[sphereboy]

I'm about to join the Dodge Challenger family. After much lurking, the Challengers i find at the dealer that have the features i want seem to go pretty quickly. I might have to end up ordering from the factory.

I was curious how the negotiations would work out. The dealer is requesting a $1000 deposit to place the order. At what time would one negotiate the final price of the car? I'm afraid since giving a deposit down on a car, that obviously i want, they wouldn't allow for much negotiation on the price.

Any advice on how to handle a Factory Order vs buying from the lot.

Thanks in advance.

 

[surfnlawguy]

I ordered my GWE this way and actually found it to be a far better experience than the usual all day, on the floor, negotiations. Basically for me, I built it online, it emailed my local dealer with the specs and then he called me to tell me the lowest they could go. He said this is our lowest non haggle price and I said, hmm, he immediately dropped it $500 more and all involved were happy. I went down that day and gave the $1000 to secure the build and signed the build sheet. In my mind, thats our contract and the price (I'm a lawyer here in California). He did say that if rebates are going at time of delivery, I'd get those too.

So, that's my experience - although, I obviously havent picked the car up so can't tell you the end of the story. However, the price I got was well below the stated build price and well below all the stickers on the 2011 SRT8's they now have on the lot.

 

[Max]

I ordered my GWE this way and actually found it to be a far better experience than the usual all day, on the floor, negotiations. Basically for me, I built it online, it emailed my local dealer with the specs and then he called me to tell me the lowest they could go. He said this is our lowest non haggle price and I said, hmm, he immediately dropped it $500 more and all involved were happy. I went down that day and gave the $1000 to secure the build and signed the build sheet. In my mind, thats our contract and the price (I'm a lawyer here in California). He did say that if rebates are going at time of delivery, I'd get those too.

So, that's my experience - although, I obviously havent picked the car up so can't tell you the end of the story. However, the price I got was well below the stated build price and well below all the stickers on the 2011 SRT8's they now have on the lot.

I had a similar experience, although I did fight a bit over the value of my trade in and secondly having to give them my trade at the time of ordering to guarantee the trade in price.

I think I got a good deal nowhere near MSRP...

 

[Mark052]

Yes, negotiate the price before the order is placed. Hopefully you don't have a trade so it will be easier. Since you know exactly what you want, just as surfnlawguy did, print out what you want and send it to a few different dealerships and ask for their best price. Don't get pushed into agreeing to a price right away. Let the dealerships "bid" against each other for your business.:browsmiley:

 

[BPAG]

I'm about to join the Dodge Challenger family. After much lurking, the Challengers i find at the dealer that have the features i want seem to go pretty quickly. I might have to end up ordering from the factory.

I was curious how the negotiations would work out. The dealer is requesting a $1000 deposit to place the order. At what time would one negotiate the final price of the car? I'm afraid since giving a deposit down on a car, that obviously i want, they wouldn't allow for much negotiation on the price.

Any advice on how to handle a Factory Order vs buying from the lot.

Thanks in advance.

PM Sent...

 

[Moper]

My wife sent an email to the five nearest dealers. Only one of the dealers volunteered that there was an unpublished $1000 incentive available. My wife called Dodge and talked to a specialist who verified that it applied. We ended up getting the car for about $700 under invoice. We only put a downpayment of $500 on the order. Three of the five dealers responded within hours.

The email that we sent to the dealer said:

Dear [ ],
We want to purchase a car today from the dealership that will give us the best price. If we were to buy from you today, what is the best price you can offer us on a:
2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 RWD with the following options, gas guzzler tax and destination charge:
· Color
o Dark Slate Gray Interior Color
o Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Coat Exterior Paint
· Options
o 5-Speed Automatic Transmission
o 245/45ZR20 255/45ZR20 3-Season Perf Goodyear Tires
o Media Center 730N CD/DVD/MP3/HDD/NAV
o Gas Guzzler Tax w/DGJ
o Stripe Delete
o SRT Option Group II
· Destination Charge
In addition, include any additional fees and costs in your price (such as any document preparation fee or anything else) other than the state/county/city charges for 7% vehicle sales tax, title and license.
We know that the factory invoice for the vehicle as configured above (including destination charge and gas guzzler tax) is $44,347.
We know that at the factory invoice price, your dealership makes a holdback profit of $1,277.
We have an offer to sell us this vehicle (to order from the factory) for a very good price from another dealership.
What is your best offer?

 

[huggytree]

i would just go to cars.com and do a 100 mile search...find a few cars you want and ask for prices..

after ordering my IE392 and finally canceling over frustration i would never order a car....if you dont mind waiting 2-4 months go ahead...but i think most people get just as good or better deals buying a car thats in stock...

read the IE posts about waiting for ordered cars...alot of IE orderers canceled and bought in stock cars...also some challengers are coming in damaged...do you want a damaged car that has been fixed? if you order it you get what you get....ive seen dents and full body(left to right) bands of scuffs across the trunk..

give yourself a 100 mile search and drive 1 hour and get your car today(i got $200 over invoice on an IE- $500 over invoice was pretty typical)

 

[BPAG]

i would just go to cars.com and do a 100 mile search...find a few cars you want and ask for prices..

after ordering my IE392 and finally canceling over frustration i would never order a car....if you dont mind waiting 2-4 months go ahead...but i think most people get just as good or better deals buying a car thats in stock...

read the IE posts about waiting for ordered cars...alot of IE orderers canceled and bought in stock cars...also some challengers are coming in damaged...do you want a damaged car that has been fixed? if you order it you get what you get....ive seen dents and full body(left to right) bands of scuffs across the trunk..

give yourself a 100 mile search and drive 1 hour and get your car today(i got $200 over invoice on an IE- $500 over invoice was pretty typical)

Ordering a car is typically a fairly quick process from date of order to date of delivery. The IE's were unique in that they were the first cars to get the new engine, so ordering opened up months before production started making the start to finish that much longer, and they had to go to ground effects ltd for striping which also added to the extension.

A typical order period is 6 to 8 weeks. For example, I ordered a 392 Challenger with no stripes exactly 2 weeks ago today and the car shipped yesterday and should arrive at our store within 10 to 14 days, which would make this order from start to finish exactly 4 weeks.

 

[cudatom73]

I prefer to order. Negotiated the price, signed build sheet and placed a $500 deposit. Some things to remember
1)Any car the dealer had was shipped so buying from the lot will not guarantee there was never any damage.
2)The other reason I like to order is I don't want anyone driving the car before me. No salesman, no customer off the street, just the tech and me. I have seen how some of these cars are treated and I will not have anyone abusing the car but me.
3)also just because you ordered the car does not mean you have to accept the car if it is damaged. And no you will not lose the deposit(at least not where I'm from)
4)also I get only the options I want. I only wanted the auto, stripe delete and F1's, nothing else. Haven't seen any RT's or SRT's on any dealers lots w/o having all the bells and whistles.

 

[Redline 3]

I have done everything over the phone or email. Set the price and mailed them the deposit. I have yet to set foot in the dealership.

 

[Thingfish]

How did you get the invoice amount and dealer hold back profit? Seems like pretty useful numbers to have going into the negotiation.

 

[BriscoCounty]

As others noted, finalize the price of the new car at time of order. Also, if your're trading in, finalize that also. They know they have to wait to get your trade, and that's part of the negotiations. Your deposit should also be refundable.

 

[Moper]

How did you get the invoice amount and dealer hold back profit? Seems like pretty useful numbers to have going into the negotiation.

I used Consumer Reports Online, however, I had to pay for an online subscription. There are probably many other online sources that will provide you with the information for a small fee.

 

[emd]

Sometimes you gots to order a car to get exactly what you wants. Have ordered half a dozen cars over the last 30 years. Always been a good experience. I got exactly what I wanted. Yes there is a wait, but so what, its worth it.

 

[huggytree]

for those who love to order and say all the delays was an IE thing -have you checked out the GWE thread....its been delayed and they are all waiting...the thread looks just like the IE thread...i predect it goes negative soon...

after ordering a Challenger my advice is to never order one again

you dont have to have exact options....find one close and get it...TODAY!

 

[BPAG]

for those who love to order and say all the delays was an IE thing -have you checked out the GWE thread....its been delayed and they are all waiting...the thread looks just like the IE thread...i predect it goes negative soon...

after ordering a Challenger my advice is to never order one again

you dont have to have exact options....find one close and get it...TODAY!

The IE only had something to do with it because it was the first batch with the new engine AND required striping on ALL 1492 cars thus Ground Effects Ltd got backed up. While I agree paint shouldn't be as big of an issue to cause a delay, I am sure there is a reason for it with the paint and everyone will be glad they didn't just build them and ship them because of it. All other colors are building and shipping daily with no delays (except for an occasional rail car shortage).

Not that it makes the wait any less painful, but Chrysler doesn't make a dime on a car until it ships. When the car ships, they invoice the dealer and are instantly (electronically) paid. They have to have a reason for the delay to prevent themselves from getting paid what amounts to a HUGE chunk of change.

One last thing... If you order a car on day 1 of a model, option, color, etc, ordering opens 2 months prior to production starting. During the year, Chrysler will pull a verified sold order forward so it will build and ship quicker so there is little delay in getting a car built and shipped, but when production doesn't start for 2 months, they can't pull it forward.

To HuggyTree's point, if you are flexible and don't want to wait, then buy one today. That is why we keep cars in stock. If you can wait and want exactly what you want, then order. In Europe, over 50% of cars sold are special ordered and you will not see huge lots of cars in stock as a result (which is WAAAAY cheaper for a dealer because he doesn't have to absorb the floor plan interest charges every month).

I hope Chrysler is watching as it might help them gauge customer expectations to see what kind of angst they are causing with new model changes.

HuggyTree, I will admit the IE delays were definitely about as bad as I have ever seen it in my over 8 years of Chrysler corporate and 4 years of dealer experience.

 

[2ndgen]

I know three dealers that will place a factory order for you and only charge you invoice or a few $100 over invoice. (two @ invoice). Delivery could cost about $800 or so depending on where you are. One is in CA. One is in UT. One is in FL, so you could take your pick.
Also, if you use cars.com or truecar.com you can simply get local dealers to give you bids for it, and may likely get them close to invoice (or maybe even below) as well.