If a auto dealer advertises a pre-negotiated price, can you sill haggle?

[Qacer]

I'm curious. I've been seeing that on the dealer websites they are posting pre-negotiated prices. From my search, these seem to refer to no-haggle prices. So, I just want to confirm is this is really so.

Just for reference, a dealer is showing a pre-owned Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring model with a pre-negotiated price of $25,000. The vehicle has leather seating, navigation, moon roof, 40,000 miles, etc.

 

[rudeguy]

I always wondered this too.

I've been in sales for a long time and every instinct I have is to take every deal. I can't imagine a sales manager telling his sales force to walk customers over a couple grand. I'll help you negotiate if you are willing to give it a shot.

 

[brtspears2]

I got kicked out a Carmax nicely for trying to haggle prices.

 

[SandEagle]

EVERYTHING in life is negotiable. Offer 22k and walk away. They'll call.

 

[Fritzo]

That means that the price is preset- there's no haggling. It would be like going into Target and asking the cashier to lower the price of their bath towels.

I see a lot of car dealers going to this model at some point. I used Costco's pre-negotiated program, and not only did it save an hour of "I'll write down this price, OK, let me check with my manager..." crap, but we got within $200 of what a friend negotiated for his car.

 

[Qacer]

Yeah, I would take the car if it is $22k out of the door. Hah.

 

[Qacer]

I always wondered this too.

I've been in sales for a long time and every instinct I have is to take every deal. I can't imagine a sales manager telling his sales force to walk customers over a couple grand. I'll help you negotiate if you are willing to give it a shot.

Nice. What can you do?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

That means that the price is preset- there's no haggling. It would be like going into Target and asking the cashier to lower the price of their bath towels.

TERRIBLE analogy. The price of everything is negotiable, the only trick is finding the person with the power to negotiate. The cashier at Target can't lower the price of bath towels because the cashier doesn't have any authority in that area. The price of a car is ALWAYS negotiable because there is always some employee that can approve a lower price. A pre-negotiated price is strictly middle of the road, it's designed to look attractive to people afraid to haggle, but it's not going to be close to what the dealer can really charge for the car and still make a profit. You can get it for less than that and you'd be a fool not to try.

 

[SandEagle]

Create a fake ad on autotrader for a cx9 with 35k miles going for 21k. Take ad to dealer and see if they can beat the price

 

[sjwaste]

Create a fake ad on autotrader for a cx9 with 35k miles going for 21k. Take ad to dealer and see if they can beat the price

Definitely, this is the way a real pro does it.

A real pro also pays with homemade currency or a bad check. Otherwise, its just not a good deal.

 

[waggy]

That means that the price is preset- there's no haggling. It would be like going into Target and asking the cashier to lower the price of their bath towels.

wrong. you can haggle. you may not get much but yes you can haggle. hell its a car dealership they will haggle. only place i have ever seen that won't let you is carmax.

anyway what can it hurt?

 

[brainhulk]

I think you have to find a deal with circumstances in your favor. When I bought my car 2 years ago, it was being advertised on an internet sale for a very nice price with 0% interest. At first they absolutely would not budge because they said blah blah blah this was being subsidized by the manufacturer. But I had a couple things going for me:
1. The car was not selling well (there were tons on the lot)
2. End of the month (they have to meet their quota)
3. I had a very good income and high credit (zero risk for them in financing)
4. I threatened to leave and test drive a BMW every time they came back to me with an unsatisfactory offer. (I found this part the most fun because they always stopped me as soon as I got up lulz)

So know how much room you have to play with, because you still have to make an offer that makes them money. But if you find a deal where you have all the leverage, they will literally not let you leave the showroom without making a deal. If you are looking for a car though that they have no trouble selling, they will most likely tell you gtfo

 

[Tristicus]

Pre-negotiated?

I was under the impression that you could haggle any car...

I mean, hell, I'm such a cheap-ass I asked for my $1500 car for $1300 when they already (apparently) took 500 off of it.

 

[Fritzo]

TERRIBLE analogy. The price of everything is negotiable, the only trick is finding the person with the power to negotiate. The cashier at Target can't lower the price of bath towels because the cashier doesn't have any authority in that area. The price of a car is ALWAYS negotiable because there is always some employee that can approve a lower price. A pre-negotiated price is strictly middle of the road, it's designed to look attractive to people afraid to haggle, but it's not going to be close to what the dealer can really charge for the car and still make a profit. You can get it for less than that and you'd be a fool not to try.

No it isn't--it's exactly the same model. The cars to those types of dealers as sent with a preset profit margin. "You will sell this car at this price, and you will make 5% of the sale on it." That's how Saturn used to work for years, and that's how Costco's car sales work.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Pre-negotiated?

I was under the impression that you could haggle any car...

I mean, hell, I'm such a cheap-ass I asked for my $1500 car for $1300 when they already (apparently) took 500 off of it.

$500 off the theoretical price of a used car? They might as well tell you it was $25K for $23.5K off. It's a used car. There's no real price.

 

[TheAdvocate]

I just bought a car from a same-make dealership (toyota) for $1,751 less than the posted "no haggle" price. I also had talked a VW dealer almost $2k down from their no haggle price.

 

[Zebo]

Best way to haggle is MSRP x .82 keep playing dealers off against one another until you get it. Trust me they still make money there off withholding. even better is buy 1-2 yrs old for 50-60% off msrp.

 

[Six]

You can always haggle high price items. I've even seen people haggle prices on HDTVs and cameras at Best Buy? And it worked. I've never done that though.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

No it isn't--it's exactly the same model. The cars to those types of dealers as sent with a preset profit margin. "You will sell this car at this price, and you will make 5% of the sale on it." That's how Saturn used to work for years, and that's how Costco's car sales work.

It's not a freaking Saturn, it's a USED CAR. Even Saturn lots would haggle on used cars.

 

[Qacer]

Best way to haggle is MSRP x .82 keep playing dealers off against one another until you get it. Trust me they still make money there off withholding. even better is buy 1-2 yrs old for 50-60% off msrp.

For new cars, one of the things that I look at is truecar.com, but for used cars, my pricing sources are KBB.com and Edmunds.com. It seems like $25k is within line for this type of car. I'm going to attempt to offer $22k out of the door. It'd be great if I get it at that price.

 

[halik]

Look up the invoice price and go from there. No haggle can as well mean $2500 margin for us.