Car
Options & Packages
The
various car options, packages , and additional dealer add on's is an
area you will really want to take a critical look at and do some
serious calculating.
The various trim and package options and other
little "creature comforts" can mean comfortable profits for the
dealer.
At least in relationship of what you get for your dollar
spent on them.
And some which you might be enticed to purchase (add
to the finance cost of the car) are actually quite worthless in
terms of additional value. If you have done your research, you will
know which option packages will at least add a bit of value to your
car.
A basic rule of
thumb is that manufacturer added option packages such as power
packages (door locks, windows, sunroofs, etc) will give a little bit
back on the trade-in side.
However, dealer added packages are
generally made available to you to add to the dealer profit only.
Actually many of the dealer add on's pay for the cash bonuses that
the dealer will give to the sales people.... known in the business
as a 'spiff' to the sales people. Yep, those $69.95 custom pin
stripes probably cost the dealer about $15 bucks. Of that (really)
gross profit on the stripes, the salesperson may have gotten a $25
spiff. Manufacturers
will put together option packages on their cars, and do what is
termed "value pricing." By putting the most popular options
together in a package the auto maker can save on the production
costs since they have to produce fewer variations of the same car.
This type of package can be a good deal for you if the items
included in the option package are the options you wanted to
purchase anyway. Keep in mind though you can also waste your money
if the package includes items that your really aren't interested in
having. An easy way to look at the package vs. what options you only
want is to simply add up the cost of only the options you want and
compare the price to the package that may have an item or two more
than you want.
It may happen
that the cars that you look at on the dealer's lot have more
accessories and options already installed that you really want or
want to pay for. The salesperson may insist that you have buy the
car "as is." If this is the case that you run into, and you have the
time, you may want to wait or order the car directly from the
factory.
But keep in mind ordering a car greatly reduces your
ability to negotiate the price.
Keep in mind if
you are considering a special order from the factory, you really
aren't in much of a position to negotiate the price of the car.
Keeping within the perspective of this website, and from the
perspective of a dealer, the dealer would much rather sell you a car
directly out of their standing inventory.
Dealers have a much
greater motivation to sell their on hand inventory, and it is this
motivation you can use to get yourself the best new car deal.
Depending upon the demand for the car and options you are looking at
and how long the car that the dealer would like to sell you has been
sitting on the lot, you may be able to get those options or
accessories that you don't necessarily want or pay for taken off the
selling price of the car.
Again, dealers would much rather reduce
their own inventory. And depending upon the timing; they can be under a
fair amount of pressure from the owner to do so.
A quick true
story to emphasize my point.
I once had one of my assistant sales
managers order a vehicle (not an order from a customer. Just a
standard factory order) from our manufacturer.
A vehicle
that... well let's just say... came in with a rather unique set of
options on it.
A rookie mistake to be sure, but a car that the
minute it came off the truck, I knew was going stay with us for a
while.
Anyway to make the point, and a long story short, to
eventually sell this particular vehicle, I had to not only throw in
the cost of the options that were on the car, I also had to put a
cash bonus on it as an incentive to the salespeople.
The customer
who eventually bought this car got a great deal on a car that I had
to make go away. So, we both accomplished the best for each of us.
The whole time
the car was on the lot, and as the model year began to change, I
used to kid my sales manager (as the pressure on me to move the car
kept increasing) ....
"man, you are really going to look good
driving that car home!"
We're still friends and stay in touch. And when
we do you occasionally get together this story always comes up.
- Shop, Save and Switch to GEICO today!
- Instant online quotes
|
|
