Regarding Haggling on an Ordered Camaro
 

Hi all! I'm new to this forum, but if things work out I'll be staying for good. I'm looking to place an order for a new Camaro through a dealer, and I was curious what you all thought about how pricing works with orders. I know that incentive-wise you deal with whatever is effective the date you go to pick it up. Beyond that though, is there a reason to think haggling would be more difficult with a car you order? Also, for those that have ordered - did you discuss price at all when initially placing the order? What about trade in valuation?

My understanding is that the price isn't set in stone and you discuss this all when its delivered. I hear deposits are typically refundable, so if you don't strike a deal to your fancy you have the right to walk away. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I've looked around here but haven't found anything addressing this - apologies if I've missed it.

Most of the time on a sold order, deposit is not refundable. Especially if you're ordering something the dealer doesn't normally stock.

Price is normally agreed upon when placing the order.

Great topic, and something I’ve been giving a lot of thought as I am in the same boat, so I’ll give you some of my random thoughts.

The only way I’m buying new is if the car is exactly what I want, and there’s essentially no chance that I’ll find the perfect car on a dealer’s lot. If I’m going to compromise on colors and options anyway then I’ll just buy used and avoid some of the depreciation hit. The performance value is exceptional even at sticker price, but resale value on these cars isn’t worth shit.

First off, we’ll never get the discount on a custom order that we will buying one collecting dust on the lot. And these are pretty low margin vehicles to begin with.

There are some LPOs I want, primarily the 1LE suspension upgrade kit for the SS. If I order LPOs from the factory, that profit goes to GM. If I instead order the parts from the dealership, then the profit would stay in-house and I’d like to use that as a selling point. That’s how I’m thinking it works, but hopefully someone with more knowledge can confirm if I’m right or wrong on this.

I personally live in the sticks. I pass the local dealership every day on my commute and they never have more than 2 or 3. The one SS has been there about 6 months and the last two SS’s sold were both on the lot for well over a year. I’ll frame it as taking an allocation for a slow-selling car off their hands, one loaded up with options no less, and giving them a guaranteed sale with zero carrying costs for the delearship since I’ll be taking delivery as soon as the car is inspected and prepped.

Take advantage of all incentives you can. The top-line incentives will be luck of the draw when you take delivery. But also make sure you take advantage of the $2000 Mustang conquest offer. The way I understand it, if you or a family member can produce the title to a 1999 or newer Mustang, as long as you’ve had it at least 30 days, that’s free money. You can find a junker Mustang somewhere for a lot less than $2k, and pocket the difference.

Get the GM Rewards Mastercard immediately. 5% on the first $5000 in annual spending and 2% after that. I route every dime of expense that I can through mine and pay it off monthly. It adds up quick. Not only that, other members have reported getting bonus offers, buy in the next 60 days and get anywhere from $500-2500 off. Anniversary month is noted on the statement so I expect an offer would come then. About two months prior I’ll start looking for a shit Mustang, get connected with a salesman, and start scouting the deal, to the point that I’m ready to finalize the deal and make a cash deposit the day I receive the bonus offer. Now, maybe my car is built and delivered within 60 days, but maybe it’s not. I’ll call card customer service to request extending the offer should the car not make it in time and provide the paperwork showing the deal as made, just to make absolutely sure I’m not shorted.

The #1 tool at your disposal is PATIENCE. Im not expecting to get a great discount off sticker, but I’m prepared to wait (with assumed risk because offers can change at any time) and get every piece put in place. There is a good chunk of 100% free money off out there and I don’t intend to leave a penny of it on the table.

Also, the ten year US treasury rate, on which pretty much all personal loan rates are based, is in near collapse currently. It’s now given back over half of the big move up from the rock bottom rates we saw in 2016 and they look to drop further. We could see financing terms improve notably in the months ahead.

Mustang Conquest offer.
 

Conquest offer. You must own the mustang at least six months not 30 days.

No, it's 30 days.

Thanks Gearhead I was told by my salesman at Holz Chevrolet here in Milwaukee that it was six months.

If you're focused on getting the best deal, don't order. If you're ok with paying a few $ more, then order.

You cannot negotiate a price on a car that does not exist. No VIN, no car, no price.

You can negotiate an agreement to order and buy a car but that agreement will be based upon MSRP or Invoice price the only bench marks available before the car is built. Incentives are offered by GM and are subject to change monthly.

A good dealer will work with you but there is no traditional bargaining as there is no supply/demand in advance.

I negotiated the price on my ordered car to be delivered in july. The only thing I could not lock in is the incentives. Sure would like to a conquest offer other than owning a mustang.

Mind sharing what you price you agreed on and the msrp of the car?

Since you live,"in the sticks" and your dealer only carries 2-3,why not consider buying from a volume dealer up to 1k miles or more away to save a bundle? I've done just that,2x in the past year with a dealer that was 1100 miles from home. I traded a Chevy both times and even including the roundtrip drive on 2200 miles,I came out much better than trading with any of 5 dealers within 50 miles of me. Just a thought.

I agreed with the sales guy on the price at the time I placed the order, with the caveat that incentives would be determined and applied at delivery time. They honored everything in our agreement to the letter and even threw in an additional $2k ("bonus" plus "loyalty") on top. It wasn't a "smoking hot" deal, as in, getting a brand new, never driven car for something crazy like 25% under MSRP, but I do consider it fair and had no complaints.

I ordered my Gen 5, and almost every new car I have owned since the 1980s. I do it this way because I enjoy configuring the car and because I don't want a car that sat for months, including New England winters.

The incentives are applied at delivery, but I can't recall any instance where they were any less than when I placed the order. And of course, GM card points are always available if you have them.

I am a long-time customer at a small dealer. They won't sell below so-called invoice, but will go for maybe 2,000 off MSRP on a 35,000 car. Not great, but I'm not interested in doing business with a big chains that owns 100 plus stores.

I have never traded in a car, because I use them up until they are ready for donation or the junk man. My current Gen 5 may be the first car I trade in because I don't look forward to the long line of boy racers who would show up at my door wanting a test drive.

The conventional wisdom is to leave any discussion of a trade out when talking new car price, but what's the point? You can do your own research on trade in and new car prices and come up with a range you can live within.