Ifve been eyeballing Crossfires of late. Ifm trying to wait until spring for various reasons but wefll see how long I can really hold off. One thing that I will have a hard time with is working out a deal with the dealer and salesman. I hate everything about what they do.

I mentioned to one local dealer already that Ifd only be willing to pay invoice. He was turned off. His response kind of alluded to the fact that this isnft really fair because the dealer has to make -some- money on the car. Needless to day, that remark kind of chapped my beee-hind a bitc.

I prefer to walk in to a dealer and get a good deal on the first go around without having to spend hours and days negotiating. I usually inform the dealer that I will not screw around with negotiating and Ifll give them one shot at it, go shop the competition, then take the best deal at the end of the day. No gcall me back if you get a better dealh for me. Yet they still end up increasing my blood pressure by trying to pull me into the gcar selling gameh. To me this is simply an insulting evaluation to see how much they can bilk me for (praying and hoping they can heist this rube for a big payday).

Dealers can make money on cars selling well below invoice. Ever hear of the dealer where they sell cars for under invoice? Every advertisement that ever mentions ginvoiceh has the same disclosure (that they read as fast as possible hoping no one will fathom it) gDealer invoice does not reflect actual dealer costh. Invoice cost is a sales ploy and tool to help salesmen sell cars. Dealers get monetary kickbacks from the manufacturer to offset sales plans. Also, dealers get a piece of the financing if you finance through them. They typically make a quarter or half percent of the interest. And trade-insc Hoo boy, they really get you on those. They give you gfairh trade-in value and end up making a few grand on that as well. I know therefs cost associated with bringing a 5 year old car back to gdealerh selling condition, but what of a one or two year old car? Wash, vacuum, inspection, soldc And advertising fees? When I want to buy a car, I donft open the newspaper and buy whatever car has the biggest ad. I already know what I want and where to get it. If I want a Chrysler Crossfire, I go to the nearest Chrysler dealer.

What is it that dealers do that warrants them to make $5000 on the sale? -I- pay for the freight and setup of the car. The dealer gets 30-60 day payment terms from the factory. They want me to believe I am paying for their commitment to the post-sale service and support. If anyone has read this forum for long, we all know what this is worth. Not a red cent. On my last car I was told that itfd be washed every time I brought it in for service. Did it ever get washed? Never. They even tried to dodge warranty whenever possible. They told me they really should charge me for a rear wiper motor that failed, but they were going to ggive inh just for me. Well thanks for your generosity! If a rear wipe motor is not cover under the advertised gbest warranty in Americah on a nine month old car, then I donft know what isc

And the salesman, what does he offer me? Usually about ten minutes of his time for the test drive, a wealth of vague inaccurate knowledge of the vehicle, fifteen minutes for filling out paperwork, and a handshake. What is this worth? He wants $500 to $1000 commission. If the car salesman wants to make that kind of cash for an hour of his time he should have been a doctor or lawyer, not a car jockey. I know they can go a while without a sale, but Ifm paying for what -I- am receiving from him. Itfs not my liability to salary him while he stands around the water cooler for a week waiting for me to come in. Ifm also not going to pay for any part of the 5 million dollar, bazillion square foot Taj-Ma-Hal building they decided to build to sell cars (Chr*st, sometimes I feel like Ifm at Ofhare International). I also wonft fund the expense for car to sit on his lot for 6 months (interest on his inventory). If he canft sell a car in 30-60 days, he needs to do a better job forecasting sales and selling cars.

Dealers need to do what the auto manufacturers have done to stay afloat all these years against heavy import competition. Lean out their operations. Try to sell cars for less by minimizing what it takes to get a car sold. Slash the overhead. This is already happening with the smart dealers by way of internet sales. Take a look at Clifford Chrysler of Buffalo Grove, IL. (No, this isnft a plug). They have a slew of Crossfires around $2500 under invoice and have them pasted all over the internet. They donft pay twenty guys to sell these cars. A handful of guys can handle this kind of high throughput, reduced margin sales and make a lot of money doing it (and save us all money).

I WILL be buying a Chrysler Crossfire for at or under invoice. Anyone that paid an up-charge for this -rare- car (that nearly every Chrysler dealer has on the lot, at least around here) needs toc. Aw heck, Ifm not going to turn the knife.

So far Ifve been told by a local dealer that they only get 3 or 4 of these cars (and that I need to act fast). Ifve been monitoring their inventory (looking for a Gunmetal color automatic) and they have moved twice number that already. What a farce. Everything that comes out of their mouth is a lie or a tactic. When I traded in my Mustang 2 years ago I had to wrestle with them just to get trade-in value. They tried to tell me it wasnft classified as gexcellent conditionh until I read them the description of gexcellent conditionh from kbb.com website and walked them around the car. They then told me the 5 speed was hard to sell because everyone buys automatic. Funny, when I bought the car the 5 speed was a grare and hard-to-get featureh. Ifm sure they turned around and sold it for a premium for that very reason.

Sorry guys, I needed to vent.

 

Shop around online you might need to travel out of state to get a good deal! Thats what I did! Dealers make $2000 to $2500 on these cars but they did have to invest 10 grand in tools and training!Considering the Crossfire is 10 grand cheaper than its twin the SLK I would consider anything under MSRP a great deal!

 

Sounds like your an educated buyer. Most dealerships operate at the limits of truth and legality, a few well beyond. My dealer fell somewhere in the middle. Showed me the invoice on my Crossfire (auto w/upgrade tires) at $33,870, a laugh. Told me they would not get any more in this year (got seven more in last week), and mentioned "free" oil changes which translated in to Chryslers standard offering, which I had to demand in writing after the sale.
I bought my Crossfire just after the 2K to 5K markup period when they were not selling any, and got a few bucks off the sticker price, maybe about $1500, difficult to say as I had a trade-in. My advice - Sell your own car first, if you must finance use a Credit Union, and don't opt for their extended warrentees. 7 years 70K miles on the drivetrain should be enough with their standard 36 month "bumper to bumper." Wait it out, negotiate long and hard and walk if you arn't satisfied.

 

Very good advice, CCrossfire.

 

I don't know about below invoice, but maybe. I always deal with the "fleet" people, and that way there is no back and forth. I went to the dealer yesterday to swap the radio (which took all of 5 minutes) and there were 12, yes 12, Crossfires on the ground. I'm curious if people are just waiting for the SRT6 or just not going to pay that for a DCX. Either way I love mine and EVERY time I drive it I get "da looks" and finger pointing.

 

Chryslers standard offering? Am I the only one out there that is not getting free oil changes? :?

 

Can someone please verify that this is a standard offer with the sale of a new crossfire? Or is this based on dealer to dearler?
Gramps.....

 

It's not a part of the deal at my Dealer.... Hall Chrysler/Jeep Virginia Beach..... or an offering from DC. I bought a maintenance plan with my car. I have paid for the maintenance up front. I break even at about 50,000 miles. The plan covers me up to 70,000. That's for all scheduled maintenance to include oil changes every 5,000 miles. even though the owner's manual has the oil changer interval at 7k.

I have heard others say they got free oil changes and I approached my dealer and 2 others in my area. They said there is no such deal from DC.

 

I signed a "Daimler Chrysler Service Contract-Essential Care-code EC14L" which cost me nothing and is probably worth just that. To clear it up a little, I define Chryslers "standard offering" as a free loaner car while the Crossfire is serviced, and a coupon book for a undefined number of oil changes which may or may not be free. I was told that they were, but this dealership has lied to me before so I hold no faith, but we will see. They have 60 days to send me the "plans provisions." They had told me that I would receive these coupons from Chrysler, but when I didn't I raised a little storm and they finally produced this "plan" document for me to sign requesting it. Maybe Crossfiretech can shed some light on EC14L.

 

The only plan that should be free from chrysler is the basic warranty and the free rental car(crossfire and Pacifica only).They have service contracts that include oil changes(you pay upfront) and some dealers give away free oil changes as a sales gimmic.If you can get free oil changes on this car take it.But make sure they use Mobil1 synthetic.If you buy a chrysler maint. contract they will send you a coupon book.

 

I'm a new poster here, but I think I may be able to clear up the confusion about the Essential Care Plan offered by Chrysler.

I was told when I purchased my Crossfire that the Essential Care Plan was included in my purchase and did include fourteen free oil changes. When I received my Coupon book for the oil changes it stated that the program did not cover any vehicles that used synthetic oil. When I contacted my dealer about the Crossfire being exclude because it uses synthetic oil he acknowledge that he had made a mistake. To make amends he wrote me letter to keep with my coupon book that guarantees me the oil changes at the dealer expense.

To sum it up Chrysler does have a free oil change program, but it doesn't cover anything that uses synthetic oil such as the Viper or Crossfire.

I hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the insight. I will be checking out my dealers process for this as the salesman indicated I would receive "free" oil changes. Will post results.

 

I bet he means it free, but you have to pay for the oil.

 

There is 1 black 6 speed on the lot at Grand Junction Chrysler in Grand Junction Colorado. The salesman to ask for is Curtis Gipson. You WILL get the car for sticker, with 2 free oil changes (if you ask for them), and they thru in a DC cover with mine. This crew has been great to deal with!

 

Car dealers don't make 5000 selling these cars...even at MSRP. And as far as you knocking salespeople...how can you criticize someone for trying to make a living? Selling a Crossfire at invoice would mean what...$50 for the salesperson, and DC doesn't pay on Crossfires. Notice how many car salespeople drive up in $35000 cars...not many. And as far as cars 2500 under invoice...the only way they could do that, is if they gave away a car using the Employee Discount. But I guess you have everything figured out, so I'll let you go.

 

The only mention of a free oil change was on the day I purchased my Crossfire. I told them I had just tested an RX-8. The sales manager offered me 1 free oil change if I would take my new car and drive it around the Mazda lot. When I said OK, the owner of the dealership came out and said that was in poor taste and killed it.....

 

The owner of the dealer was right..... He didn't want to see all of the dust from the rice hulls all over your pretty new Crossfire :lol:

Would look like a Rolls driving through the Projects!

 

I was really hoping not to offend you Pat.

I didn't say that I do not want salesmen to make a good living. I realize what you would make if everyone paid invoice. I'm just saying that I don't think it's my responsiblity to pay the salesman for three days income if I only used an hour of his time. I think salesman's salary should be much less commision based. If everyone sold cars are one price (like Saturn) we wouldn't have this problem. But I feel cheated every time I leave the dealer...

Not many salesman drive up in $35000 cars? Don't most salesman get a demo (I don't really know)? If you're selling Chrysler's there not many $35K cars on the lot.

$2500 under invoice is what they advertised. Look on Autotrader.com
I guess the question is why can they sell it for that and others cannot? Maybe they salary their dealers higher and make money on volume sales? And also, why is it worth a few grand for me to buy from one dealer over another? I've seen no reason from any dealer yet to have any loyalty. Poor service after the sale every time. Besides, dealers have no problems gouging customers with upcharges with hard to get cars, why can I not try to gouge them when another dealer has an ultra low price when the car is no longer so rare? If I recall some dealers were trying to get $3k - $7k over sticker not too long ago. That's petty and wrong...

You could indeed make $5k if you figure profit on a late model trade-in and profit on the sale at or above MSRP. I'm certainly losing another few grand when I trade in a late model car... MSRP is about $2500 over invoice. Add in financing and maybe a service plan and voila! $5000

If it were up to me, I'd pay the salesman under the table. You get a percent of the dealer profit right? That means if I think you should earn let's say $250 for the sale, I have to fork over another grand to the dealer. I'd really like you to make a decent commision, but not at that price....

 

Good Job pkms18, this guy really doesn't have a clue. There is even a guy on the Crossfire for sale forum saying he can buy 2 Crossfires for 45000. People just don't know what they are talking about for the most part. A brand new automatic Crossfire has around $2000 worth of markup built in it. Give or take a few for advertising differences. And yes there is the almight holdback from the manufacturer. A whole 3% WOw, on a $20000 dollar vehicle that's a wopping $600. That's nothinig considering the overhead and expense when it comes to running a dealership. Let's see this guy try to get the internet to service his vehicle when it's broke down. Maybe his mouse on his computer can change the oil for him. Or, maybe his hard drive can put a new serpentine belt on for him.

 

I'm with Pat on this one,

I know your not having a go at Pat directly, but Koltzy you've gotta understand how it all really work's. Just by checking out this forum I have seen a huge difference in how car's are sold in the USA compared to the UK & you would be shocked.

We all have a job to do - some of us better or worse than others but alot of it comes down to personality & trust, salesman worldwide are alway's considered of being the 'Shark's of the showroom' - ready to do anything to make the next sale, but when you see it from our side you can see how under hand the retail public can be to deal with, we have to be prepared to answer your questions quickly & close that sale.

I've been with a DCUK dealer for 10 years, and I will confess that the first 5 to 6 years have been great, now - the sales targets have got bigger and the margins have got smaller & we have a small fraction of the choice of cars compared to the USA.

If you guy's where making $5000 per car, by my reckoning you can all afford to take 6 months off sking in Aspen - with butler & maid service thrown in. I've heard true or not, a 5 star dealer is generally selling in one year what the UK sell's in a year which is approx 18000 units.

Pat - any comment ?

Koltzy - One last thing to ask you. When you go into Walmart to do your food shopping, do you ask for a discount ?, think about it - your'e in their once or twice for stuff, you should be entitled to it.

Think about Pat, me the Chrysler/Jeep salesmen & women worldwide see their average customer every 2 to 3 years !!!!!!!!!!!