Originally Posted by Luke
I bought my FRS this past Tuesday and here's what I did to get a price I felt good about:
Didn't trade anything in, sold my last vehicle to a private party (sidenote: It was a 2007 Jeep Wrangler unlimited I bought new, worst buying experience I've ever had). Once it was sold, I did a search on Scion's website for all dealers within a 150 miles radius of my house. I typed up a letter explaining exactly the must haves on the car and that I was sending it to multiple dealers. I couldn't find an actual email on each dealer's website, so I had to use the "Contact Us" button (otherwise I would have sent a single email with all the dealers in the header). I filled out the least amount of information about me, only including my name, the car I was looking for, my email, and my phone (only when it forced me to), and pasted my letter in the "comments" section. Took me about 30-45 minutes to send it to all of them. Told them I would review all offers I received through the next three days, make a decision, then pick up the car a day or so after that.
A lot of dealers didn't even reply, some replied but wanted my phone number or for me to come to their dealership, but some read what I wrote and responded accordingly. There was two dealers that stood out with their price. I called the dealer with the best price, but they said the car was currently on a test drive, then called back and said it was sold (strange coincidence). The next lowest dealer said they didn't have it in stock, but could have it there in 48 hours. So I put down a deposit, they called me back 48 hours later and said they had it, went down the next day and picked it up. No changing of price once I arrived, no pressure on the extended warranty sales. Best car buying experience I've ever had. To promote them a bit, it was Toyota of Easley and I dealt with Kayla. She was very polite, every time I called with a question she answered her phone, was in contact with me before and after their business hours, always honest and straight.
For reference, the dealer closest to me was about $4k higher in price. So all in all, it took me about 7 hours worth of emails, phone calls, and driving to get the best price and save 4k. Yes, 7 hours is almost a full day's worth of work, but I was able to spread it over several days and do it as I wanted to, also the savings made it worth the time.
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