GoCougs

Sumblad --- I am also in the Seattle area... hunting for the white w/ black interior... dealer (Bellevue and Fife) said I had to special order.

I gotta ask - did they work with you on price at all? Feel free to PM me offline and we can talk more...

I have heard of locals getting a pretty decent discount now and again... just curious as to what your experience was.

Sumblad

Well after my experience earlier this week, I thought about it and decided that the difference in the vehicle that I ordered and the one they made for me was two low priority 'be nice to have' features that I wasn't about to wait for an unknown additional number of months to have when they had a technically fully loaded one meeting the rest of my specs on a boat coming for me. So I went back and said I want the one on the boat.

My new car will arrive at the port between the 20th and the 27th!!!!!

Sumblad

Pullman ,

I settled on Bellevue after using the Car Bargains program through Consumers Checkbook. Cost is $190 and they contact at least 5 dealers in your area and work on your behalf to take bids for your sale. They have been around for like 15 years, so dealers know the customer is serious about purchasing. They use the only leverage the consumer has when talking dealers down to a price-- the threat of walking away. I got bids from six dealers: Bellevue, Lynnwood, Spokane, two in Oregon (Portland and Eugene), and one in Idaho.

Car Bargains gives you the invoice with the invoice and MSRP listings for the car, all options, plus advertiser markups, holdbacks, incentives, etc. The sales managers bid at a price either in relation to invoice or MSRP (their choice). If they say they will part with the car at $2000 over invoice, then you take the base invoice price and then just add up the invoice price for each option you want and add the required dealer markup of $2000, plus fees the dealer requires. If the quote is relative to MSRP, you take the MSRP and add MSRP prices for options and then subtract (or add) the markdown/up relative to MSRP. This gives a level playing field for comparing and you can very quickly see what the best deal is and who you want to give your business to.

All you do is take your papers in with you and speak to the manager that authorized the deal. You tell them you are with the Car Bargains program and show them the paper you received. You then ask to look at their invoice and make sure the prices match up. If so, you take your Car Bargains-supplied worksheet with all the fees already added up and you simply sign the paperwork for the vehicle.

I settled with Bellevue because they had the best price in the state for what I was looking for. Some places wanted $1500 over invoice if not purchasing ML and $4000 over invoice if getting ML. Other dealers refused to bid. Some wanted $500 minus MSRP.

*Hums "Bow Down to Washington"*

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

Congrats!

Hmmm, I gotta push my salesperson to give me a date range on where it'll arrive!!!

Can't wait either, seems like we'll both get our cars at around the same time!

GoCougs

Hey Sumblad - I pm'd you back...

That car bargains method sounds like an interesting idea.

I am curious what other deals in the Seattle area are going down for? Anyone from the area care to comment? Looking at an AWD, Nav, ML, etc... no pre collision or lexus link though... MSRP's in the 52's roughly... I've heard of 47-48 around the US, but nobody doing much better than 50 int he Seattle area.