New car pricing - your input please

[rosarugosa]

The time has finally come to replace our 1995 Saturn SL1. We’ve poured a lot of money into it over the past couple of years, and I haven’t really had confidence in it as a reliable ride since it needed a lot of expensive work in 2012. Yesterday morning it was giving us all kinds of trouble – stalling, fumes, funny noises, and we decided that it’s time to retire her.
We want to go with a Ford Focus (2014 Sedan, “S” with auto transmission and no other extras). We’ve never had to play the new car price negotiation game before, so here is where I’m hoping for some guidance.
Kelly Blue Book indicates a “Fair Purchase Price” of $16,971 - $17,414.
Edmunds indicates a “True Market Value” of $16,144 after incentives and rebates, MSRP of $17,145 and Invoice of $16,310.
Hertz is offering used 2013 Focus SEs (higher priced option than the S) for $14,900 - $15,900) with mileage of around 15,000.
The Ford dealership near us shows the 2014 S Sedan with auto trans on their website with an “Internet Price” of $14,402. after “incentives and rebates.”
I’m perplexed by a dealer listing a price that is substantially less than the price these online tools calculate as a price to negotiate towards. So what is the catch? What should I be prepared for when I discuss this car at this internet price with the dealer? Should I expect to be able to negotiate downward? What exactly does “internet price” mean?
I would be grateful for any input/advice.

[Rogar]

I just purchased a new vehicle and went through the ordeal of shopping and negotiating. The model I chose is a high demand vehicle with lower mileage used not depreciating very much, so went new. I used the Edmunds guide for pricing and paid something close to what I think they called true market value, which was a little more than what seemed like the dealer invoice. Price negotiation remains a mystery to me, but I strongly suspect there is a catch to the "internet price". For example one dealership had a policy of adding $500.00 to the final negotiated price for every purchase. My suggestion would be to walk in to that dealership with the add and confront a salesman with it and ask what it means and look at the car. If you try to contact them by phone or email, I suspect they will gather your phone number and email and pester you.

In my opinion, once you have done your homework on the computer and know what model, options and color you want and the pricing information from places like Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds you about have to subject yourself to visiting the various dealerships. Sometime the internet sites will allow you to learn about special incentives or rebates beyond the invoice prices, but there are probably hidden numbers only the dealer knows. I am terrible at negotiation, but took the approach that it never hurts to ask and if they say no it isn't a problem. Some people claim that buying services, like COSTCO, take some of the pain out of the process and it might be worth looking into.

My research said to negotiate a sales price before even mentioning a trade in. One dealership I went to offered an attractive sales prices but that was contingent of my trade in which they valued far below it's value. I think a general rule of thumb is that you will almost always come out ahead by selling you present car as a private party.

[rosarugosa]

Thanks for the input, Rogar. We ended up going to the dealership yesterday and indeed got the car for close to the price quoted online (they had a $290 charge for going to the registry, handling insurance, etc., so that sounds like what you describe) but it was still a lot less than the invoice price. I asked the salesman about the too good to be true price, and he said it was an “ad leader” to get people into the showroom, but that they did have that car at that price and I could buy it. So the bottom line is that we got the new Focus for a much lower price than I ever would have expected – just about $14,500 before tax and trade-in. We very much wanted to trade in my car rather than have the hassle of selling it privately, so while I’m sure we could have gotten more by selling it privately, we did get more for it than I expected. We may not have gotten the best possible deal in the entire world, but we feel satisfied with what we paid.
If anyone else has ever wondered if they could buy a car with a credit card for the points (and then pay it right off of course), the dealership let us pay $2200 down with our card. A friend told me that dealerships usually do have a limit to what they will allow on a credit card because they get charged a transaction fee by the c.c. company.
ETA: We did check out the Costco buying plan because it sounded like it might be a good option for us, but unfortunately, the nearest participating dealership was in another state, hundreds of miles away.

[Rogar]

Rosarugosa, That's neat! Glad it worked out.

[razz]

Sounds as though you did the research needed to feel comfortable with your choices and final decision. That is all that one can expect. I ended up giving my old car to DSonIL who needed to replace his very badly. Whatever works best for each situation.

[Spartana]

I have also been looking for a new car and am pretty disgusted with all the "sales pitch" gimmicks at the new car dealers. Drives me nuts trying to figure out what the "real" price is. I have instead opted to buy a newer (2012 or 2013) car with low mileage (10K - 20K miles) from a car rental company. Currently looking at cars at Hertz as they seem to be lowest priced with the most amenities and lowest miles. They also carry many Ford Focuses (Focusies? Focis?) so you might want to check out their prices in your area. Since I'm in no hurry and really don't know what I want to get yet anyways, I have been trying out used cars for a few days to a week or longer (I usually rent them for about $100/week including unlimited miles) occasionally to see if I like them.

[rosarugosa]

Spartana: I checked out Hertz and was giving them serious consideration, but I actually ended up getting a new 2014 Focus S for less than a 2013 Focus SE with 10k - 20K miles at Hertz. The SE is higher-end than the S, but the difference between the two are options like heated seats and remote start that I don't really care about. I would rather get the full warranty that comes with a new car than heated seats or an upgraded sound system.

[milli]

I would like to introduce one more website which provides best (link removed by moderator) I am taking his services from last two years and I am happy with their service.

[rosarugosa]

Thanks Milli. I will keep this site in mind if I am ever buying a BMW in Australia! :spam:

[ToomuchStuff]

A friend told me that dealerships usually do have a limit to what they will allow on a credit card because they get charged a transaction fee by the c.c. company.



A typical cc transaction fee is 3%.

On top of that the credit card companies no longer like large transactions like this on there systems (I think they put limits as well).
I can't go into details, but I know of one person that died with $29K left due on his cc, from a sports car purchase. There was other stuff on the card, besides that. He was so in debt, (started going into things I shouldn't), and the credit card company, tried to get his next of kin, to take over responsibility.

[SteveinMN]

Just as a note to others shopping, many larger dealerships have someone whose function/title is "Fleet Sales" or "Internet Sales". These usually are the people the buying services (like Costco's) deal with. Much less of a hassle to deal with them than the gladhanding unctuous folks on the sales floor and, usually, less BS. I bought my last car through the Internet Sales Consultant and it was a pleasure to work with someone who didn't have to write every single thing down on lined paper and thrust it at me across the desk. I like to negotiate, but I don't like to waste time like that.

rosa, nice work on getting a good price!