Bargaining for new car - VW TDI

[kermit116]

We are looking at getting a new car this fall: a Volkswagen TDI model. We'll be trading in a vehicle as part of the downpayment. The model we want is the full package TDI; this will be a car we'll put about 20k-25k miles on each year during a very long daily commute (in addition to family road trips).

We definitely want the TDI based on mpg & longevity of diesel engines. VW TDIs are very desirable in our metropolitan area, so it can be hard to find one that has all the options. That being said, we do have 5-6 VW dealers within about 60-80 miles of us, so we have several places to look for the exact car we want.

Considering these factors, I'm anticipating it will not be that easy to bargain down the price of the car because demand is high. We've already met with a salesman at a local dealer for a test drive, and have been in touch with him a few times over the last few months.

So, here are my questions.

--As a bargaining chip, what are our best options:
1. Bargain down the price of the new VW TDI?
2. Bargain up the trade in value of our current vehicle?
3. Bargain for a longer/more extensive warranty? (if they offer a 36,000 miles free service/maintenance, try to kick that up to 50,000 or 100,000 miles of coverage)
4. Some combo of the above options?

--Are we better off trying to trade in our vehicle at the VW dealer (it's not a VW)? Or is it better to try to get a quote from a place like Carmax & possibly use that in bargaining with the VW dealer?

Any other tips (especially from those who work in car dealerships) would be appreciated!

 

[Swimalie]

Do you have a Costco or USAA membership? If so, you can usually get a better price going through them than on your own. We bought a new car that is super popular and had low inventory due to the earthquake in Japan. As for the trade-in, "experts" recommend that you don't even mention the trade-in until you have the sales price of the new car set. Then you talk how much they will give you for the old car. We bought a new car last year, used Costco (no bargaining and we got a great price) and sold our old car on our own the next day by listing it on Craigslist. Before we sold our 11 year old car we got a quote from CarMax. They claimed it had been in an accident on the front end and the read quarter panel. Nope. We bought the car used at 13 months and had it fully inspected. No accidents at all. We sold the car privately for $3500 more than they quoted us. For that reason, I don't trust CarMax.

Search on line for prices - Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book and NADA are the main 3 for current value on any car.

 

[natenapril]

We just bought a new VW jetta TDI. We bought the premium. We have every option except navigation. It was an additional 2400 for that. We traded in our Toyota at the vw dealer and got a better trade than expected. They were also not too willing to work on the price of the jetta too much though. Honestly, the jettas seem to be moving quick enough that they didn't feel the need to work too much on their price.
There is incentive pricing but it was on the gas models. We went through our credit union for 1.9 so since we had a check in hand we negotiated the price about 1000 off sticker and that's it but we really like the car and it fits our needs perfectly for a commuter.

 

[msmayor]

My tip has to do with the negotiation overall...don't negotiate the price of the car alone.

Negotiate the out-the-door price with all taxes a fees included. Everything. Leave nothing to chance.

If you can come to an agreement on that bottom line price (with the trade included) then the fact of the matter is you don't care what the details are. They can play with the numbers above the line however they want, as long as the BOTTOM LINE is the price you agreed to.

Sure you can ask them to include the items you mention, but if you negotiate those as part of the car price only (before fees and taxes) then they will try to get you to 'pay' for those extras by insisting the fees are higher.

When we negotiated for my son's car the first offer they made had over $2000 in fees included in the computation (including 'maintenance inspection costs'). I knew what I wanted to write my check for and after some back and forth they agreed to the number, out the door. Magically, when the actually sale papers came to me to sign, those mysterious fees were gone.

Out-the-door price is, in my opinion, the only important number.

 

[kermit116]

Do you have a Costco or USAA membership?

Thanks everyone for these tips. We do have a Costco membership, so I was considering using that to get the quoted price down from the moment we walk in the door.

I guess then we'd mostly be dealing with figuring out if we want to trade in our old vehicle at the VW dealer or sell it on our own (or at Carmax or some other place).

Are there specific sales people at the dealerships that do the Costco pricing? Something in the Costco auto program literature led me to believe that. Since we've already been working with a specific salesman at this one dealership I'd prefer to stick with him if possible, but ultimately it's about us getting the best deal we can on the car.

 

[kermit116]

My tip has to do with the negotiation overall...don't negotiate the price of the car alone.

Negotiate the out-the-door price with all taxes a fees included. Everything. Leave nothing to chance.

If you can come to an agreement on that bottom line price (with the trade included) then the fact of the matter is you don't care what the details are. They can play with the numbers above the line however they want, as long as the BOTTOM LINE is the price you agreed to.

Sure you can ask them to include the items you mention, but if you negotiate those as part of the car price only (before fees and taxes) then they will try to get you to 'pay' for those extras by insisting the fees are higher.

When we negotiated for my son's car the first offer they made had over $2000 in fees included in the computation (including 'maintenance inspection costs'). I knew what I wanted to write my check for and after some back and forth they agreed to the number, out the door. Magically, when the actually sale papers came to me to sign, those mysterious fees were gone.

Out-the-door price is, in my opinion, the only important number.

Thanks for this tip. The only cars we've purchased have been from places like Carmax or the now defunct Saturn, where they do the whole "bottom line pricing" thing and basically don't bargain at all.

I will definitely go in with a number in mind and work on getting to that number as the final, rather than the price of the car + misc. fees.

 

[SplashMo]

Also finace the car through a bank or costco... The price it is the price of the car as if you are paying cash. Dealers love to negotiate monthly payment which is a loseing game for the customer...

 

[kermit116]

Also finace the car through a bank or costco... The price it is the price of the car as if you are paying cash. Dealers love to negotiate monthly payment which is a loseing game for the customer...

Good tip - thanks.

 

[ChesapeakeTechie]

One other thing to consider is if your state takes into consideration trade in value when determining tax on the new car. For example if the new car is $24k and your trade is $10k you may only pay tax on $14k.
This has made the difference in a couple cases whether we sold outright, traded to Carmax or went with the dealer.
My tips -
1) Negotiate price / bottom line first and be willing to travel or get a car shipped from out of state. This saved almost $2k on one car I was looking at
2) Put a feeler out online (craigslist, etc). You may be surprised. I sold a Civic Hybrid in 3 days and got over market value
3) If you are going to trade, take it to Carmax first and then you can negotiate from there

Also check out fitzmall.com - they are a dealer with good Internet pricing and I have bought from there before. At least you can have some comparison.

Good luck!!

 

[DawnM]

DH has been looking at this car as well. We have test driven the Golf TDI twice now.

There really aren't deals to be had on them we have found as they are highly desirable cars and in demand. We found we could ask for a higher trade in though, but as far as actual cost, we got a little discount if we were willing to take the blue one, and we weren't. This was only because that one was on the lot and they wanted us to buy immediately. I feel that when you are spending that much $$, you need to get the exact car you want and not settle for a color you don't like.

 

[Swimalie]

Thanks everyone for these tips. We do have a Costco membership, so I was considering using that to get the quoted price down from the moment we walk in the door.

I guess then we'd mostly be dealing with figuring out if we want to trade in our old vehicle at the VW dealer or sell it on our own (or at Carmax or some other place).

Are there specific sales people at the dealerships that do the Costco pricing? Something in the Costco auto program literature led me to believe that. Since we've already been working with a specific salesman at this one dealership I'd prefer to stick with him if possible, but ultimately it's about us getting the best deal we can on the car.

We did not experience a specific sales person in going through Costco. Usually the dealership is part of their program, not the salespeople. We had already talked to a sales person when we decided to go through Costco (it was slightly cheaper than USAA) so our salesperson just got our Costco number and all was good. The price is pre-negotiated.

 

[dixonismydog]

We LOVE our TDI! Also, after coming very close to making the deal, negotiate some free oil changes, or some other service that your car will require. Doesn't save much....but every little bit helps. Most dealerships, in my experience will be happy to add half a dozen oil changes, if that will seal the deal!

 

[tlh0726]

DH has been looking at this car as well. We have test driven the Golf TDI twice now.

There really aren't deals to be had on them we have found as they are highly desirable cars and in demand. We found we could ask for a higher trade in though, but as far as actual cost, we got a little discount if we were willing to take the blue one, and we weren't. This was only because that one was on the lot and they wanted us to buy immediately. I feel that when you are spending that much $$, you need to get the exact car you want and not settle for a color you don't like.

This above. VW dealers are not negotiating price because they are not setting on thier lots.

Your best option is negotiating the trade in value of your current car. Look up KBB values and be realistic in your demand.
As previous poster stated, depending on your state trading the car in at the dealership may save you sales tax.

Have a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI and love it!

 

[daemom]

Thanks to DISboard members, I used the internet department to negotiate the price on our latest car purchase. It was definitely less painful and less stressful!! The price quoted through the internet dept was MUCH lower than what they talked about face-to-face on the lot. Good luck!!

 

[kermit116]

Thanks to DISboard members, I used the internet department to negotiate the price on our latest car purchase. It was definitely less painful and less stressful!! The price quoted through the internet dept was MUCH lower than what they talked about face-to-face on the lot. Good luck!!

I have a family member who did something similar, but that was because that specific car (a dealer demo) had a special internet price on the dealership's website. Did you have a similar circumstance or were you able to just call & get a better deal on the car you wanted through the internet department?

 

[chop456]

I just wanted to add that we love our TDI. My husband's year 2000 TDI has 372,000 miles on it and is still going strong. We keep telling our daughter she will get this car when she gets her license in 2 years - the million mile car, we call it! Good luck find the deal you are hoping for.