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Asked: Mar 18, 2008 - 10:04 AM

Status: Closed

How Much Should I Pay Above Invoice?

I plan to order printouts from Consumer's Report giving the MSRP and invoice prices on three cars we are considering to buy: 2009 Toyota Camry LE (4 Cyl.), 2008 Buick LaCross CXL, and the 2008 Chevrolet Impala LT1. What I am looking for is a percentage (a formula) of what I might expect to pay above list price on each.

All three of the cars have a rebate offered through the end of March. I am not much on "car trading" as you can tell. I assume that I would negotiate the dealer's "best price" and then the rebate would be taken off that, true?

Any help you might give would be greatly appreciated.

Mauser 1

In Buying & Selling > Car Buying
In Makes & Models > Toyota > Camry
In Makes & Models > Buick > LaCrosse
In Makes & Models > Chevrolet > Impala
3 answers - 617 days ago

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qbrozen

Date: Mar 18, 2008
Time: 02:36 PM

You should check the "prices paid" forums for each of those vehicles, but for a Camry or Impala, you are probably talking about invoice + $50-$100 - rebates.

What you want to do, however, is know what invoice is and know what rebates are and present your offer to the dealer as a price rather than "I'll pay $x over invoice." Just work with the price. If you try any other avenue, you are creating an opening where the dealer can play with you ... like showing you a phony invoice. And don't negotiate a price before rebates because that will just confuse things.

So, for instance, if invoice on a Camry LE is $19k and there are $1k in rebates, then you simply state, "I am offering $18k for a Camry LE," and work from that point. If you want to leave room for negotiating, then offer $500 below invoice minus rebates ($17,500 in my example above).

avatar

sylvia

Date: Mar 18, 2008
Time: 02:55 PM

You should also check Edmunds TMV (True Market Value)

Start here http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/new/index.htm... find the vehicle, configure with options, etc. and it will give you the invoice price (what the dealer paid), TMV (average of what others are paying in your region) and MSRP (what the dealer wants you to pay).

You can check incentives and rebates here - need to input your zip code http://www.edmunds.com/incentives/Rebate...

My rule of thumb is to try and beat TMV.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/new/index.htm... and

avatar

steve_

Date: Mar 19, 2008
Time: 05:22 PM

Why pay for invoice pricing when Edmunds has invoice and MSRP prices free? Edmunds also tracks incentives and rebates in your region by zip code.

There's lots of buying tips and info at the link below.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/art...

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