Dealership experience - Thoughts?
 

I visited a brand new '16 FRS on the lot this past weekend at a dealership. The last brand new, manual FRS within 100 miles as far as I can tell.

My experience was sorta odd and left me wondering. What do you guys think?

Emailed back and forth a bit, got an internet quote for $21979 before tax/title/etc. Decided to visit on the weekend, so I headed out there. When I got there the FRS was in the show room, so they said it would take a minute to get it out for the test drive. The car wouldn't start and they had to jump it. They said it had been sitting for a while in the show room. (Side note, I stalled it a couple times and it wouldn't start without jumping it again - I was embarrassed!)

According to the online sources, it's been sitting for over 6 months in that showroom without anyone buying it. Anyway, we take off and do the test drive. Love the car, the manual felt even better than the auto I tried previously which I also liked. We get back and decide to go inside to discuss numbers. So here's where it got hairy. They bring me back the quote for out-the-door price, and it's nearly $24,000. It's not unexpected, with tax/title/tag/etc. However, it's just slightly more than I want to spend out the door.

I was originally looking at used FRS/BRZ but I thought we might have some wiggle room and I would love a new '16 FRS if I could swing a lower price. So, it's the dead of winter here in the midwest, the end of the year, the car is technically discontinued, and it's been sitting there for 6+ months. So, I figured maybe I could haggle a lower price.

Well, I think I was wrong. When I brought up talking about lower pricing the salesman got visibly upset and said he needed to bring a finance guy over to speak to me. So, the guy comes over, and he sits me down. He talked to me like I was stupid or like he was my dad and I was in trouble - aside from all the dealership "tricks" like telling me "I'm the winner here" and all of that. Then he told me the price I was quoted was already "a mistake" by $1500 but they will "honor it anyways". I said, well, it wasn't my mistake. I thought that was unprofessional.

I was so put off by the rude behavior that I decided to leave. They begged me to stay offering drinks and whatnot, but I said I needed to "think about it" and I took off. About 30-40 minutes later they called me and said "we'll give you $100 off if it'll do anything". Which, I thought was a joke.

I haven't returned their call. Am I overthinking this, or expecting too much? I realize the price is pretty good and all, it's why I went to check the car out in the first place. I thought I might be able to haggle it down a bit for all the reasons I listed above.... was that a poor expectation on my part? Was I the one being offensive by asking?

Would love to hear some thoughts. I may just go back to checking out used FRS/BRZ options because they're much more in my price range. I would have played ball on the '16 if they would wiggle a bit - or heck, if they were just more polite about it.

Continue looking until you find one you can afford. If that's the last 2016 on their lot they'll probably squeeze whoever wants it. I don't think you were being offensive. It's just the BS of car salesmen. Just my 2 cents!

Imo you're there to buy a car, not make friends. If the price is right what more could u want? By your description their behavior is a little old school but at the end of the day you have your car and they have your money, just as God intended it to be. Lol

Best thing you could do, you've done...walk away and think about it. They surely will be doing the same...thinking about the deal.

Not clear what was the MSRP including 'dealer processing and handling fee'..which is basically destination charge. I'd say that would be about $26,200 ??

If that's the case, sounds like a very good deal...at $21,979 plus tax, license. You might ask what their 'documentation' fees are. Some dealers it's included, some overcharge up to $375 or so for that fee. This fee may be included in the price they quoted, as it's a Scion. You can check online yourself for your state's dmv fees.

Most dealers treat us like shit, even in the finance dept...after we think we've got a total price. Don't buy anything additional in the finance department office ! Do not buy an extended warranty, don't buy any accessories in finance dept., get your own financing, or check bank rates locally yourself. Dealer may be able to match them.

You could ask for a new battery before you take the car. They can easily charge it to warranty...happens often when cars have been on a lot a long time...bad battery.

From a recent experience I had at a new car dealership: Was there an hour or so. Test drove a car. Nice chat with salesman whilst he and I in the car. Afterwords, when we sat at a table (the worst part always) he stated they could not give me the car at a lower price because they don't make much on the car. It was a small town Subaru dealership and I was looking at a new Subaru Crosstrek. His stating that made me respond 'Your've lying'. (They were offering me only $900 or so off a new car). Pissed me off and I walked out.
Next day I called and asked to talk with sales manager and he gave me a lower price over the phone..but still not low enough, if I was willing to go out of town, to a larger town. So I did not buy.
What I learned: Sometimes best to deal with sales manager over the phone. In your case...go for it now. Get the deal done over the phone before you go back in there and they piss you off again. You can arrive at another price and have him email you with an out the door price, including everything, and a statement as well, that battery will be replaced no charge.

Toyota dealerships are well known for high pressure tactics. Guess it has not changed. I'm 70 and dealers still piss me off. Do not feel bad about anything you did or said. They are shits and they know it.


They really want to sell cars end of any month. Certainly that's even more important to them end of year...which is now. And not likely they'll sell this car to anyone else in the next few days...due to winter weather, sports cars are hard to sell now.

So I'd say, wait and see...if they email or call you again with an even better deal. You've got 13 days to hold out !

Welp, first off, like @86geek says, don't buy something you can't afford.....;)

However, if that car is "right" for you, I'd suggest you offer them $23,500 and they put a new battery in it.

Oh yes, budget for some winter tires if you plan on driving it in the winter time in Illinois ..... ;)


humfrz

Price sounded darn close. Should have probably requested a new battery like ToySub1946 said , and it doesn't hurt to ask if they can split the price of a tint job with you (say a $150 credit towards tint).

They did actually offer to put a new battery in, and of course a full tank of gas since it was on empty when we drove it. I know I'll need winter tires for this car in my area, which is another reason why I was hoping to cut the initial costs down a little bit.



Thanks for the replies so far. I definitely will be waiting it out. I guess I was just surprised by the behavior. I mean, 9/10 dealers I've been to, the salesmen are super sheisty and I expect that - but these guys seemed actually upset. Maybe they were just desperate to get it off the lot without taking a loss and went into panic mode, lol. I feel like I'm probably the only person who has seriously looked at it in months. Who knows!

If it's meant to be it'll happen, otherwise there are plenty of other examples out there, even if used :)

what color car was it ?

A full tank of gas was part of the deal, buying a Scion.

And their getting upset...might have just been an act...part of their game.

As for winter tires...You might research on here to see what others have done...including buying 'steelies' for wheels...and what size tires and wheels work best on this car in winter. Balancing tires is so expensive these days, best to have snows on separate wheels from your summer tires.

Wait it out. You may have to expand your search area. I found my car 200 miles away. It was a better deal than my local dealer.
Honestly if they made you feel like an idiot don't bother going back. There's a reason why that car hasn't t been sold.
Keep looking, wait it out, that is if you don't need a car right away.

As someone who works in the car business, best thing a buyer can do is not be irate or think you're better than the sales person. Treating a sales person like crap in anyway won't get you anywhere but the door.

That sales person's mistake was getting upset at you for asking for a lower price. Rather than being upset that you asked that, he should have educated you on exactly how much money they're losing by selling the car to you at their quoted 21,979, which I'll tell you right now is a negative $2k at the minimum. That's ridiculously low imo, and that's to the point where I would let a person leave (after professionally declining their offer to lower the price). Profit is not made on new cars these days despite what people think. New cars is generally a loss of profit.

Now, you should watch out for dealership addendums (required crap that they force you to get in order to get their quoted price), like stupid door edge guards and low quality paint protection films. Dealerships around me mark up the cost of that by 600%!

As mentioned, also watch out for their documentation fee. Some dealerships out there will go to the highest that Toyota will allow (which is crazy imo).

Do research on credit score tiers and their accompanying interest rates. The score we pull at a dealership is not the same as Credit Karma or what your bank may show you. It could be the same, but a lot of times it swings very drastically for better or worse. It's more of a credit rating since it's factoring way more history than Credit Karma, etc. Make sure they show you your score and that you sign off on your score. If they don't show you your score after doing a credit application, then they're up to something.

Lastly, if that specific FR-S is out of your budget, maybe ask yourself if you are on the right car (as you mentioned, maybe look at a certified pre-owned option), or are you in the right time frame (maybe hold off on the purchase until you can save up money).

$21979 before title, tax, dealer/document fee etc. for the price of the car, and $24000 out the door price seems about right.

When you factor in tax, the state of Illinois is around 6% according to Google, so that makes it around $1300 + or - for sales tax. Add DMV fees for registration and title, and dealer/document fees, lets say this is around $500 total.

So you have $21979+$1300+$500 = $23779, which is close to $24000.

For a brand new 2016, I would say that is a deal for the price of the car being $21979. Ask the dealer to throw in Winter tires since they are already giving you a new battery. Just make sure they give you your factory summer tires in the trunk.

I'd say go for it.

Out the door for under 24K. TTL included? That's a great deal if you ask me. I recall when the msrp was a little over 25K BEFORE TTL.

If you like the car. No stories. New. Have them throw in the battery and buy it.

A quick glance through Autotrader shows many used 2013s selling for (well asking for)$17 to $19K in Illinois so $24K all in for a new 16 seems like a pretty square deal. Nothing wrong with asking for a lesser price but no need to get bent out of shape when they say no.
We do not know the other side of the story here so it is hard to say if the dealer was unprofessional or not but I don't get why people seem to think of car sales people as subhuman in some manner. They can get upset by customers just as easily as any other person. They are also not all out to screw people over since it is their job to get the most they can from the customer. They are not there to do you favours or meet your every demand. I am not saying to walk in and plop down the sticker price but when people make statements like dealership "tricks" or "games" they need to remember that as the customer they are trying to play the game and are willing to use tricks as well. Yes, there are some bad sales people out there but there are probably 100 bad customers for every one of them. It is not the dealer's fault that they can/will not drop the price of a car to where you can afford it. It is your responsibility to be realistic in your expectations and find something within your budget.