Negotiation/ What To Know

FWIW- The two best pieces of advice I have for this are:

1) Negotiate the out the door price, not the Financed payment- They will want to talk to you about the monthly, but keep focused on the out the door price. Dealerships can hide a lot of garbage in a monthly so keep focused on the bottom line. Get an explanation of everything lined out in the sales contract and dont let anything slip by on that. I also like to secure my financing before hand and be ready.
2) Be prepared to walk out. Vehicles are like Doritos- they will make more. If you are getting worked over, then leave. You have emotional sunk costs because you ordered, but you arent out money yet. That is your leverage. yes they could sell it later, but you are here right now.

Mal

FWIW- The two best pieces of advice I have for this are:

1) Negotiate the out the door price, not the Financed payment- They will want to talk to you about the monthly, but keep focused on the out the door price. Dealerships can hide a lot of garbage in a monthly so keep focused on the bottom line. Get an explanation of everything lined out in the sales contract and dont let anything slip by on that. I also like to secure my financing before hand and be ready.
2) Be prepared to walk out. Vehicles are like Doritos- they will make more. If you are getting worked over, then leave. You have emotional sunk costs because you ordered, but you arent out money yet. That is your leverage. yes they could sell it later, but you are here right now.

Thanks for the tips Mal! I do plan to be pre-approved with a credit union before going to the dealership.

halisills

Thanks for the tips Mal! I do plan to be pre-approved with a credit union before going to the dealership.

If you don't have a prior agreement on pricing with your dealer, they may try add an Additional Dealer Markup ("ADM") on top of the MSRP price. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous dealers out there that do that and there isn't much you can do about it since they hold the vehicle and final pricing is an agreement between you and the dealers. You might want to contact your dealer ahead of time to see if they charge MSRP or add an ADM. If they do add an ADM, figure out how much of one you are comfortable paying and be prepared to walk if they try to charge something outrageous.

Also, at time of purchase, they'll likely try to sell you a bunch of things like...

Extended warranty
Pre-payed service plan
Tinted windows
Security System
Ceramic exterior coating
paint protection
etc
etc
etc

The value of such things is debatable. Some are good investments, others are just cash grabs by the dealership. If you do want any add-ons, be sure to do a little research beforehand to make sure what the dealership is offering is competitive on pricing with an independent shop. If you don't want any of them, be firm with your salesman that you are not interested.

And agree with @Mal , keep your eye on the bottom line price. Also, if you can, get your interest rate quote from your credit union prior to going to purchase. It's not impossible that Ford Credit could meet or beat the rate your credit union gives you.

Also, if you are trading your current vehicle in, get a couple of quotes from companies like Carvana, Carmax, etc prior to going into your dealership. If they lowball you on the trade in offer and you have competitor quotes in hand, they may try to meet your quotes. If not, you can just go back and sell it to the company that gave you the highest quote.

Good luck!

My dealership is pretty good. They sell their vehicles at MSRP, including the big Bronco. When I got my build confirmation, I noticed that it had the Co-Pilot 360+. I didn't want a vehicle to brake or steer for me, so I told them to get rid of it. No problem.

First rule of negotiation…..be prepared to walk away.

All good advice here. Monthly payment advice is huge. Focus on that out the door price. Get your quotes from lenders before you go. Some dealerships will try to give you worse rates than you probably qualify for, so it’s good to know in advance what you can get elsewhere. Don’t expect to get under MSRP like the good old days, especially with a Bronco. And like someone already mentioned, if you aren’t getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, get up and leave. Oh, and eat before you get there. Process will most likely take hours and it’s part of the game…the more worn out and tired you get, the easier it is for them to push you to close the deal.

halisills
Thanks for the tips Mal! I do plan to be pre-approved with a credit union before going to the dealership.

That's great and all but do give them a chance to beat your preapproved loan rate, they always can because they have access to more lenders then you do. I have bought 7 brand new vehicles in my life.
Example, I tell them best rate I can get approved for is x.xx% at xx months even if I wasn't preapproved. I don't lie and make up a rate either. They have always beat it.
I don't focus on the out the door price. I can't change the tax, tag or title fees, neither can the dealer. I negotiate down from MSRP.

thgdfathr

All good advice here. Monthly payment advice is huge. Focus on that out the door price. Get your quotes from lenders before you go. Some dealerships will try to give you worse rates than you probably qualify for, so it’s good to know in advance what you can get elsewhere. Don’t expect to get under MSRP like the good old days, especially with a Bronco. And like someone already mentioned, if you aren’t getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, get up and leave. Oh, and eat before you get there. Process will most likely take hours and it’s part of the game…the more worn out and tired you get, the easier it is for them to push you to close the deal.

"Eat before you go"... so true! Maybe if I bring in a box of a dozen Dunkin's I can use it as leverage to nail down the MSRP price out the door. 😂

My dealership also said that they would honor the MSRP, as well as the 2.9 financing rate on the Bronco Sport. I'll let you know whenever it gets to that point.

I usually take my bike to a dealership when I'm looking at buying a new car. This way they can't say, "What will it take for you to make this purchase today? Is the bike your trade in?" No frigging way am I giving up my bike! 😂