Sunday, January 20, 2013

Auto Dealer Incentives - The Real Way to Get the Best Deal

Auto manufacturers entice their dealer body to sell more of a particular model by offering enormous monetary incentives. These are unadvertised dollars that go directly to the selling dealer. The incentive is time sensitive based on the dealers performance against quota and vary by region and model.

 Makes you want to run right out and buy a car doesn’t it?

As a prudent shopper you can begin to see why the "best deal" is such an elusive animal. Unless you truly study the market, live in the right region, pick the right model and buy during the designated time frame from the dealer that meets quota you really don’t have any chance of beating the system.

The car dealers potential loss of huge incentives are a major reason why several people can buy the exact car from the same dealer and get different prices. Some dealers are more willing to pass along a portion of their incentives to further reduce your price to earn your business. If you negotiate a great price and get the manufacturers rebate and before you walk out the door the dealer offers you further discount, you’ve done a good job. Now, do you really only want $50 over invoice? Don’t expect dealers to give you all their incentive dollars. That’s like giving up your Christmas or performance bonus.

Keep this thought in mind, car dealers are in business to make a profit. They should be allowed to make a profit. But, you don’t want to be the one they make all of the profit on.

Questions to ask the salesperson: Does this model have a dealer incentive? If so how much? When does it expire? How close are you to meeting the qualifying quota? Did you meet quota last month? Which models have a manufacturers rebate and dealer incentive?

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