Newtybar

Hello,

After stalking your forums for several months now here and there... I made the leap yesterday to go buy my Wrangler Unlimited 4x4.

The salesman was actually fair... didn't push at all. I just had read here that it was possible to get invoice or in some case below invoice price.

I'm looking to spend around 24,500 on my Jeep. All I really want is the hard top and 4 wheel drive. They didn't have what I wanted and were willing to give me a deal invoice +1% ($260) + 595 (dealer swap fees). He quoted me one at the end 25,520 which was black, auto, hard top, power group. But that was MSRP... the fleet manager came out and asked me what I was trying to do? Got in my face...like I was an idiot trying to rob them.... at this point I pointed out...what was promised was invoice... and that I didnt even need to do the dealer swap thing... im sure I could go home and find the one I wanted on the net and just go directly there. I told him he pissed me off got up and left.

Was this too harsh? Is $27,771 a fair out the door price for a Black, Hard Top, Auto, 4 wheel drive, power... wrangler unlimited?


Thanks,


Newt

Zee

He was rude... doesn't deserve your business. Go elsewhere.

MJS_Jeep_888

The manager got up in your face like you were trying to steal from them? Absurd.

An automobile purchase is a legal contract between two parties: You offer X amount for the vehicle, and they agree to sell you said vehicle for X. It works both ways - they can ask for more, you can ask for more.

Given the situation that you described, it seems likely that the dealership obligated itself to give you a lower price than they wanted to, and this manager wanted to get out of the commitment by pissing you off (which he did).

Go to another dealership, and tell them exactly what you're willing to pay. I've never paid anywhere near MSRP for a vehicle, and have also never experienced a situation like you've described... for one simple reason: If the dealership doesn't like your offer, they don't have to sell to you!

wolverine_man

There should NEVER be a fee to do a "dealer swap." I'd walk out of any place that charges such a fee.

08UnlimitedSahara810

Why not? If there is a transportation company hired to do it, why would there not be a cost?

I previously sold Mercedes-Benz and it would not be uncommon to trader with a dealer in Chicago from Detroit. We had the vehicles shipped in an enclosed trailer and it cost about $500 to do this. This is a valid charge.

If the dealer trade is made locally, we would pay a retiree $50-$100 to drive down and get it. This is still a valid charge but much lower in cost. Usually the dealer would eat this money, but not the $500.

wolverine_man

Because A) there will naturally be more miles on the vehicle at the time you take delivery, B) you've just had some Chrysler employee hot rod your JK on the highway, most likely ignoring all break-in procedures and C) I've never heard of a dealer charging such a fee.

My dealer conducted a 200 mile radius search before I ordered mine. They were not going to charge me a cent for the dealer trade. But since they didn't find one in the color I wanted with similar specs, I ordered one. Obviously, they didn't charge me to order one either.

tgrt

I paid something like $200 for my dealership to pick my Jeep up outside of Birmingham. They used a car carrier though and I thought the cost was reasonable. I think it's reasonable to pass on the cost, but I don't think it's reasonable for them to make anything off the transportation.

MJS_Jeep_888

I disagree: Dealerships are for-profit, and therefore there IS a fee to do a "dealer swap."

Dealerships are privately owned, and Jill's Jeep is unlikely to deal with Joe's Jeep for no profit... so if Joe's dealership has a customer with cash in hand, and needs to get a JK from Jill's dealership, he's going to have to offer up a deal that puts $$$ in Jill's pocket at the end of the day. Since there's a loss of $$$ involved for Joe, why shouldn't he pass along that loss to the customer?

It's just common sense: Whether they explicitly declare a "dealer trade" fee on the contract or not, you've got to realize that they ARE charging you whatever extra $$$ it's costing them to trade with the other dealership. They may bury that charge under a line item like "delivery charges" or something, but you're the one eating the $$$, not them.

Mark Doiron

When I bought my JK, the dealer told me there would be no additional charge to deliver any vehicle they found within 500 miles. He said they recover that from D&D charges already.

As for Newtybar's experience: Sounds to me like the salesman and the manager were playing a little good guy/bad guy at your expense. I'd find somewhere else to spend my money.

C_Kyle

It's a game. You try to get the best deal for yourself and the dealer tries to get the best deal for them. A lot of us here paid invoice; it is/was possible.

I started at 10% below MSRP, which was slightly lower than invoice. We haggled up to invoice, in a total of 2.5 hours, I think. I didn't budge at all until they came down to exactly invoice.

They were slightly rude concerning my first offer, and even up to the final price. As much as it was pissing me off, I didn't show it or respond to it in any way. You have to go in with your poker face and stick to your guns.