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Almost Bought One!!!

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Blowing out power steering fluid

dodge ram mega cab 06 ??

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Allright, first off I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, but I did almost buy a 3rd Gen.



Secondly, I am sorry its so long, I will try to be brief.



A friend from high school calls me Monday (Jan 31) @ 6:00 p. m. from the Dodge dealership where he works. Says he is close to his monthly sales goal and needs to sell one more truck to hit it. So, I ask him what he has. He has an '05 2500 Laramie Quad Cab 4x4 - 70 miles, and an '04 2500 Premium Cloth Quad Cab 4x4 - 200 miles. Both are autos, and diesels of course. So, I say work the numbers on the '05, he says he will call me back. On his return call he states that he has talked to the owner and the owner says that he is not goign to sell the '05, he is goign to "demo it out because he can make more money on it", without much more thought I say allright work the numbers on the '04. He does, and comes up with $22,650 difference between his and mine (in my signature, I have 147K on mine). I am like, no I will give you $17K tonight no questions asked. Thats assuming that I get $20K for mine, and I give him about $35K for his, plus tax. He says no way to do it, but I would do $21K, so this goes on and on. It is getting close to the 7:00 p. m. deadline that he told me about, and so I start working hard. I finally get the owner on the phone and told him $17 or nothing. He says I will meet you half way $19,810. I say yea, lets do it. I am filling out the credit app via phone, and realize I am buying an '04, I call my buddie on the other phone and ask him to look in NADA at the truck I am buying and an identical '05, he finds the '04 is worth $3,018 less than the '05. So, I tuck tale and abort the deal. I just tell them I cant buy a truck that is a year old, and they assure me that its new. I say no, dont want it, I probably wouldnt be happy. So, we make up and off the phone. Well, as I am talking to the gf I find out that the owner told her that this truck that I was buying was used as a demo.



So, here lies my question, what constitutes a demo vehicle and do they make more on them, and why would the owner of a dealership want to keep a truck around that long?



I suppose most of you are going to say I was crazy for not doing it, but I just felt that buying a truck that was a year old for the same price that I could buy an '05 for was a bit dumb. I know that I am probably not going to get $20K out of mine, but I will see what I can do on my own.



Give me your input on what I should do to get into a 3rd gen. I think I will put mine in the trader and ask about 19K (its pristine, 7K paint job, hood, etc) and then buy one off of tommygun (he is great!!!)
 
You did the right thing. The "friend" was trying to make money and take you for a ride. Be happy and I figure Tomeygun can do better on a '05. Oo.



On edit: Never buy in the hurry at the last minute like they set you up there. You will get the screws put to you, guaranteed! Work the deal on your time and your schedule... this will help you feel comfortable about getting the best deal you could.
 
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mberry said:
Is your 98. 5 a 12 valve or 24?



I am pretty sure its a 24v that he has.



BTW I think you did the right thing. Not only is it a year old but an automatic as well. And buying it over the phone without driving the auto since you currently have a 5spd might of been a big mistake.

dave
 
With 200 miles on it, I doubt they could have done anything damaging.



Depending on how it's equipped, $35k for that truck is likely too much though, I'd put the value more towards $33k.



That said your rig isn't worth $20k or anywhere near (I almost bought a '99 for $14k and walked away) so maybe you should have taken it.
 
rholcom2 said:
... A friend from high school calls me Monday (Jan 31) @ 6:00 p. m. from the Dodge dealership where he works. Says he is close to his monthly sales goal and needs to sell one more truck to hit it... on my own.



Give me your input on what I should do to get into a 3rd gen. I think I will put mine in the trader and ask about 19K (its pristine, 7K paint job, hood, etc) and then buy one off of tommygun (he is great!!!)



I love the fact that you start out your post with the fact that a friend called you with a deal... They want you to buy an 04, initially ask you to pay over 22K for it with your trade. Then, just to close the deal, they offer to meet you half way and ask 19. 8K for it.



This is why you should never negotiate with a dealer unless you have the dealer invoice (from many internet sites) in front of you. You can buy a new one for at least $1000 under invoice from many places. Tomeygun is an excellent place to start. No BS, no hidden markups, no fuss.



Sell your truck, on your own, get all the available rebates, and finance through Chrysler Financial. You'll get an extra $1000 rebate, and you only have to make three payments. Then you can pay it off, or refinance to a lower rate with someone else.



Depending on what you order, if you get close to 19K for your truck, you should easily be able to trade up for under 16K difference (plus tax and license)... Have fun... :)
 
Tim said:
With 200 miles on it, I doubt they could have done anything damaging.



Depending on how it's equipped, $35k for that truck is likely too much though, I'd put the value more towards $33k.



That said your rig isn't worth $20k or anywhere near (I almost bought a '99 for $14k and walked away) so maybe you should have taken it.



You should be able to buy a 2500 04. 5 for less than 30K now. Not sure why they still sell 2500's, no rear overloads available. Get a 3500!



SNOKING
 
Thanks for all your responses. My truck is a 24V. I like many others here on the TDR consider their trucks pristine. This truck has a $7K paint job on it, new brakes, ball joints, calipers, brake lines, fan clutch, a/c compressor, a/c dryer, XM raido, NICE toolbox, and on top of that I really try to take care of it, and treat it like it should be. I mean there has been no sled pulling, no drag racing, no off roading. Just town driving, and yes, mabye get on it to blow smoke some times. But, if you are interested contact me, or look in the readers rigs for some pics.



BTW, I talked to tommygun this morning, and he is willing to get me into an 05 with leather for somewhere around $33K. Think I am going to have to get rid of mine.
 
I work for the largest Dodge Dealer in the Midwest Region, and I think I can help you out. What constitutes a Demo is any vehicle with over 200 non trasnportation miles on it. Dealers do not have to offer a price decrease on a vehicle just because it is a demo, but will usually credit you about . 15 Cents per mile. Secondly, don't ever trade your truck to a dealer, the demand for the Diesel is strong enough you can sell it for what it is really worth. I recently took in an 03 Laramie with all the cool add ons, and gave the guy 30,400 for it, but caught hell from my boss about it. Truck had 32 thousand miles on it. Never think you can get a better deal at the end of the month as you can any other day. It is a sales ploy and the sense of urgency usually pitches you into taking something that is either not quite what you wanted or more than you wanted to spend. If you need any help, would be glad to give you the "Hidden Cost" or the actual dealer cost on any truck you want.

Houston Hightower
 
Ok what do you do when you get to test drive a vehicle with no sales person riding shotgun????



ease out of the parking lot get a few miles down the road and BEAT THE **** OUT OF IT! You want to know what it can do dont you? When I bought my 01 thats exactly what I did I didnt own it but I wanted to see what it could do! So I bought the truck with a little bit less tread on the rear tires but thats ok I enjoyed testing my new prized beauty!. Same goes for 2 -00's 2 -03 CTD's 1-03 hemi the hemi and 1 -03 ctd were demo's The hemi was pretty powerful and turned the tires over good but I just wanted to drive it knowing full well Id never buy one.



IMO dont ever buy a demo! those 200 miles arnt going to be from miss daisy driving it around!



Ian
 
Truth is, every car gets driven, and more than likely gets driven pretty hard. Any vehicle you drive with more than about 40 miles on it has probably been "Road Tested" pretty well.
 
Tim said:
Exactly, Tommygun is the man!!



Now guys, quit it, I cant read my monitor due to the monster tears i am shedding due to being liked :D (as I wipe my face with diesel soaked rag)







Well, at least tolerated... ... mostly :-laf :-laf
 
Tim said:
With 200 miles on it, I doubt they could have done anything damaging. QUOTE]



I could do a lot to a truck that was not mine and I did not have to worry about anything if I broke it :-laf Thats why I always get the Ins when I rent a car :D :D
 
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