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The following post is one of a series of articles I am writing detailing our recent cash purchase of a “new” family vehicle. From deciding which make and model to buy, to closing the final deal, follow along on our car buying adventure!
As luck would have it, another Toyota Dealership had several of the exact 4Runner model we were looking for. I called the dealership and schedule a test drive the following day.
When we arrived at the dealership, the vehicle was freshly conditioned and parked in a conspicuous location in front of the dealership’s sales offices. The vehicle appeared to be in excellent condition, and my wife and I began loading up the car seats and kids for the test drive.
Some people prefer not to bring their kids along when test driving vehicles, but my wife and I wanted to be absolutely sure that the car seats fit, and that we were able access the back seat in case we needed to attend to the kids.
The test drive went just as we expected. The vehicle seemed “tight” and in good mechanical condition. All of the accessories, lights, knobs, and switches seemed to be in good working order. It was time to negotiate a price…the salesman invited us back into his cubical, offered us some refreshments, and began talking about the deal.
“So what do you think about the 4Runner?” The salesman asked.
“It’s nice.” I said.
“Is this something that you were thinking about possibly doing today?” he asked.
“Yes sir, we are prepared to purchase today if the price is right.” I replied back.
“What price we’re you looking for to make this happen.” he asked inquisitively.
I went on to explain to him about my original intention was to purchase a used vehicle from an individual and that I preferred not to pay the “premiums” that dealerships usually charge for marketing, reconditioning, and servicing the vehicles before they are sold.
I told him about the other vehicles that we were looking and failed to act on, and how much lower the price was on these vehicles than his asking price of $16,995. I told him that he did have the particular make and model of vehicle we were interested and that I wanted to give his dealership an opportunity negotiate with me.
“I’ll be honest with you, if you want to make this deal happen today, I can cut you a check right now for $16,000 out the door including all fees, and sales taxes.”
This basically meant that I was offering about $14700 for the vehicle itself or $2300 less than there asking price.
I knew based on my research that the dealership was already asking a reasonable price for the vehicle but given the weakening economy, I wasn’t looking for a reasonable deal, I wanted a great deal.
“Gee, that’s low” the salesman said. “Let me run this by the sales manager and see what he says.”
“Ok, thank you! Like I said…I wanted to give you guys an opportunity to sell me a vehicle”.
He looked back and gave me thumbs up “I got it”, he said as he went behind the glass of his manager’s office.
Several minutes later the salesman came back with a sheet of paper with $162XX dollars written on it. I don’t remember the exact counter offer they gave me; I just remember it being an odd number including some change.
Quoting me such an exact amount as a counter offer was an attempt to show me that they had done a very thorough calculation and this was there absolute bottom line.
“Well, that’s actually not too bad,” I said. “But like I said before, if this is going to happen today, the price I am willing to pay is $16,000 even out the door.”
“Your ready to do this right now for $16000.” He asked me.
“Yes sir, I will write you a check right now for $16,000.”
“Ok, let me go work the sales manager again, I’m sure he would hate to loose a customer over a couple of hundred bucks.” He said.
The salesman ran back to the manager’s office and after several minutes they both came back to the sales desk to talk to me.
“Sir, you have yourself a deal.” The manager told me in a defeated voice. “I couldn’t really go any lower than our initial offer, but I am not about to lose a customer over a couple hundred bucks.”
I’m not sure, but I felt that the sales manager was trying to make me feel guilty. I almost told him “look, do you want to sell the vehicle or not. If you don’t want to sell it then let it sit around for another buyer to come along. I’m ready to buy the vehicle now, but if my offer isn’t enough for you don’t sell. Just don’t try to make me feel guilty about it!”
In the end I was happy to come to a “mutual” agreement on the vehicle that we had been searching for. After signing the required paperwork, and writing a check from our savings account, the deal was done and we scheduled to pick the car up the following day.
Read the Entire Series:
Part 1: We Need a New Car
Part 2: The Case for Buying a Used Vehicle
Part 3: How We Decided Which Car to Buy
Part 4: Determining a Used Vehicle’s Fair Price
Part 5: Our First Attempt to Buy a “New” Vehicle
Part 6: Negotiations With an Auto Dealership WE BOUGHT A CAR!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I have been enjoying your series of posts on purchasing a “new” vehicle for your family.
I have a question about the process of choosing a dealer vs. an individual. It seems that your primary reason for going with the dealership was the availability of the make and model you wanted, when you wanted it. However, did the Toyota dealership provide you a warranty (i.e. a certified pre-owned warranty for drivetrain, etc. not rust and dust) on the vehicle? Did such a warranty factor into your choice to go with a dealership as opposed to an individual?
Thanks for the info, and keep up the great blogging!
That was an interesting trip-congrats for putting the brakes on the price.
Why to stick by your guns… good series, I think this process is important for folks to keep in mind as they navigate the car buying experience.
The key is that the buyer is in charge not the car dealer!
Thanks,
Dave
Glad you were able to land a good deal. Your patience paid off.
I wish more people will be able to read your series of accounts when you were buying a car.