GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey everyone,I have a hold on a brand new '06 (stealth grey) and have to go back in a day or so to seal the deal. Has anyone in Canada (or elsewhere) done this recently and have tips on where I can lower the dealers price. I do know that the salesperson has been at the dealership for less than 3 months, so they do not make the commission yet. I am thinking that this is good bargaining material as the dealership doesnt have to put up the commission. Any one know what the commission on a car like this would be?Thanks for any and all tips,DarrylPS. New member... first post

Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Vibe!This is a link to an old thread about the "Confessions of a Car Salesman" http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=7032The article is posted at http://www.edmunds.com"Confessions" is lengthy, but worth the time to read it through. If you're really pressed for time, read the 'conclusions' at the end.Good luck!

When I bought my Vibe it was still during the GM "employee discount" hype, so the only leeway I had was with my trade-in. My main focus for negotiation was to make the salesman and the manager understand that I didn't care about the Vibe so much...that I would pull-the-trigger on the best deal among a Vibe, Matrix or Mazda 3. Thus, the three times I went to my Pontiac dealer to discuss specifics, I made sure I was carrying a pack of information that included brochures from Toyota & Mazda, reviews of all those cars by http://www.consumerreports.org, and printouts of Vibes for sale by other dealerships in the area. This helped me to get leverage when it came time to discuss trade-in value...and once I got one offer, I went to another Pontiac dealer with the same model Vibe and played that offer off them. I did this again and again (four GM dealers) until I maximized my trade-in. It seems like a lot of work, but $18k is a lot of money. Getting the brochures and reading about the specifics of various models is free. Going from dealer to dealer and "wasting time" dealing with salesman is not. However, it will save you money!

Quote, originally posted by Cougar Vibe »When I bought my Vibe it was still during the GM "employee discount" hype, so the only leeway I had was with my trade-in. My main focus for negotiation was to make the salesman and the manager understand that I didn't care about the Vibe so much...that I would pull-the-trigger on the best deal among a Vibe, Matrix or Mazda 3. Thus, the three times I went to my Pontiac dealer to discuss specifics, I made sure I was carrying a pack of information that included brochures from Toyota & Mazda, reviews of all those cars by http://www.consumerreports.org, and printouts of Vibes for sale by other dealerships in the area. This helped me to get leverage when it came time to discuss trade-in value...and once I got one offer, I went to another Pontiac dealer with the same model Vibe and played that offer off them. I did this again and again (four GM dealers) until I maximized my trade-in. It seems like a lot of work, but $18k is a lot of money. Getting the brochures and reading about the specifics of various models is free. Going from dealer to dealer and "wasting time" dealing with salesman is not. However, it will save you money! "It seems like a lot of work, but $18k is a lot of money." BUT, how much did you save going to four Vibe dealers? $100? $400?

First of all, Welcome to GenVibe! You can always count on getting good answers to your questions (maybe not from me... )I think the best advice I can offer you is this: Be Prepared to Walk. That is, if anything doesn't meet your satisfaction, whether it be the deal or the product, let them know you're not interested.A car is probably the second-largest purchase you'll make next to buying a home. Make sure you've done your homework on the vehicle's features (and shortcomings), financing, insurance and maintenance. If you've got a trade-in, check Kelley's Blue Book, Edmunds and local classified sales to get an idea what it might be worth. Also, don't mention a trade-in until you're ready to negotiate.I hope everything works out for you, and if you do get the Vibe, please post pics! Good Luck!

Thanks to all for your responses.In terms of being prepared to walk away... That is a tough one. I put a deposit on this car knowing full well that if I didnt, it would be gone already. I even got a call today from the salesman asking if I had made a descision yet because there were 3 other people prepared to purchase it. Now that may have just been a sales line, but it isnt un-believable. We could not find a vibe anywhere in our local area to even test drive, nevermid purchase. The quantities must be pretty low in our area (GTA).I think someone mentioned in another thread that the market determines the value, and I believe it. I would have much more bargaining power if the darned things werent a) so hard to find and b) so in demand.I purchased a report online that proportedly gives me the dealer cost on the car and all the options, and the margins appeare pretty small. I may try to get a deal on an extended warrantee and some oilchanges or something.Did anyone purchase extended warrantees?Thanks again for your responses,Darryl

hey darryl,seeing that you're in burlington, are you buying from Leggat? That's where i got mine....i used to know a good sales person there but she's gone...they have a hard time keeping sales people there for reasons that were told to me in confidence (i won't/can't share as i'm still friends with her).when i bargained, it was hard to lower the price. even a year and a half ago!i think the best thing to do is remind them that if you aren't happy during the buying period and don't feel like you got 'a good deal' then even if you do buy the car (because you really like the one they have) you may not be so happy about going back there for warranty/etc. work.i dont' go there anymore for any maintenance due to a really bad experience...and when they called to discuss it, they kept pushing me to at least use them for warranty items....they seemed pretty unhappy that i wouldn't use them for at least that aspect of post car purchase....let us know how it goes!

BUT, how much did you save going to four Vibe dealers? $100? $400?Didn't save anything on the Vibe; got more ($700) for my trade-in by explaining to each successive salesman what the other dealership was offering (in writing). First dealership graded out my Explorer as in "fair condition" and gave me an offer of $4400. Took that to two Pontiac dealers in Baltimore-area and got that up to $5000 (eventually, took some time)...then took that back to the original dealer and we did it for $5,100.So for $700 I lost maybe four Saturday afternoons at car lots and a few hours over the phone. [I'm not counting research time since I waste a lot of time anyways at car websites and consumer info forums.] Thus, that savings has now paid for my splash guards, a couple of 5 quart jugs of Mobil 1, two Pure One filters, and a set of Dunlop Wintersport M3's mounted on Toyota OEM rims w/lugs and a torque wrench thrown in too!I think it was worth it, but that's just me.

Quote, originally posted by Cougar Vibe »BUT, how much did you save going to four Vibe dealers? $100? $400?Didn't save anything on the Vibe; got more ($700) for my trade-in by explaining to each successive salesman what the other dealership was offering (in writing). Anyway you look at it you saved $700 on your Vibe purchase. That's worth it. Congratulations. Think of it this way - You'd have to earn over $1,000 to put $700 in your pocket. I've seen some do all this for $200. IMO that's not worth it. Nine years ago I got a good deal on a new vehicle and the dealer tried to get it back by offering me $200 for my admittedly beat up used car. I told him I'd sell it myself. That seemed to make him mad. I had people waiting in line to buy it fr $1,800 so I was $1,600 to the good for not much work.

If anyone is thinking of buying soon, GM is supposed to be starting a new promotion starting this Monday. It is supposed to be $100 over supplier price (the price they give to employees of GM parts suppliers). Its not quite as good as employee pricing, but its not bad either.I haven't been able to confirm this, but heard from a couple of reliable sources who usually know whats going to happen before it happens.

Yes, The new GMS pricing plus $100.00 starts Monday and runs thru to Jan.3rd, 2006. Check out http://www.autoblog.com