First time I'm going to purchase from a dealer...Any advice?

[waldron80]

Hello All,

My wife and I are looking at a 2013 X1 and I've never purchased a car from a dealer but my wife wants the car so it is what it is. Any advice when purchasing from a dealer. I now the generic stuff like wait till the end of the month or first day of the month but do you have any other advice about negotiating?

Seems their price is pretty firm which from my research is true so what can I haggle? Doc fees? Other Fees?

Thanks.

[waldron80]

Here is the car we are thinking about purchasing:

http://www.atlantabmw.com/certified/...7720575e04.htm

[Meeni]

When negotiating the price, be ready to walk out.

[gtaccord]

Do your research. Check Kelley Blue book and nada to figure out what the car is worth.

Take your own back up financing option. I usually take one of the blank check loans from capital one with me. It is the easiest way to call bs on the financing they offer you and negotiate for the best apr thru them. If they won't play ball, you can just use the financing option you brought with you.

Don't fall for any of the promotional dealer installed crap like interior protection, special waxes, wheel and tire warranties etc etc. That is just their way of tacking on more to the loan that goes straight in their pockets.

[Cuz5150]

"Seems their price is pretty firm which from my research is true so what can I haggle"

wrong!!! the price is NOT firm!!! I can be negotiated lower.
Roll up your sleeves and you can save the wife enough $$$$'s to buy her a nice diamond ring.......

Walk in and say you'll pay $29K, the weasel salesguy will go talk to his manager......will come back with sir, "we can lower the price to 32K."
YOU: ok i'll go up to an even 30K...........or else, im leaving.........Weasel manager goes back, and comes back........?

[TSM330i]

Dealers make the most money on used or Certified Pre-Owned cars. New cars have slimmer margins than used.

You know the asking price is $33,500. Basically, got to KBB.com or Edmunds.com and look up the "trade-in" value of the X1 with all the options listed for this vehicle. The delta will be your bargaining chip. CPP cars do cost the dealer an additional $1000 - $1500 so you would have to add that to the trade-in value.

Be prepared to walk out the door and make sure you do some more research for other vehicles that closely match this one and their prices. I did the exact same thing when I was buying my used Porshe.

I went in with all this information and they didn't want to budge on the price. They said they had an "offer" higher than what I was offering and that they turned it down. I told them that if they had an "offer" for that amount that they were crazy for turning it down and I'm not paying more than I'm offering. I also told them that I had a choice of X number of cars at the exact same price they were asking. I asked, "What will make the difference so I purchase from you?" I ended up getting the deal I wanted.

Let us know how it goes.

[TheBingoBalls]

If you have the time to play the game, go for it but just because someone here on the forums got a killer deal, doesn't mean you can/will. To me, the best deal is the one you can afford.

If you want to save a bit of money but don't have the time to negotiate, try to find a dealership outside the city.

[Nkc]

Keep in mind that an X1 35i with 24k miles will not be a hard find especially at $33k. Looking at KBB for your area, I'd suggestion going in with $28k in mind and work from there. First rule of hard bargaining (like many have mentioned above) is to be willing to leave. Second rule, don't bring the wife.

If you need more help, bring a Chinese or Indian guy and its a sure win.

[///jbeck]

Originally Posted by TSM330i

Dealers make the most money on used or Certified Pre-Owned cars. New cars have slimmer margins than used.

You know the asking price is $33,500. Basically, got to KBB.com or Edmunds.com and look up the "trade-in" value of the X1 with all the options listed for this vehicle. The delta will be your bargaining chip. CPP cars do cost the dealer an additional $1000 - $1500 so you would have to add that to the trade-in value.

Be prepared to walk out the door and make sure you do some more research for other vehicles that closely match this one and their prices. I did the exact same thing when I was buying my used Porshe.

I went in with all this information and they didn't want to budge on the price. They said they had an "offer" higher than what I was offering and that they turned it down. I told them that if they had an "offer" for that amount that they were crazy for turning it down and I'm not paying more than I'm offering. I also told them that I had a choice of X number of cars at the exact same price they were asking. I asked, "What will make the difference so I purchase from you?" I ended up getting the deal I wanted.

Let us know how it goes.

While obviously you want the best deal, realize that dealers put a lot more than $1,000 into a car. CPOing an AWD X1 is $1,850 assuming it didn't need any parts (and it almost certainly needed tires at that mileage). They then needed to pay somebody to detail it (though they did a bad job judging by those pictures), usually at a cost of $80-$100. If GA has any safety or emissions inspections they need to get that done. Then they need to advertise it at around $300/car in total for a normal BMW dealership (as an example in the DC market BMW NA spends ~600 a car for advertising). That is just the costs to get it on the lot, and doesn't include the costs to get people to buy the car (Coffee, salesperson, heating/cooling the dealership, insurance, receptionist, free car washes, etc.). After all that they need to make a profit (otherwise why go through the hassle of selling it to you?). Not saying everyone should pay sticker, but if you wait until you can buy a car at wholesale pricing you will be waiting a long time.

That being said, dealerships will take a loss on some cars and other cars hold strong at a price. It depends on the market. If they are overpriced bring in a comparable car printed out and show them.

The right price is the one where you feel comfortable. If you don't feel comfortable at that price and they won't move then walk away, but spending the next 2 months, or even 2 weeks, driving from dealership to dealership spending time and money to try and save a couple hundred bucks on a doc fee when the perfect car is in your back yard doesn't make any sense unless you enjoy the process of negotiating with dealers.

Fair disclosure: I sold cars for several years.

[Meeni]

Im sure the 1850 for CPO is list price, it doesn't cost anywhere near that in real cost.

[///jbeck]

Originally Posted by Meeni

Im sure the 1850 for CPO is list price, it doesn't cost anywhere near that in real cost.

That is dealer cost ($1,450 base + $200 for turbo + $200 for AWD). There is no list price for CPO, dealers just add whatever pricing CPOing a car justifies in that market. If that is less than whatever the cost for CPO is on that car they sell it as non-CPO. Again, that doesn't even cover what they have to do to CPO a car which is almost always tires and a bit of body work.

The list price for a comparable warranty on an X1 if you bought it in finance is around $3,500, though cost on that is a lot more than $1,850 because BMW doesn't know if the car is a ticking time bomb or not.