How do I do an E Quote for dealers in my area?

www.edmunds.com

 

Make a list of all the dealers in your "driving radius" (that is how far you're willing to travel to pickup the car). Use an online yellow pages site for this or the actual yellow pages or at the very least just list the dealerships you see driving around town, to work, etc. The more the better.

Go to each dealer's web page. If you don't know the URL off the top of your head, use Google - plugging in the dealer's name and city. Most of the dealers' sites will have a little form on the front page that you can fill out to request a quote. Be as specific as you can in detailing what you're looking for (year, model, option level, color if that's important to you, etc). Most dealers will respond within 24 hours or less.

I found it helpful to keep a spreadsheet of dealers to track which ones I had contacted, which had responded, what they're initial quotes were and any other miscellaneous notes.

 

The way I handled it was it went to this site: http://www.toyota.com/toyotaApp/dealers/se...=GM_STN_DEALERS

From there, I could look at all the dealers in the area. On each site they list their inventory. On many sites there is an area where you can make an inquiry on a particular one you want. If you fill that in, make sure you take the option where they contact you by e-mail. In the comments, you tell them you're in the final phase of shopping for a 2007 Prius. You're looking at various dealerships to get the best price. You continue by telling them you want their BEST price on the particular car you're asking about -- be upfront with them by telling them you'll be shopping their price around to find out if its the best or not.

At that point, they should get the message that you're in the FINAL stages of shopping and they can't jerk you around too much so they need to give you their BEST price -- make sure you stress you want their BEST price. Once you get that quote from them, which will be in writing since you requested an e-mail response. You move on to the next dealer who has that same car (doesn't have to be the same color, but it has to be the same option package) and tell them you got a quote on the same car from X dealership (in fact, just copy and paste what you were sent) and ask if they can beat that price. Keep in mind, all sites list their processing fee at the bottom of their page with the vehicle -- make sure you factor that into the price they are giving you because it can be anywhere from a $100-$300 difference.

So, you get the second quote and they probably going to at least match the price -- if not beat it. You take that price and move on to the next dealership you want a quote from and go with the same process. You eventually come back to the dealer you first went to and report your results, which will likely include a quote from a dealer that will beat their price. At that point, they will usually either beat that price or tell you they can't do any better. If they give you a new price which is better, start shopping that around.

Clearly the idea is to get the dealerships to compete against each other and take you out of the equation which reduces your stress for buying a car. Keep in mind, its simple capitalism, either they beat the lowest price or you move on.

If they tell you to come in, you can tell them you'll come in when you're confident they have the best price and you're ready to sign the deal. Some dealerships will try some pressure tactic like, that price is only good till the end of the day today or tomorrow. Tell them to stuff it (essentially), any price they give you today should be good next week. The one dealership I found that was not shy about using that tactic was Ourismann here in VA. At the end of my shopping process I was so unhappy with their tactics that I send the general manager an e-mail note -- never heard anything back.

Also, I'd look at www.edmunds.com. They have a free service for all cars where you can find out what the invoice price is on all cars. Look up the 2007 Prius and you'll see that listed. You plug in the package you want and it will give you MSRP and dealer invoice. To give you a base line, a the Package 6 we got had an invoice price of $26,200 (I think) and we got ours for around $26,250. Don't forget you have to factor in sales tax!

The nice thing is once you find that price you like, you know it has been fully vetted and shopped around. You can go to the dealership, test drive your prospective car to make sure its fine and do the paperwork...no haggling over price and no pressure!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(traydragen @ May 21 2007, 12:07 AM) [snapback]446485[/snapback]</div>

Check out www.carbuyingtips.com.

 

Costco and Edmunds.

In my situation Costco came in with the lowest price and the dealership was closest to my home. I paid $22369 for package #2.

One tip...know the car, package #, exterior / interior color before you fill out the online form...It will speed up the process.