Would invoice be a reasonable offer to make a dealer for a new 2012 XF given the 2013's are coming? Also I noticed Jags depreciate quite a bit so I am even more compelled to try to go as low as possible.

Thoughts?

 

You can get it under invoice but you need to be a sharp and patient bargainer. Realize though that a dealer is usually not going to sell a car unless they are making money somehow on the deal... Taking the dealership's motivation into account will help you negotiate the best deal...

Sometimes national will give them incentives to discount certain slow moving models. They may choose to pass the incentive on to you to close the sale, or if you have foreknowledge of the incentive you can negotiate for it upfront. This seems to be very common with Japanese carmakers, often times you can go to the Toyota dealer with the incentives downloaded off the internet and insist they pass the entire incentive onto you.

If a dealer offers to take an unusually large number of cars, or agrees to take on a few extra poor selling models they can also get a discount off invoice from national. If you are savvy you may get them to pass this onto you...

They can also make money on financing if you go with their bank. Add ons such as window tinting and tire warranties, etc. are money makers for them, but that just means you are paying inflated prices. Better for you is to try to throw something you want to get anyways (such as window tinting) into the deal at the final stages of bargaining (okay, "I'll meet you at $500 under invoice but I want window treatments", etc.).

They can also make money on the back end for your trade in, taking a wash on the purchase if they think they can move your trade in at a profit. Be aware often times they will try to confuse you, focusing on what a great deal you are getting on the purchase but undervaluing your trade in or vice versa. Helps to focus first on the vehicle you are purchasing and then negotiate the trade in as a separate deal. Only then move on to financing.

Sometimes a dealer will have an incentive to take a small loss on the sale. An example of this would be if they need to meet target sales numbers to get an incentive from national, meet a sales quota to claim they are the 'largest dealer in the district', etc. Take advantage of this by buying near the end of the month or quarter, particularly if it is a large dealership you know (or suspect) is in a sales competition with another large dealership nearby. Finally it is possible they may sell at a slight loss in order to recoup the investment for purchasing more of next years model, but that's not too likely this far out from 2013 models.

Talking directly to the sales manager is usually the best move when you think they are trying to move excess inventory for some reason, especially if you have no need to see or test drive the model and have the specific car on the lot identified. Sales managers have the most leeway to sell close to or under invoice, regular sales workers are limited in their ability to negotiate below a certain floor. If you get an honest sales manager they may be very upfront with you about their current motivations and where their true bottom floor is, especially if they see you as a knowledgeable buyer not easily swayed by emotion and someone who is willing to wait it out for a good deal. Poorly informed/emotional/someone looking to buy immediately = high dealer profit margin. Don't confuse 'knowledgeable buyer' with 'jerk' though... treat the sales manager with respect or he's just going to show you the door.

I doubt a dealer would ever sell a car to you at a loss expecting to recoup the money made on routine maintenance later... Maintenance is of course a money train from them, but sales guys don't seem concerned about that...

Cheers,

- Will

 

Also look at...Haggle-Free Car Buying Experience from Local Dealers - TrueCar for pricing..

 

2012 prices won't take a dive based on 2013 until they actually arrive. Aren't they set to show up after the first of the year as opposed to the usual 4Q time frame given the new changes? If so, the 2012 prices will hold for longer than usual, but there are still deals to be found. BTW - every car takes a dump in value when you buy it. Perhaps Acura's less so, but they all get a huge tick off that first year.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

i'm in this position as well. i' decided a couple of months ago that i was going to buy a '12 XF and wanted a good deal. i have a friend of a friend who's a salesman at a jag dealership and they quoted a bit below invoice then. when i asked about end of the year incentives and '13 rollout, the reply was that typically they see end of model year incentives of between $3,000 and $6,000, but they didn't expect them to kick in until they got their '13 models (which unfortunately weren't scheduled until late december). i decided to wait until then.

 

As a reference point, early last December I got a 2011 (base, but with 2012 wheels :-)) for 47.4k.