Mike Shad - Awful Experience
 

The dealer quoted me for my trade-in, and the 370Z, and I'll break it down in this post. I'll also note the serious mathematical errors that the dealership made.

Vehicle Price: $41,735.00 (This is *ABOVE* MSRP)
Appearance Protection: $399.00
Nitro: $199.00
Sure Start Battery: $399.00
Theft Protection: $249.00
Selling Price: $42,981.00

Trade-in Value: $9,000.00
Difference: $33,981.00
Lien Payoff: $14,000.00 (I owe 14K on the car, this is their biggest mistake. If I owe 14K on the car, and they value my trade-in at 9K, the difference here, on this line, should not exceed 5K.)

Sales Tax: $2,131.17
Tag/Registration: $323.75
Tire/Battery/MVWEA: $8.50
Dealer Service Fee: $599.95
Balance Due: $51,044.37!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How on earth does a dealer mess math up on a trade-in this badly? I did the math correctly, and had several dozen people check it for me to make sure I'm not insane..

This should be the balance due: $40,798.37 (This is slightly inflated, due to the fact that if the dealer got the vehicle down below MSRP, and not above it, I would have paid less tax).

Under no circumstance should I have been quoted over $40,798.37.

I emailed the president of Auto Nation, and my Sales Rep the above data.

They didn't even want to give me the quote print-out, they told me to leave, and I should just "memorize" what they told me. I looked at them both and just said well I'm sorry to hear that, and they then proceeded to print-out a copy of the quote...

I'm working with a dealer in Naples, FL. Hopefully, they'll get the price right, not make up numbers with magic, and actually talk to some banks (Mike Shad talked to no banks for me, they ran estimates ONLY).

Wow, that dealer is way out in left field. They must be used to dealing with fools!

$42981(assumed selling price of Z) + $5k(that youre upside down in) = 47981+tax+all that other crap = 50k+


Where are they going wrong exactly? You should be able to get the car for invoice but I understand their numbers......unless I'm missing something?...

I don't understand how your getting a price less than the MSRP of the 370Z while still owing 5k on your trade in?

Let me break it down for you:

$42,981.00
$2,131.17
$323.75
$8.50
+ $599.95

= 46,044.37

add to this your balance of trade 14k - 9k = 5k

so
46,044
+5000

balance due = $51,044.37

It's spot on

yup, math is correct (I'm an accountant).

Their asking price for the car is nuts though!

dont do the deal, heheheh

the asking price for the car is waaaay too high, and your upside down on you current car, unless you can put down a 10k+ downpayment, or, you make a LOT OF MONEY, dont do it.

Oh, and don't EVER pay for dealer add-ons, they are trying to take you for a ride asking you to pay $400 for a freakin' battery. Nitrogen for $200? lol.

You can get invoice on that car, or at least close to it. Being upside-down 5 grand on your trade hurts though, I personally wouldn't buy the car and I'd work on paying down that loan instead.

Get rid of those items and negotiate the price of the car down to invoice.

Get your trade-in appraised at CarMax. Make sure the dealer at least matches their offer.

Appearance Protection: $399.00
Nitro: $199.00
Sure Start Battery: $399.00
Theft Protection: $249.00


yeah WTF!!

The best way to negotiate the sale is to come up with your out the door price. What do you want to pay in total? Factor in sales tax and dealership fees and come up with your final number. I told them I would pay an OTD price that backed out into a couple hundred bucks under invoice.

Once you get that figured out you negotiate the trade-in. The dealer low-balled me, I countered with a number higher than what CarMax offered me... they balked and lowballed again... I pulled out the CarMax appraisal, they matched, and I got a fair price on my trade.

It's very hard for dealerships to gouge an educated consumer. The internet has changed things significantly in that, if you do your research, you shouldn't pay any more than invoice for your car. Dealerships don't like educated consumers... they like people like my aunt who doesn't know you are supposed to negotiate the selling price. :)