Negotiating with Car Dealers, Am I Missing Something??

webtonmoy on 16/08/2019 - 16:32
Last edited 19/08/2019 - 13:33 by 1 other user

I decided to upgrade my family car and purchase a near new Toyota Rav4 or Honda CRV. Searched for 2017-2019 models, and visited few dealerships. Finally, I found one that fits into my criteria - about 25000 Kilometres, 2018 AWD Rav4 in very good conditions. They claimed it is a "executive driven car" from Toyota Head Office. All things settled, only needed to negotiate the price and was ready to purchase that.

They practically declined to negotiate. Finally offered 200 AUD less than the asking price (29k). My initial offer was 27.5K. Finally offered 28K AUD and left.

This was not my expectation. But am I missing something? Did I show too much liking for the car?! I have one car and in no hurry to purchase another right now.

What is your experience with purchasing a similar model. If you can comment or PM me the price you paid for a 2017-2019 RAV4 AWD with below 30K mileage, I will really appreciate that.

(added a poll to get a sense of the negotiated price by OzBargainers)

Poll Options

  • 119
    Negotiated the price down by more than $1000 when buying a near new (about 20k-30k kms driven) car
  • 5
    Negotiated the price down between $500-$1000 when buying a near new (about 20k-30k kms driven) car
  • 0
    Negotiated the price down between $0-$500 when buying a near new (about 20k-30k kms driven) car
  • 1
    Bought a near new (about 20k-30k kms driven) car at the advertised price
Automotive Car

Comments

  • webtonmoy on 16/08/2019 - 20:48

    Can't change the spelling mistake in the poll. Mods please help :)

    • spackbace on 16/08/2019 - 20:54
      -3

      argh!

      Your poll won't help you buy a car!

      Don't go looking at the cheapest car and be disappointed that you can't get $2k off "because the internet said so".

      All that's gonna happen is you'll never see value in your purchase and will constantly think you could've found it cheaper.

      You're going about this the wrong way

      • webtonmoy on 16/08/2019 - 21:51
        +5

        Thanks for your advice and opinion. :)

    • profar on 16/08/2019 - 20:59
      -1

      Reading the thread Space has given Web all the tactical knowledge available.

      Web do a poll of whether you have a clue or not about that ?

      Current poll BS if for example your using a vehicle close to bait prices !

    • Moderatorhamza23 on 19/08/2019 - 13:33

      Fixed, please use the report button in the future.

  • hasselbladsnapper on 16/08/2019 - 21:08
    +2

    Exec driven factory cars at 25,000 km, that's a bit of a joke …. when I worked for one of the local manufacturers I had 2-4 each year and turned them in around 3-6 km on most occasions. It's the way the then manufacturers balanced the production stock, and these day's I expect most importers. Also, a fair number were in hire fleets, and often short term leased with return and disposal back to the manufacturer but often with many drivers and high mileage …but perhaps later advertised as "exec driven - factory car".
    I handled my lease cars with care, but I cant say all employees had that outlook!!. Good luck with your search.

    • spackbace on 16/08/2019 - 21:41

      Most Holden ones I've seen were anywhere from 5,000-20,000kms. Toyota's have generally been the same. Not difficult for OP to check the logbook anyway and see for themselves. Hell, any Toyota dealer can run the vin and look it up in their service system and see the owner details.

      Realistically, OP should be looking at service books anyway

    • Hackney on 19/08/2019 - 08:21

      I had a “Exec” driven Falcon G6E Ecoboost with 18,000ks on the odo! The car WAS driven by an employee of Ford @ Broadmeadows,had a logbook with the 10,000k service stamped by Fords service centre @ Broadmeadows.It is NOT uncommon to see vehicles with this type of mileage on them from auto companies.

  • salmon123 on 16/08/2019 - 21:29

    Exec driven factory cars at 25,000 km, that's a bit of a joke …. when I worked for one of the local manufacturers I had 2-4 each year and turned them in around 3-6 km on most occasions

    This is exactly what I'd expect! Quite inconsistent with @Spackbace's comments above.

    • BLAIL on 17/08/2019 - 17:41

      Which car manufacturer do you work for mate - you sound like you could get us better deals.

      • salmon123 on 17/08/2019 - 22:07

        I don't work for a car manufacturer, but I have lots of life experience in flipping cars/bikes/laptops/phones/appliances/just about anything you can think of :)

  • horsome on 16/08/2019 - 22:12
    +2

    It sounds like your negotiations broke down, obviously your offer was too low without good reason. You can’t just demand a discount coz your mate got one with a completely different car.

    I think you should have kept going and see how low you could have got, they may have met you half way, or take the $200 as a win. You have effectively learned nothing by walking away and now have to spend more time shopping for the specific car you are after.

    • webtonmoy on 16/08/2019 - 22:35

      It's my expectation vs theirs, but I got your point.

  • cloudy on 16/08/2019 - 22:13
    +3

    Here’s a couple of thoughts, no industry or car buying experience, just basic human psychology thoughts.

    Car sales data suggest buyers are firmly in control. I think it’s safe to assume any car you are looking at will be sitting there for a while yet if they don’t take your offer.

    In saying that, any dealer that lets you walk out the door in this environment says the offer made is too low, or else they would sell given how little buyers are around. So I’d suggest the price they’ve given is close to as low as they can go ( doesn’t mean someone else somewhere else can’t go lower of course)

  • Whisper Quiet on 17/08/2019 - 11:22
    +2

    Two of my best friends are car salesman. One new and one used car at Toyota. Times have changed with discounting and haggling so much off from advertised price. Say a car is advertised for $30K, their profit margin would be somewhere around the $27 to $28K mark because of the huge business they are losing from online sales. They have to make the prices cheap from the start with hardly any room to budge. All these dealers offer warranty and other perks with the car, which you don't get anywhere else. They can't sell the car at a loss so when you say you want $2000 off that's exactly what would happen. My used car friend is always telling me they have hardly any margin to move but customers realize this after they've gone looking and see that the car is the best condition of the lot for sale. Drop your expectations for how much you can get off advertised prices. Even if you see a car online for a certain price why would you expect the same price from a dealership? That's never been the case at all before. They will come close and on a very rare occasion match it but depends on so many things.

    • webtonmoy on 17/08/2019 - 14:08
      +1

      Thanks for your comment.

      First, my offer was $990 of their advertised price, so I still think it was a fair offer. Also, I am not comparing private sells with dealer ones.

      • Whisper Quiet on 17/08/2019 - 16:47
        +1

        In your post you said your first offer was $27.5k? I agree with you though. There should be a possibility of around $1000 off. But different dealers have different options and stock. Could be extremely popular and everytime they get one in, it would sell within a couple weeks even at top price. If it's somewhere around the $1000 price mark difference for the one you want (colour, options,KMs) you'd rather get it at a dealer for the support and warranty they offer.

  • Myone888 on 17/08/2019 - 13:00
    +5

    I bought a Toyota Yaris from dealer last year and after a few rounds of nego got a discount of $1200 from a 14000 price tag. You must be patient as sometimes it works and other time is a walk away.

    • ganymede on 17/08/2019 - 16:54
      +2

      Would you feel better if they discount $2200 from a $15000 price tag instead?

  • ganymede on 17/08/2019 - 15:57
    +3

    To OP, do not invest your emotion into the process, it is just a car (a used car in this instance), offer your price, if they accept then sign on the dotted line. if not, move on.

    Also, bench marking others on how much discount the other person got on the used car is a waste of time, because there are many variables (list price, spec, condition, location of dealer, dealer turnover volume, salesman mental health, etc) in the equation that will affect the final sold price.

    • webtonmoy on 18/08/2019 - 01:02

      Yup, already moved on. I made this post as I consider myself rather inexperienced in dealing with dealers, so wanted to know others experience. There is some good advice in this thread :)

  • Seaeagles on 17/08/2019 - 16:48
    +1

    They claimed it is a "executive driven car" from Toyota Head Office.

    I'm in the wrong job because the amount of cars all dealers claim this would mean they drive a different new car every week.
    Not many people get a different car so often.

    • salmon123 on 17/08/2019 - 22:12

      I'm in the wrong job because the amount of cars all dealers claim this would mean they drive a different new car every week.

      It's not that far from the truth … maybe not every week, definitely every few weeks. Really comes down to the role you're in.

      The reality is that dealers can typically sell a "demo" car with 0-5000km on the clock for pretty much the same as a new car. There's lots of reasons why they do this, which I wont get into.

  • HeWhoKnows on 17/08/2019 - 18:11
    -3

    OP Mate you are indeed missing something very big. YES YES YES

    The car you are buying is NOT your every day used car.

    Its a once - off. A one and only. Its got guaranteed service history

    So naturally the delaer has no comptetion on this one.

    If you want it then pay for it.
    More than likely it will serve you well and that is your discount!

    If it was any other traded car then certainly you could negotiate.

    • webtonmoy on 18/08/2019 - 01:04
      +3

      I do not consider any car to be that special. A car is a diminishing asset… There will be others that will serve me well.

  • nikey2k27 on 18/08/2019 - 09:16
    -1

    I got a new car in Dec 2017 Toyota Townsville got 4,000 so i got it for 23,990 had get replacement car due to Townsville flood they want me to pay 29,000 for same car i told you gotta be joking so looked online found same for same price in brisbane. i spoke to owner he gave me 500 fuel card and pick me up airport and even offered to ship it to me. Now that customer service.

  • Sigiriya on 18/08/2019 - 09:43
    +3

    This thread is already long and op might miss this comment. Anyway I thought I would write. I am in the market for a Kluger for nearly 6 months. Looked at several cars in Sydney Toyota dealerships which was advertised as Toyota executive driven cars. Pretty much all of them were the worst cars I have seen in the category. None of them have serviced to the intervals. For example one car priced at 58k with 20K km had the first service done at the 20K km. Not clean/filthy inside for year 2018 model. Basically what I have seen is executive driven cars are the worst maintained and treated like rubbish. One owner cars were much better maintained but bit too pricey. But long run I would recon it is a better buy.

    • webtonmoy on 18/08/2019 - 15:43
      +1

      Thanks for your comment. It is hard to trust these days. One of the cars I was interested in claimed it to be "executive driven", but when I investigated further, they had to acknowledge that it was ex-rental :(

  • hypie on 18/08/2019 - 10:51
    +2

    Yeah I noticed this as well OP when I bought my C200. I knew the pack I wanted was on back order for like 6 months, but I literally got laughed out of the room when negotiating at the local dealer in Perth. He said "this is not a Toyota where you can bargain"…

    I left and purchased it from a dealer in the east with delivery and saved about 7k And extras.

    If someone else can get that price, you can too. Just gotta work.

  • ddammitt on 18/08/2019 - 11:34
    -1

    Why not try kogan Cars, they are keen to put on a show and get a positive name as they have just stepped into the market so might be able to negotiate a better deal on your behalf.

    • theguyrules on 29/08/2019 - 15:29
      -1

      I inquired with Kogan Cars about how much I could sell my car for. Their offer was ridiculously low so I declined. They now call me daily asking if I want to reconsider their low quote.

  • funnysht on 18/08/2019 - 11:42

    Sounds like possible this may be a demo cat i guess the km maybe too mu h

  • Bid Sniper on 18/08/2019 - 12:26
    +1

    People pay stupid prices for Toyotas and dealers know this. So not much room to negotiate compared to other brands. Second had market too

  • lostn on 18/08/2019 - 19:15
    +1

    You consider 20-30k 'near new'? crazy.

    The average driver does 15-20k a year. That's a 1-2 year old car.

    They claimed it is a "executive driven car" from Toyota Head Office.

    What this normally means is that it was loaned to employees at the dealership or used for test drives. These people didn't pay for the car and don't own it. Which means they don't give a toss how they treat the car. It's likely to have been stressed out.

  • [Deactivated] on 18/08/2019 - 20:26

    I haggled $300 off a 18yo shitbox hatchback, keep trying

  • sathion on 19/08/2019 - 00:02

    When I went through negotiating on my new car (Honda) last year, price wise we couldn't move much so paid just under retail, but I sure as shit negotiated hard and got all the optional extras and chosen colour for free.

  • cashless on 19/08/2019 - 10:20
    +1

    Buy privately and be prepared to walk away

  • Raiden22 on 10/09/2019 - 04:12

    Go on redbook.com.au find the average price and set that as your price you're prepared to pay maximum.

    The trick is go to dealership towards the end of the month and offer in cash and if they don't accept walk away. Offcourse I you got to have the cash.

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