Who can afford a new truck anymore?

[Parkanzky]

Lots of people fall for the "how much per month" trap. I dicker on total price.

I'm an "automotive enthusiast" and I've purchased a bunch of cars, both new and used. I will only talk "out the door" pricing. I figure out what I want to pay, add tax, title, and registration and work to get below that number OTD. That way the dealer can do whatever they want with "doc fees" and other nonsense and I don't have to care.

 

[sdef]

I'm an "automotive enthusiast" and I've purchased a bunch of cars, both new and used. I will only talk "out the door" pricing. I figure out what I want to pay, add tax, title, and registration and work to get below that number OTD. That way the dealer can do whatever they want with "doc fees" and other nonsense and I don't have to care.

Yep, I did the same. When pricing my new Ram, the first dealer tried to come up with all of these "extra" costs not on the OEM sticker. And then to price options I wanted but not on their in-stock truck, such as $1100 for factory wheel - wheel side steps which sticker for ~ $710, among other things. We came to an agreement pretty quickly that I did not care what their shop charges were and that that issue was on their side to resolve. The price is the price as far as I was concerned, and they can tally it up and distribute any way they please. But in the end, I was only concerned about out the door pricing.

So we came to a tentative deal to order a new truck from the factory for a price that was a little higher than I wanted to pay, but was the lowest the sales manager was able to get agreement on with his management. But he still had to confirm with the factory the following morning that there were no restrictions on anything I wanted. In the end, they refused to go through with the deal since there was not enough headroom in the pricing- which I took to mean not enough profit margin for them.

So I went to a different dealer who surprisingly found me a truck with all of my options (some not very common) just delivered to a dealer's stock in neighboring NC, including body and interior colors except it had a Nav unit I did not want. I paid a bit more, percentage wise, but it was less expensive than ordering a 2016 without the $2500 rebate on the 2015s.

I would like to have saved a couple more percentage points off the price, but I got the best deal available for this truck.

 

[Jstpssng]

There are a lot of the buy here pay here lots around here..Miss a few payments (1 maybe 2),and they'll come get it ,and sell it again...These type lots probably sell the same vehicle over,and over to different people

Plus they're selling overpriced junk to begin with; and charging high interest to boot.

 

[Bird]

There are a lot of the buy here pay here lots around here..Miss a few payments (1 maybe 2),and they'll come get it ,and sell it again...These type lots probably sell the same vehicle over,and over to different people

Don't we have that same thing everywhere?:laughing:

Dealing with car dealers, whether new or used, can be quite an educational experience, but sometimes fun, too. I bought a new 1964 Dodge Dart convertible when the '64 models first came out; slant 6, automatic transmission, etc. It was nearly a year old, 30k miles on it, tires about due for replacement when a van stopped in front of me one day to let oncoming traffic clear so he could turn left into an apartment parking lot. Naturally, I stopped behind him, then a 17 year old kid in a big car rammed me from behind so hard that he not only knocked me into the back of that van, but broke the back of my seat off so I was lying with my head in the back seat, in spite of the seat belt. That collision broke every light on both ends of my car, but it was still drivable otherwise. Fortunately, the kid's parents did have insurance so I took the car to the dealer from whom I had bought it. When they called to say it was ready and I went after it, the guy at the counter said someone would bring it around front. In the meantime I was looking at a new one (sedan instead of convertible) on the showroom floor with A/C, V-8, manual transmission. I asked a salesman how they'd trade and pointed outside at mine that had just been parked out front. So he went and looked at my convertible, talked to his boss, and came back with a figure to trade. At that point I told him there was no way I'd pay that much difference and I made him an offer. He assured me there was no way they could take my offer, and said, "The paint doesn't match on the trunk of your car, and the driver's seat back is broken." I told him, "Well, you're going to have to fix those things anyway, since I just came to get it from your body shop and haven't even gone out to look at it yet." Away he went to the boss and came back in a few minutes to accept my offer.:laughing:

Shortly after the first (1968) Plymouth Roadrunners hit the market, I noticed one on a dealer's lot south of downtown Dallas, stopped and went in and asked a salesman how they'd trade for that Roadrunner. He asked, "Well, how much will you give?" I told him, "That's not the way it works. You tell me what you want for it and I'll tell you whether I'll take it." He said, "Well, if you don't know how much you'd give, I'd just be wasting my time." So I left, went to a dealer on the north side of town and asked how they trade for a new Roadrunner equipped as I wanted." They said they didn't have one and didn't think there were yet any in Dallas. I told him I knew where there was exactly what I wanted. He said he didn't think any dealer who had one would be willing to dealer trade it, but he called and they agreed to let him have it, we agreed on a price and the salesman and I went to the first dealer to get it.:laughing: He did ask if I'd not go in and let them see who was buying it, and since he'd been nice, I agreed. I don't know whether the idiot salesman ever knew what he'd done.

 

[kenmac]

Plus they're selling overpriced junk to begin with; and charging high interest to boot.

They charge high interest for a reason... These buyer's can't get financed anywhere else ,but a buy here pay here lot.. This is where credit will get you ,if you aren't careful using it

 

[Clint S]

We just got a 2015 2500HD regular cab , 8 foot bed. It is a WT but has the convenience package . It came with an 8 foot stainless trip edge plow by Boss. It was 40k out the door, tax and tag included. The window sticker was just under 40. The plow stickers for 6k. It is a ton of $$$ but I think we got a good deal.

 

[KennyG]

Just saw an article that the average selling price of F-150's is $44,000 and the factories are running at capacity. So apparently a lot of people can afford a new truck.

 

[kenmac]

Just saw an article that the average selling price of F-150's is $44,000 and the factories are running at capacity. So apparently a lot of people can afford a new truck.

Get the payment low enough ,and they will buy them.. Does that mean they can afford them ??? I see people with new vehicles, at the pay day loan places all the time..Probably getting a pay day loan to pay the power , water, grocery bill,etc, so they can drive their new vehicle...

 

[TomSeller]

Just saw an article that the average selling price of F-150's is $44,000 and the factories are running at capacity. So apparently a lot of people can afford a new truck.

Good point, the fact that more people in the US can afford a new truck than an afford a standard car is amazing. So would the

 

[check]

So that equates to renting a truck for about $10,000 for two years?

Yup. Just about the same as the annual average depreciation on my last truck (including 13% sales tax), which I kept for five years and sold just before the warranty was up.