Trent Moorehead wrote:

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...


Yes, same here. I figure time is on my side, not theirs. The more time
we all take, the better it comes out for me. I once spent 5 WEEKS
negotiating for a car. I got it for my price in the end and even got a
call from the owner of the dealership to finalize the deal.


We just bought a new 2004 Sienna this year. We drive cars 10 plus years, so
buying new makes sense.

It doesn't make financial sense. It makes sense if you value new cars
more than you value your money. :-)


I did the www.fightingchance.com thing where you have all the invoice info
and you contact dealers within a couple of hours driving distance, about 3
days before the end of the month. I spent a good part of a day on the phone
as dealers called in trying to beat each other. Keep in mind that this was a
very hot car and there were almost none on dealers lots. About half of the
dealers never called me back, but that left me 12 dealers to deal with.

Never tried that, but I'll have to check it out.


It soon came apparent that only a couple of dealers actually had a van on
the lot. And the funny thing was that multiple dealers were trying to sell
the same van. I learned a lot from the experience. Dealers regularly trade
cars with each other and create a sort of "virtual" car lot.

Yes, they play all sorts of games.


By the end of the day, I paid invoice price for the new van. The dealer used
the holdback and doc fee to cover his costs and make some money. The next
day after I got off of work, they even sent a driver to pick me up and drive
me 1.5 hours to the dealership to finish the deal. They did this because
they HAD to get me in there before the close of business since it was the
last day of the month and the wife was out of town. I walked in, handed them
a check, signed a couple of things and drove it home.

That's not bad for a Toyota, but the Toyota invoice is still pretty steep.


Matt