Maybe a salesman can chime in here, but I think that these days people tend to use email as a buffer and a negotiation tool. To show that you are serious, call them on the phone, talk to the salesman, share your thoughts and experiences so that they see that you have put in some serious time and effort and you are now ready to do the deal. Then, before they ask, tell him that you have your credit card ready to put down a deposit on the car, give him the number, and then make the offer.

I agree with #1. Sometimes that can't be helped, but it generally does apply when buying a toy. Always feel free to walk away.

#2 is a good technique. However, I find that they never have a car on the lot that is configured exactly the way that I want it. A sacrifice must always be made, be it color, options missing or extra options that you don't want. But you're still paying for them (even if discounted).

Explain yourself, please. You are saving the dealership the cost of carrying the inventory, the risk of ordering a car that may not sell quickly, and it's a done deal. Sure, they have one less car sold this month, but a good manager knows that the sale will be there in a few months.

As I stated above, when you buy off the lot, you generally have to sacrifice something. Why compromise when spending north of $100K? Why buy a car just because you get a killer discount if you could come out cheaper buying the car you actually want without the leather-trimmed seat belt buckles?

I think you guys that get 10% or better are getting some fantastic deals, and you are obviously far superior negotiators than I am (and probably better looking as well) but I don't know how to say this any louder: it is the exception, not the rule! Most people don't get those kind of killer deals. You are doing potential buyers a disservice by leading them to believe that they can replicate your success.

 

Not worth speculating about unless you call a number of dealers that have a car you are willing to buy, and are willing to buy from out of your area if need be.

 

Plenum you sound very smart to me, just saying.

Beemer guy, I would be happy to explain myself to you. It has my experience, that car dealers don't deal as much on a car that they don't have on the lot. Here in the Chicago area we have 4 premier dealerships, that are allocated a ton of cars every year and are usually beautifully optioned. The notion that you give up something or sacrifice something to buy a car on the lot , is frankly, just not true. Or at least it isn't in this part of the country.

I bought a fully loaded 2012 4s cab -, off the lot (in 2012, sacrificed nothing) I also recently purchased a 2014 Panamera4 in November, the sticker on it was 101,000 I paid 90,000. -- sacrificed nothing.

I have been buying new cars for decades, you sacrifice nothing when you buy off the lot. I believe that when you order a car, they don't discount as much, hence your 5 to 6% discounts off MSRP.

Beemer guy, is it just a coincidence that your discount was significantly less than any of mine? I don't have a reason to embellish what I'm saying. Again , here in the Chicago area , these four dealerships seemed to get many allocated to them, maybe that is the difference.

 

This is some great advice you guys are sharing. I plan to make an offer on the last day of the month. Fingers crossed the Porsche is still there.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. Just remember, if the one you want is no longer available, there are thousands more rolling out of the factory every month!!!

Look at the sales figures (record year again in 2014) for 911s to remind yourself that it should be more of a buyers market than a sellers market, and waiting is in your (and your wallets) best interest!