Best way to negotiate out-the-door price

I am a current Leaf lessee, looking to purchase one this time around. I'd like to gather some opinions on the best way to negotiate an out-the-door price. If I am only willing to pay X total, it would seem the most straightforward way would be to say, "I am only looking to pay X, can you make that happen?" The problem is, most dealers seem to want to play the back-and-forth game, i.e. "Let me go talk to my manager... oooh, it looks like we can only go X + 1000. How about that?" Is this tactic so ingrained with dealers that it's really best to ask for under your desired price, knowing they (almost) always counteroffer? I'd rather just ask for X, but maybe that's not how car buying works...

See this post for the best way to get the best price:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=18615#p401867" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cgaydos's post offers great advice. Negotiate outside the dealership and have various dealers bid against each other. Negotiate on the purchase price and not the per-month price. Be sure to factor in junk fees (if one dealer charges a doc fee of $99, you should add that to their bid when comparing other bids).

After settling on a purchase price, you'll also need to find out how much the dealer marks up the money factor. Having the lease contract on hand helps here. Any markup over the NMAC money factor can be pocketed by the dealer. You don't want to pay anything more than NMAC charges. I'm not sure what the current money factor / residuals are these days, but they can change every month.

A lease calculator can be useful:
http://www.theautoleasecalculator.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for these suggestions and tips!

LeafieGreens said:

I am a current Leaf lessee, looking to purchase one this time around. I'd like to gather some opinions on the best way to negotiate an out-the-door price. If I am only willing to pay X total, it would seem the most straightforward way would be to say, "I am only looking to pay X, can you make that happen?" The problem is, most dealers seem to want to play the back-and-forth game, i.e. "Let me go talk to my manager... oooh, it looks like we can only go X + 1000. How about that?" Is this tactic so ingrained with dealers that it's really best to ask for under your desired price, knowing they (almost) always counteroffer? I'd rather just ask for X, but maybe that's not how car buying works...

Click to expand...

LeafieGreens, I'm not sure what the market looks like in Seattle, but here in Atlanta, there is a large number of Leaf dealerships and that works toward our advantage when comparing. Having recently went through the same exercise, here's how I approached it:

- I started with TrueCar to determine a starting point, then went through the Costco program to identify who my Costco-affiliated dealer was here in Atlanta. I worked with that dealer via e-mail only to identify the most aggressive, best price they could offer without my presence being necessary. All dealers push hard to get you to come in -- stand your ground and make it clear you'd rather work via e-mail for now and will schedule a time to come in when you're ready. I learned quickly that the "Costco price" was an okay price and was definitely fair, but I could beat it outright with a little negotiation.

- I then went to several other dealers, via e-mail, and confirmed they had the inventory of an SL (most here seem to have a lot of S's, and very little SV's/SL's.) Once I confirmed that, I told them that I'm at X with another dealer (not naming the dealer), and can they offer a more aggressive price to earn my business, I was a serious buyer, and I would complete the purchase within a week. I negotiated on out the door only to avoid junk fees being inserted. As a side note, you'll likely still have to deal with the documentation fees and whatnot, but if you negotiate out the door at a price that's fair, they have to roll it into the overall price (therefore reducing the price of their car to accommodate, etc.)

- By going through this process with multiple dealers I was able to go about $2k below TrueCar's price with the given trim level and options I was looking for. It took time, and it wasn't fun, but I was able to walk into a dealership with a price already negotiated and not play the back and forth game while in their showroom. I thought I got a fair price out of it, too (you can see another thread I posted recently in this same subforum about my experience in Atlanta and the price I got for an SL.)

I much preferred to work a deal remotely (via e-mail and phone call to the dealer who was willing to deal a little more). It allowed me to do other things while they were working the numbers out and seeing if they could do the deal I asked for and saved me a ton of time when I walked into the dealership. Granted, I didn't buy that day, but that was more me considering everything with trade in, etc.

I'm pondering the lease vs buy vs look at another car entirely conundrum myself now. Do you mind if I ask what is influencing your decision to pull the trigger and purchase? This would be my first Leaf, and I would really like to buy outright rather than deal with the lease pricing (miles, I'm nonVPP so prices are higher, etc.) but worried about battery degradation, battery replacement, value with Leaf 2.0 in a few years, that kind of thing.

kmiller said:

I'm pondering the lease vs buy vs look at another car entirely conundrum myself now. Do you mind if I ask what is influencing your decision to pull the trigger and purchase? This would be my first Leaf, and I would really like to buy outright rather than deal with the lease pricing (miles, I'm nonVPP so prices are higher, etc.) but worried about battery degradation, battery replacement, value with Leaf 2.0 in a few years, that kind of thing.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your process. No, I don't mind at all you asking about my decision to purchase. As for the car itself, I have been happily driving my current Leaf for nearly two years and love it. I haven't noticed any battery degradation during these 17,000 miles in the cool, Pacific NW weather, so I am confident that a 2015 would meet my needs (and expectations) for many years to come.

Here are how the numbers are influencing my thinking:

• 
  No sales tax on electric vehicle purchases in Washington state (over $3,000 savings), plus I'm hoping to bargain a couple thousand off the MSRP
  72 months @ 0%
  $3,500 NMAC Cash
  $1,000 Owner Loyalty Cash
  $7,500 Federal tax credit
  $395 Waived disposition fee
  $500 Waived excess wear and usage (don't know if I'll need this, but it puts my mind at ease)

After all that, I could end up paying less than $17,000 for a brand new 2015 Leaf S with the quick charge package. I considered leasing again and then buying out right away, but from what I understand, I would be hit with sales tax on the buyout amount (the sales tax exemption in WA is only on new cars). Plus the NMAC rebates are greater when buying vs. leasing.