re: How much lower can you talk down the dealership from the internet price?

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Explain this please. Every dealer I’ve tried to email lately has refused to do any talking online, they either insist we talk on the phone or I come in

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Rarely have I had a dealer refuse to deal through email. We even just called/texted a dealer only 40 minutes away, and when we told them we’re not coming in without a deal in place, they relented and gave me their best price (knowing what price they had to beat). One of the Florida dealers started out with “get your best price and I’ll beat it,” and this is the email I replied with:

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I'm getting prices from around 6 different dealers and buying in the next 48 hrs. , so I really don't have time to play "beat this price" from dealer to dealer. I'm just gathering each dealer's best and final initial offer and taking the best deal. No offense, but you either have a "best price" or don't. Thanks for your time

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Of course I was lying, because playing the dealers against each other is exactly what I was doing.

Here was their response:

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I am not about playing games, I was simply trying to save you some time. We have been talking about the Tucson Night model and the pricing is below for you as requested. This includes all taxes, tags and fees assuming a new tag and Louisiana taxes and all the incentives that I can use on your behalf. Pricing is good under close of business on 31st July and I am also using an additional $500 assuming you will finance with Hyundai. If you choose not to do that then price will go up by that $500. It also includes the extra value of our dealer installed options which include tint, paint protection and pinstripe. I can tell you from experience that most dealerships have dealer installed options and our protection package is lower than the vast majority of Hyundai dealers at $1546 to save you money! Let me know if you want to move forward at this price.

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The price she gave me was actually the best deal I got by $900, but they were 655 miles away and Pensacola was only $900 more and 500 miles closer. I wasn’t in the mood to fly to Bradenton, and I didn’t have a trade-in so I would have had to drive there and then my wife and I both drive back. But that simple email exchange was all it took to get $6,700 off and beat both local dealers by $2,300 on a vehicle that stickered for a bit over $30K.

If you search a large radius, there will be dealers with advertised prices far below local dealers, but it usually includes rebates you don’t qualify for, so for the most part you are getting their “real” price, but they always drop a bit from their when they know what price they have to beat.