If you bought a new truck, did?

[krs2fer]

Did you buy one sitting on the lot or did you order one?


I'm asking because I'm wanting buy a truck to tow with. The ones on the lot are cheaper but don't have all the things I want or feel I need on one.


Is it better to compromise or hold your ground and order one with what you want and pay a higher price for it?
Sign me Confused in Indiana.
Chris

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One of the advantages of a truck on the lot is that t it may have been made before a price increase. It also may have special factory sponsored deals on it to "move the inventory". Past that, there is no real reason an ordered in truck *should* cost more than one on the lot. If it does, check with another dealer.

If you have the ( possibly many months) to wait, the ordered in truck is *always* the better fit. Around here, once you find one on the lot with the "must haves" you also have a bunch of other stuff that ...yikes ... Many of us simply can't wait for an ordered truck and go with the lot creature.

One interesting observation: If I go back and look at the list of "don't need that" items on my truck, I'd tell you today that several of them are *very* nice to have.

Bob

[wulfraat]

I am a professional negotiator (this is a large component of my actual job). Cars are pretty easy as they are commodities and many stores are trying to sell the same product from the same factory. Servicing and Purchase store have nothing to do with each other and as an aside you should not link the two when a salesperson try to position the value of their "service" shop.

If you goal is best price out the door there is no doubt you should work with stores that have a vehicle on premise that meets your needs. You cannot be too picky if you want to truly maximize financial value in the transaction. As soon was you get picky and have special requirements you will loose your negotiation power.

There is no need to ever walk in the door of a dealership, you can negotiate everything via email and phone once you know the standard vehicle you want like a "2018 chevy 2500 LTZ with duramax and standard box".

The last vehicle I purchased for my niece as a favor took me a total of 1.5 hours of effort and we easily obtained 18% discount out the door on a new Subaru after working across 12 dealerships within 200 miles. I bought my first airstream (new) at 45% discount off MSRP but that's another story...

There is a process to negotiating a car, I posted a write-up here on the forum on the basic approach to gaining the best deal on a new airstream... If you are not comfortable with running the process you can hire a broker for a flat fee and they'll deal with everything for you if you give them your parameters.

If you "must have" certain colors or accessories or what have you then thats fine too, you'll just be stuck with standard discounts that the factory offers and a few hundred bucks extra from a dealer. Car dealerships have professional negotiators too - you just need to know how to speak their language and cut to the chase - at the end of the day it's just a business transaction, not a marriage.

[rmkrum]

That's why I send my wife in to do the haggling...she comes from a 1500-year-deep line of ancestors that never paid full price, and it's a cultural imperative to not do so.

I sit back, watch the fun, watch the salesman fall apart and then defer to the real authority (sales manager) and watch wife get the price, financing, color, and accessories on our hidden list of must haves. Works every time. All I have to do is make sure her name is first line on the title, and to stand behind her when the dealer takes the picture.

We've got the local Toyota store trained. They usually beat our calculated bottom-line price by quite a bit without us even asking nowadays. They remember her!

The best part is that the service department is totally competent, and trustworthy...has been for years.

[jftompkins]

Just got a 2018 Chevy Tahoe RST... for 2010 Tahoe pulling FC23FB to get that bigger engine... really wanted a silver/gray color like my old one... only a few in the region of dealerships; however a bunch of the same package and either white or black.... with several on the lot too either white or black. Got a price on one of the few grey ones in town. Big price difference based on “Color inventory”.....? (went with the white... very pleased). A lot of white trucks out there for personal and business use... so maybe this on the supply demand side curve...white could be a good discount color choice?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you want something like a 2 wheel drive truck *with* a towing package on it .... forget about finding one on the lot. At least that has been the case the last few times I've been shopping. The dealers simply don't stock anything with that combo of options. Off to factory order land you go. A lot of this depends very much on just what your magic list looks like ....

Bob

[GSP9]

I ended up ordering one (2018 F150 Crew with long bed and max tow). Couldn't find what I wanted within 4 hours of home. Tried the local dealers first but quickly found much better deals in the Baltimore/DC area which is about 3 hours away. Getting a long bed the way I wanted it was the tricky part as they tend to have no options or are very highly optioned trucks. Local dealers would have 15 or so F150's on the lot while the dealer I ended up buying from had over 500 thru their family of dealerships. They had a few trucks that were close to what I wanted but they even suggested I order one and they would price it like it was on their lot. They quoted my 6-8 weeks till delivery but it showed up after only 4 weeks. I did everything thru email and it becomes evident pretty quickly which dealers want to deal. First time I ever ordered one but it worked out well and I got a good price. But, it takes some legwork to get a good deal.

[SeaMover]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

If you want something like a 2 wheel drive truck *with* a towing package on it .... forget about finding one on the lot. At least that has been the case the last few times I've been shopping. The dealers simply don't stock anything with that combo of options. Off to factory order land you go. A lot of this depends very much on just what your magic list looks like ....

Bob

Being in a large market (the LA area to search), I found my 2 wheel drive, in the color I wanted and made the deal on line.

[kendrick.l.j]

I did order my truck. After months of looking at options, weight, tow capacity, pay load, etc. I knew exactly what I wanted, at least I thought so. A year and a half later, I wish I had gone with the 3500 instead of the 2500, but I am still happy with the choice. From the day I walked into the dealer to the day the truck arrived was 6 weeks. Reasonably painless and did not pay MSRP, was able to get it for fair price but not huge discount.

[Daquenzer]

There are certain times of the year and certain times of the month (generally the end of month and year) where dealers want to empty their lots for new models.

When I bought my F150 I was very fortunate to get most of the features I wanted yet only had to pay for one I didn’t want (navigation). My must haves for an F150 were XLT super crew with 3.5 Ecoboost, max tow haul, rear camera, rear back-up sensors, BLISS, and a 36 gallon tank. I found one truck that had it.

It has been my experience that if you can find one off the lot you get a better deal. But if your are “picky” like I am it’s hard to do. I see no reason to pay for features that I don’t use or want like moon roofs. But sometimes when you add it all up it’s still cheaper to buy with an extra feature than to order. More often than not they load up the nice features on the most expensive model trucks. Therefore sometimes you simply have no choice but to order it. Nothing out there that meets your specs.

My next truck I want an F250 since I won’t use as daily driver. It will be more exclusively for towing. But I have a feeling just from looking around I’m going to have to order it. I’ve found dealers cheapen up the features on an F250 XLT, and put all the nice features on the F250 Lariats or Platinums. I’m not going to pay Lariat or Platinum prices.

[RVDreamer]

Actually I have found it to be the other way around with Ford. It is usually cheaper to negotiate on a custom order than it is for a truck on the lot.

The reason being that the dealer usually has an investment in the lot vehicle and has to pay not only for the vehicle from Ford but also has to pay a fee for each day the vehicle sits on the lot. The longer a vehicle sits on a lot the more the dealer is invested.

Whereas with a custom order the dealer has a guaranteed sale. He gets to count the sale toward his sales quota and he pays the same vehicle price as a lot truck but doesn't have to pay for any days of inventory sitting on the lot. It allows the dealer to have more room for negotiating on a custom order.

You just have to do your homework. Be prepared to walk-out on the deal after the lowest price is offered and get the sales manager to come down on his dealer profit. Generally, you can get less than dealer invoice and thousands less than the sticker price if you work it right. In addition, if you get lucky, after you negotiate a deal, Ford may announce price incentive cash back deals that will even lower your cost.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I could not find what I wanted on any of the dealer lots in Salem, Oregon. I gave a few dealers a list of must haves, and a list of deal breakers. My truck was found in Reno, Nevada and trailered to my dealer. I still got a good deal, but more importantly, I got what I wanted.

[moosetags]

I have done both. We ordered our 2011 Silverado 3500. When we replaced it last October, the Chevy dealer found the exact 2018 Silverado 2500 that we wanted about 250 miles away in north Alabama. The price for ordering vs. in stock was comparable and we didn't have to wait nine weeks for the new truck.


Brian

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

That's why I send my wife in to do the haggling...she comes from a 1500-year-deep line of ancestors that never paid full price, and it's a cultural imperative to not do so.

I sit back, watch the fun, watch the salesman fall apart and then defer to the real authority (sales manager) and watch wife get the price, financing, color, and accessories on our hidden list of must haves. Works every time. All I have to do is make sure her name is first line on the title, and to stand behind her when the dealer takes the picture.

We've got the local Toyota store trained. They usually beat our calculated bottom-line price by quite a bit without us even asking nowadays. They remember her!

.

Makes me glad I don’t work with the general public lol

[overlander63]

We bought off-the-lot, after some serious online searching, at the dealership less than 5 miles from our house. It had our must-haves, and the only real "extra" I didn't want, comes standard with every model. A unique prerequisite to our purchase was the dealer had to accept our (falling apart) trade in. The dealer's advertised price was the same, or slightly lower, than the negotiated price at other "local" dealers, so I didn't even have to negotiate much. They did, however, try to pull a fast one on us, and removed a dealer-installed accessory that they didn't know was on the "must-have" list.
When we went to pick up the truck, the conversation went something like this:
Them: "Here's your truck".
Me: "No, it isn't"!
Them: "Yes, it is"!
Me: "No, it isn't! The truck we bought has steps to get in to the cab"!
Them: "Uhhh.... I thought you said you didn't want them"...
Me: "That was the only reason we chose that truck. Pull it back into the shop, and put them back on. Now!"
I never saw a salesman move as fast as he did...

[Hans627]

The last several vehicles I bought were ordered. For me, getting exactly what I want is more important than the cost (although cost is important but handled by competition between dealers).

I'm getting too old to settle for options on a vehicle that is purchased off the lot.

[krs2fer]

Thanks for all the great reply's.

I'm going to reread each one and try to figure out what I need to do.


Thanks Chris

[A W Warn]

I've done both off the lot and custom order. I've been purchasing from the same sales person at same dealer for years. They are 5 minutes from my house. Not much haggling any longer. They give me their best price up front.

The one salesperson I work with at dealer at home realizes that they HAVE TO compete with the internet. Several years ago at the end of the season when the factory was right in the middle of re-tooling for the next year model, I needed a new truck, fast. My dealer could not find the truck equipped as I wanted nearby on another dealers lot. So, I got online and found it myself (using GM's vehicle search). I found the exact truck with all the equipment I wanted, the exact interior and exterior colors DW wanted. Price online was low enough that I bought airplane tickets for us to fly to St Louis to pick it up. Dealer picked us up at the airport. I figured it was a free vacation ;-)

Another option:
If you belong to a credit union, sometimes they offer a buying service. Mine does.

[rodsterinfl]

I have always been able to find a truck on the lot but I also had a large dealership to buy from. I recently moved so that may change; however, this last purchase I was at the model year end, 18's were out and on the lot in limited numbers but the 17's were there too. I followed the options in priority- max tow, trim, color, price. I was able to find three trucks- a '17 Lariat with everything but interior color or 502 pkg; a '17 Platinum loaded with everything but price and an '18 Limited with everything but price and oddly, payload capacity. I went with the second choice and haggled on price. After nine months, I can say that I like the Platinum. I learned that in the Lux trims of Fords- Lariat, King Ranch, Platinum and Limited, it is the highest trim with a higher payload. I dropped in payload from the Lariat (more accessories/ less ARC remaining ) but it still works for my situation.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by SeaMover

Being in a large market (the LA area to search), I found my 2 wheel drive, in the color I wanted and made the deal on line.

Hi

I think it has more to do with snow than with market size. I've never been able to find 2WD / tow combo's in the northeast. That's with a 600 mile sort of search radius ....

Bob