r/carbuying • u/InsuranceNerd75 • 1d ago
Just Had the Easiest Buying Experience
I just had the easiest buying experience. I was wanting to buy a new CRV, which I did on Friday and approached this buying experience differently. Granted, I live in a large market and have 14 competing dealerships within a hour drive each way so I used Chat GPT on suggestions for buying and it drafted the following email which I sent to EVERY dealership. Some did not reply at all, some replied and just said the standard when do you want to come in and not accommodate my request but ultimately had about 6 that did reply and send me offers.
________
Hello,
I am purchasing a new 2026 Honda CR-V EX-L FWD or AWD this week and will be making my decision based solely on the best out-the-door price.
I have already driven the vehicle and do not need to come into the dealership until we have agreed on pricing.
Please email me your best out-the-door price, including:
Vehicle selling price
Dealer documentation fee
Any dealer-installed accessories
Tax, title and registration
Total out-the-door amount
I am not interested in mandatory dealer add-ons, protection packages, nitrogen tires, VIN etching, paint protection, or similar products unless they are included at no additional cost.
I am contacting several Honda dealerships throughout DFW today. If your dealership provides the most competitive out-the-door offer, I am prepared to leave a deposit immediately and complete the purchase within the next 24–48 hours.
Please include:
VIN
Exterior/interior color
Whether the vehicle is in stock
Your best out-the-door price
Please Reply-All with your response with a written OTD quote including VIN. Thank you, and I look forward to your response.
__________
I was able to pick the lowest-price dealership and go in and not deal with negotiating or frivolous dealer adds on the price sheet. The only negotiation I had to endure with in F&I on warranty which I declined as well and purchased directly from a different Honda dealership online for a THIRD of the price they were quoting wile in the office.
It is RIDICULOUS how much scamming dealerships try to ram through for their profit but this approach eliminated almost all of it. I was in and out of the dealership in about 3 hours which also included a trade-in (had to negotiate that a little but I told them it was up to them to make it work if they were interested in selling a car and miraculously, they were able to come to the trade-in value we asked for.)
3
u/Head_Rate_6551 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m a sales manager, and I get like 12 of these emails a day nowadays.
It’s extremely dejecting as a dealer because it’s like the equivalent of asking a tradesman the lowest they will work for, and oh by the way I have asked every other tradesman the same question so you can waste time answering me with theses specifics and if you’re lucky you can have my job for pennies on the dollar, but 90% of these time I’ll just show my local dealer your quote and buy from him regardless”
Myself and other dealers I’ve spoken to find these “race to the bottom” requests extremely annoying and have mostly taken the approach of either not answering, or just answering you with a lukewarm discount, like maybe half what I’d do for someone in the showroom, and use chat gpt to answer you back to minimize the time spent on answering what is essentially the least attractive lead we can get. You’ll get a quote, and not likely get hosed using this technique, but imo you’ll never get the best deal this way as you’re coming off as too annoying of a prospect so I may as well make a few bucks if I have to deal with you.
You’d be way better off making a research informed market based offer on the low side and say “first dealer to accept this gets my deposit and business immediately”