Questions and help with pricing, Dealer Holdback & True Dealer Cost

[Starks8]

So as some of you guys know, I've been on this forum for a while but unfortunately am still not a Cruze owner. Though I wish I could have had a Cruze already, I'm really glad I will have the chance to purchase a more refined 2013 Cruze hopefully here in the next few months.

With that being said, I'm starting to put some internet buying tips and car buying notes together from the internet into a notebook to hopefully help me be better prepared when I'm actually able to pull the trigger. These notes include pricing, option pricing, local dealers, etc.

Sooooo..... My question(s) to forum members and current Cruze owners go like this...

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1) How do you buy the Cruze for under invoice? And how much under invoice is a good price?
2) What exactly is Dealer Holdback? how do I calculate it? And how do I use it to get a great deal?
3) How to I determine true dealer cost? Can anybody help me determine it with these numbers?..... Thanks!


2013 Summit White Chevy Cruze 1LT RS w/options

(RS Package, All-Star Edition, Technology Package, Enhanced Safety Package, 1LT Driver Convenience Package, Front License Plate Bracket)


MSRP (base) (w/o destination charge): MSRP (base) (w/ destination charge): MSRP (w/ destination charge) (w/ all options listed above)

$19,655 $20,465 $24,080

Invoice (base) (w/o destination charge): Invoice (base) (w/ destination charge) Invoice ( w/ destination charge) (w/ all options listed above)

$18,869 $19,679 $22,861

[Sunline Fan]

Without a doubt, you'll be the most informed first-time Cruze owner when the time comes!

[PureEnergi]

Dealer holdback is based upon the vehicle. Its tough to understand and calculate it, in fact its a very difficult question to even answer. Chevy usually has a 3-4% DHB of total MSRP. Its different for every brand of car. Very few brands of cars have no holdback.. BMW and AUDI come to mind. But often when buying a premium model of those cars, you wont even get close to sticker anyway, nevermind invoice. (dealer markup) Holdback is money given to dealerships by the manufacturer. The money helps the dealer in many ways, too many to mention. Notice how a dealer can advertise selling a car at "invoice" well.. they can and they can still make money at the end of the month. Going after dealer holdback is usually ugly, and it usually wont get you very far, maybe if you have bought 5 cars off the store?? My boss tried to explain it to me once or twice... "if we sold every car in here at invoice, we could still keep the lights on and make payroll from holdbacks." Going in looking for a dealer to go into holdback for a car is like declaring war. And most Gm's will just throw you out and wait for another customer. Why? because another customer WILL come. The easiest way to see whats going on with car prices is to use the internet. But not everything is written... many things are left untold in the car business.

I sell cars. My advice? look for rebates. Ask about dealer cash<very easy to hold, hardly anybody even knows about it.. and any MONTHLY incentive. Every month incentives change. Some incentives work for the buyer, some for the seller. You'll probably get a better deal at a LARGE autogroup, a small autogroup more than likely cant afford to lose money on a car just to move a unit, but a big group usually can and will. Find out when "end of month is" often its NOT on the last day of the month like most think. Dealers/salesmen have quotas but you need to know when the axe is falling. Best deals come off the dealers lot, not when he has to go swap something in cause you want purple seats. Never bring your trade to the table until you have nailed down the price of the new car. Beating up a dealer is what everybody wants to do... but i mean.. If i asked you to sell me your product that YOU sell or market at YOUR cost, what would you tell me? I often come right out and ask my customer how much they will let me make... I can tell you some unreal stories of the answers and facial responses to that question. People generally are clueless tho and the best thing you could every do is make friends with a car salesman and stick with him. Or at least pay him 100$ to come with you to buy your new car. You want to make a friend?? If you beat the **** out of the dealer for the last dime and your salesman gets a "mini" usually 100$ (which is garbage money for what he has to do to get that car to you), palm him a 50$ or 100$ bill and make a pal. Cars have issues, even new ones and if you are that grinder for the last dime on the vehicle and allow nobody to make a decent deal... karma will SURELY remember you. And you will get basically NOTHING if you have future issues and problems but a cold shoulder and a LONG wait in the service lounge. Making a buddy of your salesman can help you out in ways you would NEVER even think to imagine. Especially if you buy /lease often, or intend to put 200k on your chevy. (good luck) >:O)

[obermd]

If you're looking for the best price, find a high volume sales dealership. They tend to have more leeway in their sales prices.

[Starks8]

Thanks PureEnergi! I really appreciate you taking the time out to answer the dealer holdback question. Yeah, I read that GM/Chevy's holdback is 3%. I also read too that its a big no-no to go after the dealer's holdback but to lightly mention it if the dealership tries to play the " i won't be able to keep the shirt on my back" card. Yeah, it looks like since I am a USAA member I will have a rebate available at about anytime i actually buy the cruze. I've been using sites like truecar.com and edmunds.com that have helped alot.

So what is still the proper way to insure i get the cruze at or better yet, below invoice pricing? Obviously I'm not going to pay MSRP and I would really like to get the car with tax, tag, title and processing fee right at or somewhat above invoice if possible?

Dealer holdback is based upon the vehicle. Its tough to understand and calculate it, in fact its a very difficult question to even answer. Chevy usually has a 3-4% DHB of total MSRP. Its different for every brand of car. Very few brands of cars have no holdback.. BMW and AUDI come to mind. But often when buying a premium model of those cars, you wont even get close to sticker anyway, nevermind invoice. (dealer markup) Holdback is money given to dealerships by the manufacturer. The money helps the dealer in many ways, too many to mention. Notice how a dealer can advertise selling a car at "invoice" well.. they can and they can still make money at the end of the month. Going after dealer holdback is usually ugly, and it usually wont get you very far, maybe if you have bought 5 cars off the store?? My boss tried to explain it to me once or twice... "if we sold every car in here at invoice, we could still keep the lights on and make payroll from holdbacks." Going in looking for a dealer to go into holdback for a car is like declaring war. And most Gm's will just throw you out and wait for another customer. Why? because another customer WILL come. The easiest way to see whats going on with car prices is to use the internet. But not everything is written... many things are left untold in the car business.

I sell cars. My advice? look for rebates. Ask about dealer cash<very easy to hold, hardly anybody even knows about it.. and any MONTHLY incentive. Every month incentives change. Some incentives work for the buyer, some for the seller. You'll probably get a better deal at a LARGE autogroup, a small autogroup more than likely cant afford to lose money on a car just to move a unit, but a big group usually can and will. Find out when "end of month is" often its NOT on the last day of the month like most think. Dealers/salesmen have quotas but you need to know when the axe is falling. Best deals come off the dealers lot, not when he has to go swap something in cause you want purple seats. Never bring your trade to the table until you have nailed down the price of the new car. Beating up a dealer is what everybody wants to do... but i mean.. If i asked you to sell me your product that YOU sell or market at YOUR cost, what would you tell me? I often come right out and ask my customer how much they will let me make... I can tell you some unreal stories of the answers and facial responses to that question. People generally are clueless tho and the best thing you could every do is make friends with a car salesman and stick with him. Or at least pay him 100$ to come with you to buy your new car. You want to make a friend?? If you beat the **** out of the dealer for the last dime and your salesman gets a "mini" usually 100$ (which is garbage money for what he has to do to get that car to you), palm him a 50$ or 100$ bill and make a pal. Cars have issues, even new ones and if you are that grinder for the last dime on the vehicle and allow nobody to make a decent deal... karma will SURELY remember you. And you will get basically NOTHING if you have future issues and problems but a cold shoulder and a LONG wait in the service lounge. Making a buddy of your salesman can help you out in ways you would NEVER even think to imagine. Especially if you buy /lease often, or intend to put 200k on your chevy. (good luck) >:O)

[carbon02]

I'd suggest to use chevy.com to do a dealership locate to find 2-3 cars equiped just the way you want. Then using the internet find the best local price in your market. Using the best pricing approach the dealers with the 2-3 cars the chevrolet.com search found for you.

I agree that your best price is on a car on the lot. Going to a dealership being firm about the car that you are there to see, show's you're there to make a deal.

I resist dealerships offers to do locates, but using chevrolet.com works well.

[Starks8]

I'd suggest to use chevy.com to do a dealership locate to find 2-3 cars equiped just the way you want. Then using the internet find the best local price in your market. Using the best pricing approach the dealers with the 2-3 cars the chevrolet.com search found for you.

I agree that your best price is on a car on the lot. Going to a dealership being firm about the car that you are there to see, show's you're there to make a deal.

I resist dealerships offers to do locates, but using chevrolet.com works well.

Yeah, I've done that before on their site. I'll do it again but my plan is to actually have it special ordered from factory.

[jblackburn]

If you're looking for the best price, find a high volume sales dealership. They tend to have more leeway in their sales prices.

Not always. Got an amazing price on the Toyota from a low-volume dealership. They are more inclined to make the sale than see you walk out the door and buy a car somewhere else. Before rebates, we got the $23.5K I4 SE for $20.5 (WITH taxes, title, fees)...minus a $1000 college grad rebate, minus a $750 loyalty rebate. And free tires for life. By far the BEST dealer I have ever dealt with. Her family bought one car from this dealer before, and they want to keep repeat customers more than anything.

My Chevy was bought from a high-volume dealership, and I know I didn't have as much negotiating room with them, but my dad did drive a hard bargain. Took walking away from the dealer to get them down to invoice price with a call from my salesman the next day.

I actually had a dealer in the same network offer me a price on that same car (hard-to-find 1LT 6M), and I think that tipped off the first dealership, so they called back with a counter-offer.

Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!

[Starks8]

Hey 2013cruze, i saw your comment that I likely won't be able to get a factory ordered cruze for invoice. Somehow I went to respond and it took me to some weird page by accident and now your comment isn't there...

but to respond, why would i not be able to get a factory ordered cruze for invoice? By the car not sitting on the lot (usually a 90 day avg) won't that automatically save the dealership some money? Also depending on when I go to special order it, which could be the start of the summer, they might be more willing to give me a good deal due to the 2014 cruzes getting ready to come in.

[Hoon]

Not going to read it all, but ask the dealer for the invoice. If they're credible, they will give you the build sheet with their invoice price right on it.

The hold back is 3% of MSRP on all Chevy products.

You should have NO problem getting a cruze for invoice, even if you order it. Below invoice is tough, there really isn't much room in the hold back. If you're at invoice or slightly below you're doing well. $100 below invoice leaves $500 for the dealer...which is about a $200 profit after they pay the sales guy, cover the expenses to detail the car for delivery, etc.

Unless it's a Fugly car they need to move, it's very difficult to do better than that.

People don't overpay for cars, they overpay for financing...that's where the money is now.

I won't explain how F&I really works, but get pre-approved from several banks before you walk in. If the dealership can't beat your lowest rate, tell them to piss off.

Everything else they try to sell you, like paint and wheel protection, is a complete sham. Over 50% of the price for the "protection" goes right into the dealer's pocket.