Ordering EX vs taking EX-L Navi off the lot

[SonicGray]

Hi, just wondering if anyone might have information about how much it costs dealerships to order a car vs. taking one off their lot?

Asking because I want a Sonic Gray EX.. the dealer I am talking to has one in EX-L. Wondering if they would give me a better deal to take the one off their lot than to have to order me one, especially because the price I am being quoted is ~$900 above invoice on the EX-L and ~$500 more on the EX.. seems like they would have more room to play with plus not have to deal with ordering.

Also asking because in looking up dealer inventories across the state, I have yet to find a manual Civic, even in trims that should/could have manual as an option (LX Hatchback, EX-T coupe). When I mentioned that to one of the multiple dealers flooding my email/text inbox, she said it wouldn't cost more to have to order one. Wondering how true that is..

Thanks for any advice/input. Excited to get back into a Civic.. my first car was a dark amethyst pearl '97 sedan back in high school..

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[DjinTonic]

Hi, just wondering if anyone might have information about how much it costs dealerships to order a car vs. taking one off their lot?

Asking because I want a Sonic Gray EX.. the dealer I am talking to has one in EX-L. Wondering if they would give me a better deal to take the one off their lot than to have to order me one, especially because the price I am being quoted is ~$900 above invoice on the EX-L and ~$500 more on the EX.. seems like they would have more room to play with plus not have to deal with ordering.

Also asking because in looking up dealer inventories across the state, I have yet to find a manual Civic, even in trims that should/could have manual as an option (LX Hatchback, EX-T coupe). When I mentioned that to one of the multiple dealers flooding my email/text inbox, she said it wouldn't cost more to have to order one. Wondering how true that is..

Thanks for any advice/input. Excited to get back into a Civic.. my first car was a dark amethyst pearl '97 sedan back in high school..

In my case the quote for my car (for which I gave a deposit) was good whether they wound up (1) ordering it or (2) doing a "destination swap" (two dealers have cars already on order, but switch the dealer destinations to satisfy customers). However, I was told if they had to (3) swap with a car on another dealer's lot, there might be a small increase in the destination fee if they had to drive the car a long distance.

Turned out that there was only one Silver Civic touring coupe in NC at that time and that dealer was not interested in a dealer swap. In the end my dealer worked a "destination swap" with another dealer and my dealer: mine got the Silver touring delivered and the other dealer got the car my dealer had originally ordered. When I was shopping almost all the email quotes I got were for cars not in stock at the dealers.

All the dealer's cars were ordered at some point. So unless the year/price changes, there is no reason it should be more for a car they need to order vs. one in stock. However, a dealer may offer you a greater discount to take a car in stock (especially if it's not your first choice and the dealer is itchy to move it for whatever reason). You should be getting written quotes from dealers and not worrying so much about what's in stock if you want the best price and don't need the car in a hurry. Take a few hundred off your lowest offer and send it to all the other dealers who gave you quotes, asking "Can you beat ____ ?" Keep that up until they tell you they can't beat it. Check the local bar graph for actual sales in your area at TrueCar. When you are near the bottom of the graph and other dealers won't go lower than your best offer, you most likely have a great deal.

 

[SonicGray]

Thanks for the advice. The quote I got is already lower than the KBB graph. So far the other dealers have been matching but nobody has beat yet.

Could I get to invoice or below? In another thread,the invoice for EX Hatch was listed at 21.1k..Their initial offer was 21.6 base..23.7k OTD.

Do I negotiate off that? It just seemed like they had more room between quote and invoice on the EX-L Navi..Plus it's on their lot. But I guess it is 2k more..Not sure I want leather seats that much..Not too interested in Sensing

 

[DjinTonic]

Check the National and Local TrueCar bar graphs -- they have reference marks for the MSRP, Average Price Paid, and Invoice Price -- not sure about your choice (I know nothing about HB pricing), but for the sedan and coupe, some folks do get below the Invoice price. Discounts seem to vary by geographic location. There are many suggestions about negotiating strategies on the several What did You Pay threads? -- do a Forum search.

OTD prices are very difficult for others to compare, because options vary ($0 to thousands) and fees and taxes vary state to state. The most important figure on your dealer worksheet is the Discount applied to the MSRP (which includes the destination fee). Of course, discounts being about equal, you do want to take into account what they are charging for accessories.

 

[SonicGray]

Check the National and Local TrueCar bar graphs -- they have reference marks for the MSRP, Average Price Paid, and Invoice Price -- not sure about your choice (I know nothing about HB pricing), but for the sedan and coupe, some folks do get below the Invoice price. Discounts seem to vary by geographic location. There are many suggestions about negotiating strategies on the several What did You Pay threads? -- do a Forum search.

OTD prices are very difficult for others to compare, because options vary ($0 to thousands) and fees and taxes vary state to state. The most important figure on your dealer worksheet is the Discount applied to the MSRP (which includes the destination fee). Of course, discounts being about equal, you do want to take into account what they are charging for accessories.

Thanks. To be honest with you I am already at the low end of the price graph on Truecar.. but since it was a first offer I'm guessing that there has to be at least a little room to go..

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