Comments on: The Weakonomist Buys a Car http://weakonomics.com/2008/03/10/the-weakonomist-buys-a-car/ Common sense for our dollars and cents Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:26:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: the weakonomist http://weakonomics.com/2008/03/10/the-weakonomist-buys-a-car/#comment-46 the weakonomist Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:29:11 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=10#comment-46 Phoenix, contact me privately and I'll be happy to share with you what I have learned. My email is philip@weakonomics.com Maybe we can create a generic email to get you started that is catered to your needs. Phoenix, contact me privately and I’ll be happy to share with you what I have learned. My email is philip@weakonomics.com

Maybe we can create a generic email to get you started that is catered to your needs.

]]> By: Phoenix http://weakonomics.com/2008/03/10/the-weakonomist-buys-a-car/#comment-44 Phoenix Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:11:26 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=10#comment-44 Hello Weakonomist. I am a regular reader of MyMoneyBlog and found your post on car buying throught a series of blog links emanating from that blog. We (my wife & i) are now in the process of purchasing a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey minivan within the next two months and so this blog is very timely for us. Your strategy was a great one, thanks for sharing. Would you be willing to forward me your initial "generic" email you sent to the dealers? Hello Weakonomist. I am a regular reader of MyMoneyBlog and found your post on car buying throught a series of blog links emanating from that blog. We (my wife & i) are now in the process of purchasing a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey minivan within the next two months and so this blog is very timely for us. Your strategy was a great one, thanks for sharing. Would you be willing to forward me your initial “generic” email you sent to the dealers?

]]> By: the weakonomist http://weakonomics.com/2008/03/10/the-weakonomist-buys-a-car/#comment-39 the weakonomist Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:47:48 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=10#comment-39 First of all, glad you made your purchase by negotiation. I see your argument and there is validity to that. Perhaps another metric would be the edmunds TMV (true market value) as it represents the average price people are paying for the vehicle. I never mentioned MSRP in my negotiations, but it does serve as a common number people are familiar with. I didn't base my savings over TMV, because then I would have had to explain what TMV was. For the record, TMV on my vehicle is $23,000. Savings of $1,500 on a car on the market for only 3 months. Not bad by those metrics either. Either way you base the savings, don't ever settle for sticker price. First of all, glad you made your purchase by negotiation.

I see your argument and there is validity to that. Perhaps another metric would be the edmunds TMV (true market value) as it represents the average price people are paying for the vehicle.

I never mentioned MSRP in my negotiations, but it does serve as a common number people are familiar with. I didn’t base my savings over TMV, because then I would have had to explain what TMV was.
For the record, TMV on my vehicle is $23,000. Savings of $1,500 on a car on the market for only 3 months. Not bad by those metrics either.

Either way you base the savings, don’t ever settle for sticker price.

]]> By: greg http://weakonomics.com/2008/03/10/the-weakonomist-buys-a-car/#comment-38 greg Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:08:03 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=10#comment-38 MSRP/sticker is not the number to negotiate from nor the number to use to determine whether you got a good deal. the starting point should be invoice and a good deal is a below invoice cost. your approach is right, just the basis number you're starting with is wrong. i bought my truck for $600 below invoice (plus the $2500 rebate). i don't even remember what the MSRP was, but it doesn't matter, that's just a made up number anyway. but i followed a very similar approach to yours, with phone/emails to the internet sales departments, plus a little back and forth with the two dealers who were most aggressive. i bought the last few days of the month and committed by buying before the last day of the month. MSRP/sticker is not the number to negotiate from nor the number to use to determine whether you got a good deal. the starting point should be invoice and a good deal is a below invoice cost.

your approach is right, just the basis number you’re starting with is wrong. i bought my truck for $600 below invoice (plus the $2500 rebate). i don’t even remember what the MSRP was, but it doesn’t matter, that’s just a made up number anyway. but i followed a very similar approach to yours, with phone/emails to the internet sales departments, plus a little back and forth with the two dealers who were most aggressive. i bought the last few days of the month and committed by buying before the last day of the month.

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