Should I have dealer locate or travel myself?

[TripleDuble]

I'm looking to buy a new Golf TDI. I'm picky about how I want it. Will my local dealer try to rape me if they go get it, or is their cost close to the same as if it was on lot?

Should I just forget helping the locals and buy it on the internet?

Thanks - and anyone interested in a badass R32 - VF stage 3 MkIV, for like 15 large let me know.

[sethgood]

No one here will be able to definitively answer your question as posed. The dealer ultimately sets the price.

A common theme & pitfall with picky customers is that they shop all over a region for a car that exists at one or two dealers. These dealers find out that they have a captive customer, refuse to trade the car and then charge you whatever they want when you finally inquire directly to their location. You make yourself especially vulnerable to this by internet shopping.

[GolfVIDriver]

No one here will be able to definitively answer your question as posed. The dealer ultimately sets the price.

A common theme & pitfall with picky customers is that they shop all over a region for a car that exists at one or two dealers. These dealers find out that they have a captive customer, refuse to trade the car and then charge you whatever they want when you finally inquire directly to their location. You make yourself especially vulnerable to this by internet shopping.

Yep. Learned this lesson on my '12 GTI. If you have a dealer that you trust and you can get an agreeable price on the car, best to NOT call the dealer who has the car, because then that dealer knows you are playing dealers against each other, and they won't be able to get the car.

[MAGICGTI]

Yep. Learned this lesson on my '12 GTI. If you have a dealer that you trust and you can get an agreeable price on the car, best to NOT call the dealer who has the car, because then that dealer knows you are playing dealers against each other, and they won't be able to get the car.

I'm a salesman, just went through this today with a client, it blew up in his face and he couldn't get the car.

[Knight2000]

I'm a salesman, just went through this today with a client, it blew up in his face and he couldn't get the car.

This happens all the time, and happened to me quite a bit when I was selling VWs, Audis and Porsches. Customers just wouldn't listen to me, because I was a CAR SALESMAN (echoes, strobes, thunder, lightning), and was lying to them from the minute I introduced myself. It would always blow up in their face, and they had two choices:

1. Go to the other dealer and pay more for the exact car they want.
2. Buy a similar vehicle from me for less.

They usually chose the first one, which I understand -- it was exactly what they wanted. But I had a good rapport with 95% of the dealers in the region and could have easily gotten that car.

The ONLY time that I had trouble getting the exact car from a dealer that I wanted was when the 2010 GTI came out, and there was only one Shadow Blue 4-door in the country. Dealer was in Kentucky, I was in Michigan. They said that every dealer in the country had called for the car, and they weren't giving it up, haha. I understood. My customer actually knew about that car, but waited for a 2012 Shadow Blue GTI and bought from me.

[Lucian1988]

i went thru a similar thing when I wanted to buy my CC. I wanted a black on black R line, 2012 with Manual transmission. my dealer one had a silver one, with auto. they found a dealer that had a white one, with a manual, in florida. They told me if I wanted that one, I would of had to pay transport on shipping the white one up here, and also on sending them a trade down there, which would have been over 3 grand extra. I said no thank you, and drove 2 hours away to a dealer that had the exact one I wanted.

[HollisJoy]

I went through this in December.
The car I wanted was in Nashville TN but I'm 4 hrs away in NC.
I haggled with the dealer online & only went to there to sign & drive.
Easy peasy

I love my Reflex Silver Golf

[TripleDuble]

Many thanks to all of you. I was smart enough not to put in any online or phone requests and I think all your replies will be helpful to many others but the question I was really asking is how do dealers costs get affected when they get a car from another dealer? I guess it's variable, but in my case they swapped identical cars save color. Assuming I would have paid the same for either car do they make less money having swapped the cars?

[Knight2000]

Many thanks to all of you. I was smart enough not to put in any online or phone requests and I think all your replies will be helpful to many others but the question I was really asking is how do dealers costs get affected when they get a car from another dealer? I guess it's variable, but in my case they swapped identical cars save color. Assuming I would have paid the same for either car do they make less money having swapped the cars?

Did they make less money? Yes. But how much less depends on where the car was located. If it was within driving distance (usually 5 hours or so), it probably cost them around $100. If they had to ship a car from further away, anywhere from $300 on upwards.

So, you purchased the car, at the dealer you were originally at? I assume they did NOT increase the selling price?

[sethgood]

Many thanks to all of you. I was smart enough not to put in any online or phone requests and I think all your replies will be helpful to many others but the question I was really asking is how do dealers costs get affected when they get a car from another dealer? I guess it's variable, but in my case they swapped identical cars save color. Assuming I would have paid the same for either car do they make less money having swapped the cars?

I never worked for VW, but generally if two floorplan dealerships swap two identical cars there will be no bottom line difference except for incidental and administrative costs of swapping cars and paperwork.

However, that is only in theory. In the real world dealerships hold other dealerships hostage all the time, you end up having to fix the scratch on the car you send the other store, holdbacks are different, you end up doing two PDIs for one sale because the other car is still in the wrapper, pay the owner's kid to run the dealer trade because owner says so, etc...and this can work both ways.

[nasty_VW_habit]

I went another route... Wanted White S4 manual, nav, cold weather, sunroof, carbon fiber belt line. Had an STi to trade. "my" sales guy and Mgr had me cornered and were beating me up. It was late, I told them I'll sign right now but only for the deal I laid out. They were 1000 off still when I walked. What they didn't know was when he pulled up the search and said "there's only one like it two states away" I saw that dealers name. You figure out the rest..... I got my price agreed over the phone, drove down a few days later with loan check in hand.

[mtbscoTT]

Dealer trade is "usually" going to cost extra for the transport unless they're both local where they can just drive it over.
On a tangent, buying a car outside of your region is not that hard. When the first gen Audi TT came out in 1999 my local dealers had 6 month + wait lists, I called around and found one in the next state available for immediate delivery. Gave them a hold deposit over the phone, drove there three days later, traded in my car, and drove the new one home.
A few years later, I wanted a Suzuki Aerio SX wagonlet with manual and the closest one was a couple hundred miles away. I made the complete deal over the phone with them and the next day a nice retired guy drove up to my home with the new car (with his buddy in a second vehicle to take them home.) I'm guessing that cost the dealer $100 or so but they didn't pass the cost on to me.
The last time this almost happened I was prepared to fly to Atlanta in 2006 to pick up a Porsche Cayman S because the local dealer wasn't even close in price. Weirdly, when they looked up the car I was getting in Atlanta and saw that it really existed and I wasn't bluffing, they somehow were able to match the price on an identically optioned car they had on their lot so I stayed home.

[randyvr6]

I just purchased a 2012 VW CC today that my dealer has to go get from a couple hundred miles away as a dealer trade. I wanted a 2012 CC R Line in a specific color combination, so my choices for finding one were pretty limited.

I did a search on the internet, and know where the car is located, but wouldn't think of going there myself. This is the third new car I have purchased from this same dealership, and over the last six years or so have built a great realtionship with the service and parts staff.

They treat me real well, and since my former salesman is no longer there , I had to start over with a new one. I think I got a fair price, but honestly, I am not going to worry about leaving a couple hundred on the table on a 30K car, nor am I driving a few hours to save that amount. What does that really mean on a 6 year loan? $3 a month; I waste that much on gas taking the wrong exit or buying Cokes from vending machines.

I am more interested in establishing and maintaining a long term relationship with the General manager, Service manager, and Parts Mgr. because the sales end of the purchase is just a small part of car ownership. Those are the guys I want on my side if I ever have a warranty issue, need a loaner, or a deal on parts etc.

[ringos]

I had my local dealer look for a white r-line. There were only 5 within a 500 mi radius. Local dealer located the one I wanted, gave me a quote that was a little over msrp! And said they would only charge me their cost for picking it up from a neighboring state. I didn't like the deal, but my heart took over and I was on my way to the dealer to pull the trigger on the sale. BUT, on the way over, something inside said don't do it and I called them to tell them I changed my mind.

A week later, I checked availability in the region and found one 180 mi away. Contacted them for a quote and they came in at my target price based on the research I'd done, almost $2200 less than the local deal. Picked it up a week later and couldn't be happier. And to top it off, it had the dual control climate + exhaust tips + both sets of mats/trunk liners and 1st aid kit, all at the quoted price. Walked out exactly as quoted.

Only problem now is I will need it serviced at my local dealer.

[Hostile]

For the Outback we just got, the color was very rare. The dealership we used does trades with most of the other Subaru dealerships within a few hundred miles. They located one in Annapolis and another in Roanoke. They got the one in Annapolis and it was a straight up trade, basically the Annapolis shop just picked a 2.5i Limited w/ moonroof off of my dealer's lot to replace the one we took.

i went thru a similar thing when I wanted to buy my CC. I wanted a black on black R line, 2012 with Manual transmission. my dealer one had a silver one, with auto. they found a dealer that had a white one, with a manual, in florida. They told me if I wanted that one, I would of had to pay transport on shipping the white one up here, and also on sending them a trade down there, which would have been over 3 grand extra. I said no thank you, and drove 2 hours away to a dealer that had the exact one I wanted.

Why didn't you have your local dealer get the one 2 hours away instead of the wrong one all the way in Florida...?

[pknopp]

I'm going to guess that the OP has already made up his mind but my two cents.

You are generally better off letting the local dealer get you the car even if it costs you a little more. They do have the expense of getting the car but you will have added expense going to get it also.

If you run into a problem down the road the dealership is far more likely to help you out if you bought the car off of them.

I bought my Jetta wagon locally but letting them go get the car for me. It was only about an hour and a half away and I could have played them against the local dealer and saved a little but it wasn't worth it to me. If I have a problem the local dealer is far more likely going to be the one I go to.

Now, my wife bought a car that was very hard to find. It shouldn't have been but for whatever reason the manufacturer just didn't make many with leather. We tried to let the local dealer get us the car. I again agreed to a little more than another dealer had the car listed for on their website. It was funny, while this dealer was willing to sell this car for $100 over invoice, they wouldn't trade it. (we were $250 over locally). I gave them the oppertunity to trade for one. The problem was my wife wanted a car. After a week I called the a dealer that wouldn't trade 360 miles away and asked what I could buy it for. Being a big city dealer they said they sold all cars at invoice (but they did charge a $190 doc fee). We drove up and bought it. I hope there are no problems.

[Lucian1988]

Why didn't you have your local dealer get the one 2 hours away instead of the wrong one all the way in Florida...?

they would have made me pay at least 750 to get the car to me, and they would not come down lower than 32K before tax on the car. i went up there myself and for the car for 30K after tax.

plus, at the very end they told me they didnt work with that dealer...

[Hostile]

they would have made me pay at least 750 to get the car to me, and they would not come down lower than 32K before tax on the car. i went up there myself and for the car for 30K after tax.

plus, at the very end they told me they didnt work with that dealer...

What a joke. My Subaru dealer didn't charge me anything to get the car from another dealer in Annapolis (an hour and a half away)- the cars were exchanged on the dealer's dimes and no cost was passed on to me.

Hell, if they couldn't have gotten the car from Annapolis there was another one in Roanoke (4 hours away) that would have done an exchange with and I still wouldn't have had to pay anything...

[Lucian1988]

What a joke. My Subaru dealer didn't charge me anything to get the car from another dealer in Annapolis (an hour and a half away)- the cars were exchanged on the dealer's dimes and no cost was passed on to me.

thats what surprised me as well. I believe the salesman (even tho we bought a car from him before, and serviced all our VWs at their dealer) couldnt take me seriously because I was a 22 year old trying to buy a 32K car. i sure showed him... haha