Dealership Car Purchase help?

I'm buying a car for the first time, and am looking at buying from a dealership. Since i've never done it before, whats the typical negotiation range as far as price? Anyone have any advice? The car i'm looking at is listed at $9800, the "True market value" from edmunds.com says about $7100, and KBB says about the same. I dont know why there's such a gap. I'd think saying "I'll pay $7100 for it" is a slap to the dealers face, but is it possible to get the car for say $8,000 or even $8500? or is a dealership only going to budge a couple hundred bucks? Just thought i'd see if anyone on here has advice, maybe works at a dealership or has before. Thanks in advance!

tell me more info year miles options make and model. you can pm me . i was in car sales and am currently still in sales i can help.

Don't let them give you the ol "how much payment can you afford" scam. Know what the car costs, how much the tax and license and all that is costing and how much the interest rate on the loan is. Don't let them get away with such and such payment because they will throw all sorts of crap in the loan for you.

On your how much to pay for the car. There are 3 different ranges for resale. The first is wholesale. That is what the dealer tries to get your trade in for. Then there is private party resale. That is the middle then there is the high end and that is the dealer resale. Offer them out the door at what they are offering. Tax and license usually come in near 10%. So if they want $9800 for the car. Offer $9800 out the door. That is basically a 10% (in california) discount from their asking price. You are basically getting the car for $8800 with tax and license then added on.

Slap in the face? I would say no even though they will try to make you think this it is far from the truth. Mark ups on many cars is much more than you think. My wife and I bought a used car a few years ago dealer want 18900. Only had 5k miles on it so practically new, we found the same care across town brand new last years model for 15k told the dealer look we like your color more but this is what we are going to pay he gave us the song and dance cant do it cant do it. So we said fine have a nice day thanks for you time. Hour and a half later after signing papers and a detail we drove off with our new (to us) car in the color we liked and for what we asked. Does that mean you will always get what you want...No but if the price is fair then they should be willing to work with you. Just for grins I talked to a neighboring dealership before we bought it and asked what they would give me if I traded the same car in and they tried buy the same car from me for 12,900 so I had a decent idea of what they paid for it. I knew I wouldn't get them that low but I also knew there was a lot of wiggle room and made them work for the sale.

+1 for the don't let them what kind of a payment are you looking for there's a lot of ways to manipulate that. And if you are borrowing money get pre-qualified and that way you just have to worry about the price not the terms.

You're already negotiating with yourself.

Make your offer. If they won't take it, the worst they can say is no, and the negotiating will start. walk away from their first counter offer and let them chase you off the lot. If they give chase, you'll know there is more room to negotiate. If they don't, you know you need to offer more.

Robert- PM'd you.

Steven & Someone else- I guess the "they'll make you think its far from the truth" is what i was meaning to say by "slap in the face". I like the "out the door" price, never thought of that. As well as the "I like your car better, but I found one cheaper for $8200 total, this is what i'm paying" seems like a good way to get the momentum my way too. $8200 for a car that cost them probably $5000, I don't see them turning that down? or am i wrong. Dealerships usually want to turn over used cars pretty quickly dont they?

Deciding that you can and will walk away is a truly powerful choice that you need to make if you do not get the price you want. I have had to do it more than once. And every time but once I received at least a phone call if not a sales person following me outside to try to make something work.

Obviously you like the car and that's fine and they can even know that just don't let them think you are dying to have THAT car. There are other cars and if they aren't willing to make a deal there is someone else that will. Did you ever answer as to whether you were looking at the whole sale or private resale price. I know that can be very misleading sometime when it comes to how much someone says a car is worth.

Lastly is it worth what you are willing to pay. As I said before pick a number and offer that number if they don't want it then walk away and let them try to sell it for whatever they like. If they are unwilling to budge you prob don't want to do business with them anyway.

Good luck and have fun play the game and I hope you win!

ben look at the inspection sticker they usually inspect the car when it first comes in . some dealers reinspect every month others don't . gives you a good idea of how long car has been on the lot.i would make my offer based on wholesale[thats what they paid for it] most dealers want to make 2000 on a car in your range some mat settle for 1500 but not much less. use that as a guide. knowledge is power. the more you know the better deal you can get. like steven mentioned i know where i can get one for this.may not be the color or miles or options you want but its leverage. don't give up any specifics. be general in what you say. if salesman picks up on anything you really like or can tell you want it quickly he will say i have others looking at it it may not be here tomorrow.remember any time two people talk a sale is made. the first one to answer is usually the loser. patience is a virtue.

Steven- sorry no i didnt answer. but the edmunds.com gave a Dealer Trade in, a private party, and a dealer retail. the dealer retail is what I was referring to when I said True Market Value (thats what Edmunds calls it) is $7100. trade in was about $5,000, private party was about $6100. Oh i know to not let them know if I really like a car, I know that not seeming too anxious/interested to get the car can go a long ways. And agreed, i can see how having the will power to walk away, even though you might really want the car, is a powerful action... my dad did it when he bought his last car. sure enough they chased him out the door and he got his price

In this economy just make an offer. I've found state your price and let them work there way down to it. Also if you have a set price in your head make an offer less than what you will really want to pay so you can meet in the middle. The best thing is to be a straight shooter and DONT BABBLE lol as mentioned above silence can work to your advantage. I kinda enjoy playing the game, if they keep giving you the run around just leave. They will call. A co-worker got tired of it and walked out on a deal last week then the next day they called him about ten times here at work accepting his offer lol He ended up getting the car for what he wanted. Heck my friend walked out on a deal a couple months ago and the saleman jumped in the bed of his truck not letting him leave. Once they hit the freeway the guy was begging him to pull over lol

Ben, what does Kelley Blue Book say? kbb.com. Take the dealer retail and then offer that as the out the door price as the maximum as you go in price. There are way too many used cars on the market. You have to walk away from bad deals. It's only business, nothing personal.

When I buy a new vehicle, at a minimum I am at the sticker price as the out the door price. Usually it is anywhere from $1000 below wholesale to $500 above wholesale plus tax and license and then minus factory rebates. It is reasonable to both parties.

Do it over the internet,get them to agree on a price,copy it,and take it in.
I did that,and it takes all the BS outta it.

Im in the business of selling used cars. I would say paying kelly blue book excellent condition in private party value is fair at a dealership. u get a good deal. dealer makes a little bit of money. its a win win situation

after buying a couple of used cars (one three days ago) the best thing you can do is tell them your ofter, and then if they dont go for anything get up shake their hand say thanks and then say call me when you are able to make the deal happen.
If they dont call then they truthfully cant come down. Twice I have gotten a call back within 20 min saying dont drive home. i will have the car detailed when we are doing the paper work at your price.

If the car is worth $7100 on high retail why would you even consider paying above that?

My rules for buying a used car:
Never fall in love with a car at the Dealership...
Always low ball them and give your self some room work up (you never know, you may get a better deal)...
Always be willing to walk away...
My Dad used to say "You're always going to get screwed at the dealership so you might as well sit back and enjoy it."