Join Date: Jan 2019Location: Orlando, FLPosts: 23

thanks Torquer for sharing! it is interesting that dest charge now is 1399...

"Some dealers advertise incredible rebates such as 9K, but they usually (or hopefully) state that amount includes all rebates" - this is the first thing I encountered as one dealer told me I have to ex-military, a realtor, a retired seniour and a bunch of other things to qualify for 8k discount LOL..Classical bait and switch.

Besides holdback, dealers in Florida charge ridiculous "documentation fee", ranging from 699 to 899 which is a pure profit for them.

Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: StL
Posts: 408

When I was looking to order, a local dealer was offering me invoice price minus all rebates minus half the holdback. A more than fair deal, and I don't mind them keeping some of the holdback, after all everyone has gotta make a buck to eat and pay the bills. My issue was the rebates were squat at the time, which made no sense really on a platform that has been around for so long.

I ended up finding my car totally loaded with all options up in northern MO, about 4 hours away, in a small town where everyone is buying Rams and SUVs, not so much orange sedans LOL
Yes it was 2 years old going by build date, but the full warranty began the day I picked it up and I ended up getting 15 Grand off. And the dealer advertised NO FEES, and in the end they were true to their word - the only "fee" was 7 bucks for a 30 day temp tag, but I didn't even end up paying that once I looked over everything. So that was hundreds more dollars I saved. Highly recommend Woodys in Chillicothe MO

Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 23

so I've done some more research. Found out that dealers make at least 3% + doc fees on these cars from invoice price. This is before rebates from FCA which they technically have nothing to do with and just pass to the buyer. Many people who reported saving 15-20% off msrp did it because of massive rebates which are no longer there for 2019 models. Some people got a bad price for trade-ins or did a lease with marked up MF etc.

Big dealers also have additional incentives from FCA but these ones are guarded and depend on the actual dealership.

With that said, I think it is good to target 10% off MSRP but _before_ any other rebates. That way dealer can still keep their holdback plus their doc fee. On this car, for example, they would make close to 2k and this is if I just buy the car without doing a trade-in or financing (they get extra money from that). And since this would be a custom order, they do not need to keep the car on the lot and it will be a quick and easy sale for them.

Now, I still have hard time getting 10% before rebate because all the quotes I got actually include 750 rebate (assuming it will be available at the time of delivery, which is another trick they use to bring their quote down). Also some dealers in Florida go overboard with their doc fee - I saw some dealers charging $999 in doc fee alone.

At this point, I think I engaged 15 dealers at least - only 5 were willing to communicate via email and offer more than 5% off. Everyone else simply ignore my questions via email and insist on "stopping by" to discuss in person. Thanks, but no thanks