[Scribia]

Last week we bought a new 2012 Outback. The car we had in mind was in stock and we went to the dealer. My wife had done most of the research and had the print-out for the car with the MSRP. While discussing it, I noticed on the print-out there was something printed on it that said "GET EPRICE." This was the first I had seen it and my wife hadn't noticed it either. I showed it to the salesman and asked, "What is the EPRICE?" He basically dismissed me saying it really was insignificant and that the price would be "about" the same. Since my wife really wanted the car we went ahead and got it at the MSRP.

This morning it started to bug me and I decided to check and see if this EPRICE was really "insignificant." Well, I went online and clicked "GET EPRICE" for another car from our dealer as well as for several others. It turns out all of them were at least $2,500 less. The EPRICE from our dealer was over $3,000 less. I feel ripped off.

I intend to call them on this try to "renegotiate" this thing, since it seems patently unfair and that we were basically lied to. I'd be interested in any thoughts others might have. Thanks.

 

[subiesailor]

Scribia - NEVER PAY MSRP! EVER! The last three new cars I have purchased were all under or at invoice MSRP doesn't mean squat its a number plucked out of the sky.

 

[fleuger99]

No offense but why would you pay MSRP on an outgoing model year car? Didn't you do research on Invoice versus MSRP? Did you try negotiate at all?

It sucks that the dealer wasn't honest but that isn't that surprising. Unfortunately, responsibility for a good deal lies with you and not with a dealer who is trying to make the largest profit possible. One needs to do their home work and be armed with information like invoice price, Suabru factory incentives etc. so you can get the best price possible. Also, don't just go to one dealer, shop or email several to see who is going to play nice with you.

At this point you've signed the deal so they don't have to give you anything. You could reach out to the dealers GM and see if he'd throw you a bone like a maintenence contract or something. Good luck.

 

[mmpotash]

Good luck on the "renegotiate", they are not likely to change the price. But they may throw you some freebees to make you happier. This is why people should use sites like Haggle-Free Car Buying Experience from Local Dealers - TrueCar and various forums like this one to have at least an idea what cars in their area are selling for.

 

[subiesailor]

By the way every dealer can match or beat purchase program pricing on cars sitting on their lots which are not not crazy hot sellers meaning all the cars are selling over msrp example being something like the VW TDI sport wagon in CA a few years ago the dealers couldn't even keep one on the lot long enough to show customers given they were sold before they rolled off the truck which case using a purchase program via work or say costco etc will yield a better price IF the dealer is interested in selling to you they can always say NO our cars are all selling at MSRP or more. However with Subaru all their standard models not counting WRX or STI versions pretty much every subaru dealer will sell at invoice with enough negotiation and in many cases below invoice if they have plenty of inventory on the lot.

 

[GasGuzz]

Once browsing through an auto show, I asked how much this Accord was typically going for. Young guy pointed at the Sticker and, “That’s the price”. I said sternly, “That’s the Sticker, I know what that is”. Even my wife was smiling as we walked away. But yeah, can’t blame a (sales) person for trying.
Sorry to say, unless you’re buying an exotic no mainstream car is worth MSRP. Sorta’ late to the party/forum, but 10-13% off Sticker is commonplace here.

 

[FishServer]

Last week we bought a new 2012 Outback. The car we had in mind was in stock and we went to the dealer. My wife had done most of the research and had the print-out for the car with the MSRP. While discussing it, I noticed on the print-out there was something printed on it that said "GET EPRICE." This was the first I had seen it and my wife hadn't noticed it either. I showed it to the salesman and asked, "What is the EPRICE?" He basically dismissed me saying it really was insignificant and that the price would be "about" the same. Since my wife really wanted the car we went ahead and got it at the MSRP.

This morning it started to bug me and I decided to check and see if this EPRICE was really "insignificant." Well, I went online and clicked "GET EPRICE" for another car from our dealer as well as for several others. It turns out all of them were at least $2,500 less. The EPRICE from our dealer was over $3,000 less. I feel ripped off.

I intend to call them on this try to "renegotiate" this thing, since it seems patently unfair and that we were basically lied to. I'd be interested in any thoughts others might have. Thanks.

Like all the above posts mention - the dealer will likely not budge on the deal, unless your state has a "cooling-off" period, so chek that pronto. CA does not have a "cooling period", so generally you're SOL out here.

So again, check your state's "Cooling Period" time line to see if you can cancel the contract. If not, than talk to the GM or even the owner of the dealership for goodwill.

Last but not least, there is the 'dreaded new car survey' from SOA. You can surely expalin how they were less than forthcoming about current incentives, etc.

Good Luck with whatever the outcome.

 

[imwjl]

I'd be interested in any thoughts others might have. Thanks.

Welcome. I hope you enjoy the car regardless.

To be honest this reads like you probably have yourself to be mad at more than anybody or anyplace else.

If somebody tells me "about the same" I reply asking to see the details.

Good luck.

 

[scoobydoo2]

...like most people, I research the crap out of a car before I buy. For us canuks we have carcostcanada.com I use that as part of my negotiation package when I am finally ready to buy. You should never pay the sticker price...even when Saturn used to say the price is the price...not true.

I can see why you feel ripped off. But the fact that the salesman did what he did? And people wonder why car sales people get a bad rap. Yup...we paint them all with the same brush. Go to the GM of the dealership with your gripe and do the renegotiate. You might get somewhere. At least push for some free accessories...lots of them for $3000.00 :29:

 

[gomjabber]

Going into a dealership without thoroughly researching what you should pay for the car you want will lead to this type of situation. That is my opinion.

Now, I know a guy 20 years ago who sold toyota's who got a lady to spend more than MSRP by negotiating just by monthly payment.

 

[bfoutch]

Really sorry to hear you got burned. However, to help others who are thinking to buy an Outback, there are just too many places on Internet to learn how to buy a car and get good pricing for this to ever happen. Even this forum has several threads about what price people have paid for the 2012. E-Pricing or something similar from Internet, as suggested by the other posters, is the way to go. At the least, go through COSTCO pricing, although you can often do even better with E-Pricing directly from the dealer. No one should ever go talk to a lot salesman these days unless you just enjoy being abused or have really thick skin and can negotiate better than they can. My dealer said that they are now doing well over half of their sales via Internet. There i$ a rea$on for thi$.

 

[bruce_van]

I'm sorry to be harsh, but if you didn't get a fair deal on a brand new car, you have no one to blame but yourself. The dealer wants to sell the car for the highest amount they can get and you want to pay the least.

Knowledge is the best thing you can bring with you when buying a car. Unfortunately, you made the mistake of not doing your research fully and decided to buy the car despite knowing you should have negotiated on the final sale price.

Unfortunately, in most cases, there are no do-overs in car sales.

Sadly, ignorant people pay more for their cars. Dealers know this, consumers are finally catching on. This is the worst part about the car buying process.

 

[GasGuzz]

... it seems patently unfair and that we were basically lied to.

Unfair and lied to what extent?<O</O
Odds of getting hit by lightning may be better. Such that representation was fraudulent, say you were told it has HID headlights (IE bait and switch is illegal). But dealers are careful/savvy about this (in writing), through negotiations they have you initial the work/price sheet. Although this is not legally required (email offers can be sufficient), it proves you’re agreeable – with no coercion.

 

[subiesailor]

Tesla is the first car company looking to remove the middle man ie the dealer and they are causing a whole lot of crying and bitching by a certain group of people here in CA.

Not sure what its like in smaller auto markets outside of CA but the Auto game here in CA is for massive Auto groups to own most if not all of a regional area for one brand or many brands - enabling them to actually control pricing for the given region. CA is large enough that yes if you had to drive 400 miles to find a family owned dealer an Auto group for sure can set local pricing on their cars.

 

[wutbürger]

You should feel ripped off by no one but yourself. I don't disagree that it "sucks", however rule # 1 in car buying: NEVER trust a salesperson, rule #2: NEVER buy at MSRP. ****, you could have just waited a day and I guarantee the dealer would have called back offering you the car for less than MSRP to move the thing, especially a 12 which you probably could've gotten for about $3-4K off MSRP judging by local offers in my area. Patience and knowledge are key in any negotiation, consider it a lesson learned.

I would take your efforts trying to recoup money you signed up to in a contract and simply enjoy your new car- although they might throw in some freebies. When you're on your death bed, that extra $3,000 you could have saved will mean nothing compared to the time you could spend with family and friends.

 

[foxrider68]

This is why my wife is only allowed to shop and negotiate for clothes and craft stuff. She would also agree and not be mad at me for saying that!

:yodaddy:

 

[GasGuzz]

Not sure what its like in smaller auto markets outside of CA but the Auto game here in CA is for massive Auto groups to own most if not all of a regional area for one brand or many brands - enabling them to actually control pricing for the given region. CA is large enough that yes if you had to drive 400 miles to find a family owned dealer an Auto group for sure can set local pricing on their cars.

I’m sure there’s more to that, and not that simple. But (monopoly) auto price fixing is illegal.

 

[subiesailor]

I’m sure there’s more to that, and not that simple. But (monopoly) auto price fixing is illegal.

Its only illegal if your caught doing it. But lets face it Auto sales people will spout off and spill the beans on their gimick when given enough leash. I've been told Hey your welcome to drive 300 miles out of our "zone" to find a better deal AKA out of our region covered by our auto group which controls and sets the price.

By the way that happened to be a Toyota dealer owned by a massive Auto group based in LA.

 

[GasGuzz]

Its only illegal if your caught doing it.

Ahh yes, of course there’s that.
Please thank the CA judiciary.<O

 

[Saint J VT]

You are what the salesmen call in the car-market "A Triple-Mellon!"

I suppose there is a single-mellon, one where they make, 'so-so' money.

Then, there is the Double-mellon, where they actually cover their costs and make a profit!

Then there is the EXCEPTIONAL Triple-Mellon, where all the money the dealer lost on the last six sales, YOU NOW GO IN AND OFFER TO MAKE ALL THAT LOSS UP FOR THEM!

So, my friend, you are a Triple-Mellon!
They laugh all the way to the bank when you (or someone acting the same way) walks into the showroom! I bet they made the deal 'look' hard, like, "we're not quite sure we can swing this one, I need to run some numbers by the manager."


You know you got a good price for the car when they have to go to the manager about six times over the course of six or more hours! AND, you know the price is good when it is THOUSANDS BELOW the price on the sticker! The Sticker Price is the RETAIL price. That is the highest they will typically sell it for, unless, of course, they happened to throw in all kinds of extras for you then added them all to the bill as well! LOL!

You need to go in and have a dollar amount that you will not go above, no matter what. Some dealers will tell you right off they cannot come down that far, so you leave. Other dealers may still seem interested, they will have you sit in their office while they go talk to the manager. Sometimes, the manager comes in and tries to sell you on why this car is so great. In the end, all that matters is that you get the car for the price YOU want to pay, not what they want to sell it to you for!

Some states have a time-period after the sale, during which you can return the car and call off the whole deal. Are you still within that time-period?