Car buying.............is it unrealistic......

Great info gentlemen.............thank you.

zoo.........thanks for checking that out.

  I'm not holding my breath waiting for a call back...........they'll find someone to buy that rig & I'll find another. There's thousands of cars out there...........

Thats the attitude you need when you are looking for a deal.

Mugg- Most good salesmen will call you back, period. Even if the price that you offered would put their vehichle "in the ditch" ( no profit or even a loss ) . The bottom line is that the dealership lost this battle when they quoted you a price of $21K and then switched you over to payment options. In the car business, the first one that speaks about price is the loser. Weather it is the customer or the dealer. Sounds to me like this is a "payment" store and not a "trade difference" or "bottom line" store. If this store has more than $16K in this Xterra and is asking $21K, then the sales manager or whoever is responsible for it being on the lot doesn't know a lot about car sales. Castor has some very valid points about the car business but it sounds to me like he is at a store that has been around for awhile and has a lot of return and referral business. Some stores that are fairly new or that are not well known probably are struggling more than they expected when they got into this business. Established stores with good salespeople and good SM and GM should always have few problems selling vehichles. But back to your $16K offer, sure they may have laughed at that offer but who really knows what this ride is worth. I learned a long time ago that ANY vehichle is worth what someone will pay for it. NADA or any other book that publishes prices on cars will never be "on the money" for every ride. Too many variables to consider. I once saw one of my SM throw a NADA book on the floor after a customer said that the book says the car is worth so much and he said, "Book ! Book ! What is this car worth? See sir, books don't buy and sell cars every day like we do." In essence he was saying that the people in the car business should know what a vehicle is worth in their particular area just a tad more than some book. Most dealers use NADA books as a reference and not as a " fixed " value. And as for the payment strategy that they tried on you, it is good for the dealership. Well, at least for the finance dept. Sales could care less how a customer pays. It is like robbing from Peter to pay Paul but that is the way car dealerships are run. I always got tired of hassling with my parts dept. over prices on after market accesories. Just never made much sense to me. So, if the dealership does not call you back, then they obviously don't want your business or at least that is what they think. Because every store should want ANY business. I wouuld just guess that you could buy this Xterra for $17,500 or $18 if this store has close to $16K in it. If they did have that much in it, they would be stupid not to take this deal. One last option to you would be to go into the store late in the month (on the last Wednesday if possible ) See if you can get a look at the sales board with X's on it. Most dealers will have a box on eevrey salesman's name that is colored in fully. For instance if I set a goal for a guy to sell 20 in a month then the 20 box is shaded in. If the X's on most of the guys are no where near the shaded area, then they will (should ) be ready to negotiate moreso than before. Bottom line is, if you don't feel comfortable buying this Xterra, then don't do it. I would definitely not reccomend it and if you do end up buying it, take a good long look at ANY warranty that the manufacturer may sstill have on it on take two long looks at ANY extended service plan that they offer. Hope some of this helps. Good luck. 

sooner.........thanks

matt.........

JR..........those are probably the same ones I've seen on autotrader & craigslist.......but I'll look at'em

Apache..........I'll take a look

Thanks gentlemen.......

Here is a question for you dealers (I sold cars years ago, just a tough miserable profession in general)

I have a friend who is a single father and raising a few kids and I was thinking about getting him a vehicle since I know he doesnt have much.

Anyone have connections to dealer auctions in PHX that could get me a great value deal on a car, I would pay a little vig but I am talking under 5k on total cost.

Any help would be appreciated..I can go look around for resale here, dont want to go haggle at a dealer for retail, would I be better off trying to deal with the wholesaler at a dealership and offer to buy instead of them going to the auction?

The car isnt for me but I know how it works so my question is the best value for a person in NEED of a decent used car.

Sure, what do you want your payment to be?

 

After being a dealer I know that talking payment is loser talk, I do what others mentioned and it works well.

I bring in my cash or financing and have a signed check, in and out and no screwing around.

So if I got something it would be cash paid by me for him.

CASH

Interest rates are like zero.  Why pay cash?

That's un American.

All cars on the lot are $5k off sticker except for the blue ones.  Everybody wants a blue car so we get to mark those up.

 

You crack me up Shrimp.

Wholesale, family car...cash..

No payments, no slick talk, I sold cars so I dont need the sales talk approach.