Thank you guys so much for the tips. Especially Secret Agent Man. Really great info in there.

I think I am going to use my lowest quote for the exact truck I want (factory order) as a bench mark and see if I can't get a better deal on a equal or better one on the lot from any dealer in the area and not be affraid to walk away.

There was a mention of dealer cash incentives. I know sometimes they are not advertised. How can I find out about those incentives?

 

Edmunds - incentives

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2010/dodg...ncentives.html


Dodge web site - incentives (enter your zip code to fine tune)

http://www.dodge.com/dma/635/index.h...1500&zip=78676

 

Thanks. The factory incentives are easy to find. I'm asking about this "dealer cash" I've been reading in this thread. Dealer cash on top of factory incentive.

 

The dealer cash is tricky, because dealers try to keep this well protected. Its extra money they can use to dip into to sweeten the deal for a customer to get a sale and it gives the impression that the dealer is cutting into their profit margin. Technically they are seeing as how any additional money they discount is less money for them. It isn't part of their standard profit margin though because its incentive money that they get from Chrysler for selling the vehicle.

I knew of the existence of dealer cash because I used to work in the auto biz. The only reason I was able to find out about how much was being offered on the Ram during the month I purchased is because a desperate sales person was adding up all of the incentives his dealership was prepared to give me and wrote down $1500 in dealer cash.

Patience is a virtue in shopping around for the best deal. I should have stated earlier that I shopped for nearly 3 weeks before I finally made a purchase. The sales people hated me, but come the end of the month they ended up fighting over me to get my business. The sales person that let the dealer cash value out of the bag happened well into my 2nd week.

 

LOL....thanks. I have no problem having these people hate me for a while. There are litterally a dozen dealers within reasonable driving distance of where I live. So I will not mind going to all of them to get the best deal.

 

Larger dealers also get dealer advertising money from the factory. I asked about this when I purchased my F150 at a whopping discount back in 2004 when they weren't giving away squat in incentives.

Here's the story they gave me. Because they were one of the largest Ford dealers in that part of the country, Ford gives them piles of cash for advertising. He said they got $100,000 from Ford and used part of that to buy ads, and part of it to discount a few trucks to get people in the door. He says most people come in and end up buying something else versus the advertised discounted truck. They offered like $9,000 off MSRP which was thousands less than my Ford partner price even.

 

That would make sense because the two dealers that fought over my business were both part of the Royal Gate dealership family. I had heard that they were the largest dealer in the midwest, but I would need to verify that. What I do know is that the price I got on the truck was discounted above and beyond all Chrysler regional incentives + employee price + dealer cash + loyalty cash + military discount. For me to get the price I did get, the dealer had to dip into their pockets too (even if it was out of their advertising budget).