The question is what should you do to shop the internet?

First of all, if you have a vehicle to trade in, you won’t get a firm price on your trade over the internet. You can get an “about” but that’s it.  Don’t worry about that fact, leave it out for now. I’ll explain how to handle that later.

When shopping electronically be specific. Know exactly what model and extras you want.  If you are buying, ask for the list price and their price. Ask exactly how much the Tax (If you trade a vehicle, it will go down by the percentage portion of your trade but worry about that later.  Ask what are the dealer fees? What are the registration fees?  This number equals the O.T.D. dollars (out the door price). 

Please ask them why you should buy or lease the car from them. Their inventory size or a new facility aren’t what you’re looking for.  What you may be concerned with is their location, is it convenient?  Do they have loaner cars? Are there any in-house discounts for people who purchased their vehicle from them, as opposed to other customers? What are their service hours? How experienced is their shop personnel? How big is their parts department?  (This answer indicates how long a repair might take).  I am sure there may be other points a dealer might list that have value.  If you ask everyone, you will have the answers to compare.  A small difference in price might not matter if the dealer has excellent and verifiable customer services.

If a dealer won’t email his prices, that should tell you something.  When you go to that store it will be about them asking “what does it take?”  If you don’t get the answers you want, call the GM or the owner. Not the sales manager or a salesman or the business manager. Call the man at the very top.  He will realize that without a quote, he has no chance of earning your business.  It is a little bit of hard ball but it can save you huge dollars. Recently, my friend saved $2660.00 by using this technique in the Orlando area

Be sure and get it in writing!         

On the next post I’ll talk about how to handle your trade, once you have your prices