So i've got my '09 cooper S on order, will be ready for pickup in late november, and it looks like a lot of people on here do the same thing (build their cars from the factory and take delivery), so let's get your opinion:

I've ordered my dream car, put the 1000 down, and am waiting to see it. What happens when I go get it and finalize the price? i hear a lot about getting dealerhips to add extras on for free, maybe the clear bra, maybe the armrest, maybe some floor mats or even just some generic mini merch... But it seems like they have all the play right now, they have my dream car and If i don't take it with or without dealership extras theyll sell it (and it will go fast!) What kind of approach will get you a deal even when you've custom ordered? I've also got a 99 suburban for trade, what argument can I supply to keep them from low-balling me on my trade-in since they know they have exactly what i want and no one else does? Tips, please!!!

 

In regards to trading in a vehicle, if you have a CarMax dealership anywhere near you, take the time to get the vehicle appraised there as well. It takes about 30 minutes to get done. They don't require you to buy a car from them in order for you to sell your vehicle to them. This will let you know if what the dealer offers you for trade in is a good deal or not (keep in mind that actually trading the car in on a new purchase generally brings savings on sales tax as well)

 

I'd actually argue against CarMax. Our 99VW, Bluebooked around $7500, they offered us $2500 for. We're selling it privately for a lot more than that. Looking around their lot, it looked like most of their cars were 3-4 years old. We're having better (though still not very good) luck with an ad on cars.com.

All I got for free was a set of floormats. It kind of depends on your dealer, but I wouldn't necessarily expect too much. With MINIs in high demand right now, they hold all the car(d)s. They have no incentive to hand you a lot of goodies (maybe except for dealer pens) since you've custom-ordered your car, and there aren't a lot of extra ones floating around on lots these days.

 

Of course CarMax isn't going to give you the same amount you could get for selling it private party, but they should be pretty comparable to the dealership price. And if you're looking to just get rid of it quickly, without the hassle of selling private party, you might as well check what they'll give you.

 

For a few thousand dollars.... or even one thousand I think that I would bother with the hassle!

 

At least in Missouri, you can still get the tax savings (as if you did a dealer trade in) with a private sale. All it requires is filling out a form.

We did exactly that some years ago when we sold a Honda Civic privately when buying a CPO BMW. We ended up doing several thousand better selling than the dealer offered for trade in, and still only paid tax on the car after deducing the sale value of the Honda. Worked out great.

I know that other states have similar deals.

 

I suggested a trade in to my dealer for a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, and they said they'd maybe offer me $2000-3000. I sold it privately for $5500 (KBB value of $6200). I would highly suggest privately unloading the Suburban.

As for wheeling and dealing...I think it highly depends on what kind of markup your dealer does. *If* the word on my dealer is correct, they sell at MSRP and even nix the handling/delivery/whatever fee, so I'm not expecting much in the way of freebies, given that this policy already saves me at least a couple thousand bones.

My two cents.

 

I got nothing free, and no discounts on anything. What the price quote was, is what I paid. They did not force me, or try to sell me any add on stuff, they simply asked if I wanted it. (Extended warranty etc...) I said no.

Good Luck!

 

anybody know if there's anything like this for california? i'm looking to sell off my maxima before delivery of the MCS

 

I"m in the same boat here (and my MINI will be on a boat here soon). I was quoted a price that consisted of MSRP, tax, tag, title, and a 389 "doc" fee. I'm somewhat larry about trying to negotiate seeing as I don't think I'll get any off this price. They don't have any MINI's on their lot so I"m sure they could sell it to the next guy who walks in if I don't take it. But I am happy that I am getting MSRP rather than being marked up like I hear other people are having to deal with.

 

Actually you are paying 389 over MSRP. There is no dock fee as doc fee is included in the delivery charge. 389 is pure profit.

 

Well I guess I have negotiating to do!

 

That word'd be correct. No freebies with yr msrp-only deal--just a full tank of gas, and sometimes they'll shave a bit off accessories percentage-wise if U run the bill up like I plan to ($3,500).

but not having to pay one cent extra in mandatory accessory paks with stuff I dont want, or doc/prep fees that are already subsidized by the mfgr, makes up for no freebies.

 

She is yet to send me the price quote because the packages have changed a bit in '09, but the '08\s they were offering were dead on MSRP, so at least that is something to build off of.

 

My dealership, CLASSIC MINI says they only charge MSRP.

Good dealership.

 

once you've settled on the car and ordered it, you've made a contract. maybe they can't make you get the car but it's kinda low to try to haggle once it arrives.

you agreed to the price when you put down your deposit.

 

Since you custom ordered the car I'd think you'd be safe from your dealer trying to add on any additional items that you didn't order on your car. Before gas hit $4.00 per gallon and dealers actually had non-customer order cars on their lot to sell, they could add extras on the car then jack up the price and you could take it or just order one to your specs at MSRP. I think that is why some dealers are choosing to add a mark-up to customer ordered cars now because there are no dealer inventories. I'm glad I saw it coming and ordered my car earlier in the year before gas was $4.00. Even my MSRP + tax and license dealer is adding a mark-up on customer ordered cars now. I went past the lot of my dealer this evening and there were four cars on the lot and those were probably dealer demos and a couple of customer orders.

As for freebies, it doesn't hurt to ask but good luck. You might get a nice pen and a t-shirt and possibly some floor mats.

I also agree that you should probably try to sell your car yourself unless you are willing to take a bath on it. Dealers are really staying away from gas guzzling SUV trades that they won't be able to sell quickly. I had a fairly fuel efficient SUV (Subaru Tribeca) and I sold it myself because the dealer straight up told me that they really didn't want to mess with it. Sure made my transaction much easier not having to haggle over a trade.

Good luck .

 

Do people not negotiate the price of a car before ordering it now? What the hell?

 

I've never heard of it being done any other way. I had an agreement before my MA wrote up the sales order.

 

My MA and I basically agreed that the MSRP matched the specs that I brought in and all the items were listed, but we didn't really negotiate doc fees or final price. I guess we'll do that down the road when we need to start working up the loan and finance rate.

 

My dealer sells at MSRP, but I got my MA to agree to throw in a credit for up to $200 of accessories (to include mats, etc.) before I ordered.

Regarding the trade... different situations call for different strategies. If you know what the dealer wholesale book value for your trade is, and you have a carmax offer, and you choose to trade vs. sell it yourself for more money, then use the wholesale book value and carmax offer to leverage up the trade value from the dealer. My dealer cares A LOT about the sat survey results after the sale, because they're in competition to open new locations. So, after they offered me $800 less than carmax for my trade, I told them, very nicely "I guess I could leave it here and have to make another trip back to pick it up so I could take it to CarMax. But if you could find a way to match what they're offering me, I think that would make me comfortable giving you guys top marks on the satisfaction survey when they call me." Five minutes later, after a discussion with the manager of the dealership, the sales manager came back out and agreed to do just that. My car was a POS and the CarMax offer was a good deal for me... so it was a no brainer.

 

Shouldn't you do that before giving them any money? You're basically at their mercy now, and if they tell you they won't reduce or waive any fees or financing markups, you don't have much of a choice as your car is already on the way. I just don't see why someone wouldn't work out everything ahead of time, but hey, that's just me.

 

The way I look at it is this. I have not signed a single document. I simply told them what I wanted to purchase, and they ordered a car that matches that description. If we show up at the finance table, and they try to add on fees and mark-ups, I can walk away.

Similarly, if I show-up asking for a reduced price, and free stuff, they can walk away also and sell the car to someone else, and considering today's market I'm sure they could.

I could spend hours hammering this out ahead of time, and it would mean absolutely nothing until the paperwork is signed at delivery.

And if you really did get the entire deal done before ordering I think that's an even dumber mistake. What happens if your car, the VIN number you signed and paid for, shows up and has mechanical problems or defects. Wouldn't you have wished you left your option open to walk away??

 

There is nothing to stop you from rejecting the car if it is faulty and not as agreed on in an order. In that case any deposit should be refundable (and who really pays for a car sight unseen).

 

Did you check to see if your delearship will even take the 99 Suburban as trade. Around here, dealers are flat our saying they are not accepting Trucks and SUV as trade.
I had an 04 Avalanche 2500HD. It was a lease, so I could just walk away. When I was turning it in, the salesman told me I was lucky, and that GM was taking a bath on truck and SUV leases right now. My residual value was $18.9K, he said they would be lucky to get $11K at auction. The truck had low mileage and not a nick on her. She was in excellent shape. Someone who doesn't mind getting 11mpg is going to get a deal.