looking at similar cars in your area, and you can see immediately if its a good deal or not.

Don't go offering 17 grand unless you want to waste your time.

BTW, anyone who takes joy in making sure a dealer doesn't make any money should really re-consider there lives. I have a family to feed too, and I work for free too much of the time already.

edit: KBB does not write checks, and dealers/banks/auctions couldn't care less what KBB says. Try using the NADA blue book, as that's what the bank thinks its worth, and the banks are the ones writing the checks, not KBB.

wasn't worth the time.
there were 8 or 10 Xterras in the radius that I searched, for the mileage and year etc. all within probably $500 of each other.

someone will always buy a vehicle cheaper.

I'm sure I could've spent the day haggling, but it wasn't worth it to me personally.

now, if we want to talk about BDIC I was when I bought my Harley and the smokin' deal I got there, then that's another story. :evil: (it's by far the best deal I've managed to pull out of my ass lol)

Oh please, they aren't going to say **** you go away because he offered $17K. They aren't going to not take you seriously or make you sit in a corner wearing a beanie. He's not walking away paying less than $20 on an awesome day and he already knows it.

If I have people offer me 5 or 6 grand below what I am asking for a car, I immediately go into education mode.

Customers hate being educated, but sometimes that's what it takes.

Ok, but you know that they aren't all like you, yah?

All car dealers have some very distinct similarities. Can you add ridiculous lengths of numbers in your head yet? Do you have a lot of suits?

But they don't all know what they're doing. :)

I'm not sure what you are getting at.

Do you say some dealers DO have that kind of mark up in a used vehicle? It could happen I suppose, but a dealer like that doesn't last long with any competition, and its a VERY competitive business.

Any car dealer still in business after cash for clunkers and the auto bailouts does know what they are doing. thousands of large dealers have went out of business, and thousands more of the little guys as well.

I can do all kinds of math, but kiss my ass if you think I'm wearing a suit!

I read your post quickly, and read it as this. LMAO
I thought "hmmm. yeah, does hometeam have a lot of sluts"?
and didn't even bat an eye / consider if it was relevant.

Back in the day maybe.

Now I have kids instead :(