Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Hey Gary.
I saw your post, have not had time to be on the internet until now. When I bought my truck (Feb 06) there were not many with 6-speeds available at the time in my New Mexico dealerships. In fact there were not many in Texas or Arizona either. I really did not want to buy out-of-state because that would have been difficult for me to manage the travel, etc. I did contact all the dealers here in NM and had them provide me with truck info, price, etc via the internet. I spoke with all the different dealerhips on the phone as well. All of them were in the same basic ballpark price wise, all of them offered the same discounts, so the margin of difference was not really a big number and the 6-speeds were few and far between so no one was really interested in giving any BIG deals unless it was an automatic, something I did not want and they were overloaded with them everywhere. I purchased a Jeep TJ Sahara a few years ago from one of them, got a decent price, was a satisfied customer, actually have never needed to return for any warranty work with the Jeep. While I was mulling over all the prices, options, 'deals' each of them had proposed to me, I decided to return to the dealership where I purchased my Jeep. I have a Dodge dealership about 30 mins from my home, but the dealership I bought my Jeep and the truck from was a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive. So, I made plans to go there several days later to buy the truck. I was dealing with a different salesman, the salesman I had with the Jeep was no longer employed there. As we were going over all the sales contract stuff the owner of the dealership popped his head into the cubicle and welcomed me back to his dealership. As the conversation continued between this fellow and I, he picked up the paperwork and started looking it over. He looked at my salesman and asked him if he knew where I purchased the Jeep we drove into the dealership - of course the salesman did not and I had not mentioned the previous purchase to him - he then instructed the salesman to give me a $2,500 ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT because I was a repeat customer to the dealership PLUS he also threw in a couple extra goodies in aftermarket stuff as part of the deal at no additional cost. All I can say is MANNA, what an unexpected suprise. I learned from the salesman that most dealerships knock off something for repeat business, but this amount and the goodies was not the normal something, believe me when I say MANNA.
I have not returned to where I bought the truck for warranty work, I took my truck to the closest dealership 30 mins away. The first time I was there one of the salesmen that I had gotten a sales bid from approached me and asked where I finally ended up getting my truck, I told him. He went on to say that if I had come back with the other dealers bid, they would have matched it and made the deal a little sweeter - so I showed him my purchase paperwork - he was floored at what I paid and told me that I got the best deal he had ever seen. AND GUESS WHAT - I did not play the negotiation game, I just went after what I thought was a fair bid from a reputable, good dealership, who in the end gave me an even better deal without coersion from me regarding the price.
I was eligible for several discounts because I was purchasing my first Dodge truck, have several college degrees (of which each of them get a discount amount that does add up), am a self-employed person, and best of all a repeat customer. It amazes me that the owner recognized me and went out of his was to say hello. I had not met him when I bought the Jeep.
CD
I saw your post, have not had time to be on the internet until now. When I bought my truck (Feb 06) there were not many with 6-speeds available at the time in my New Mexico dealerships. In fact there were not many in Texas or Arizona either. I really did not want to buy out-of-state because that would have been difficult for me to manage the travel, etc. I did contact all the dealers here in NM and had them provide me with truck info, price, etc via the internet. I spoke with all the different dealerhips on the phone as well. All of them were in the same basic ballpark price wise, all of them offered the same discounts, so the margin of difference was not really a big number and the 6-speeds were few and far between so no one was really interested in giving any BIG deals unless it was an automatic, something I did not want and they were overloaded with them everywhere. I purchased a Jeep TJ Sahara a few years ago from one of them, got a decent price, was a satisfied customer, actually have never needed to return for any warranty work with the Jeep. While I was mulling over all the prices, options, 'deals' each of them had proposed to me, I decided to return to the dealership where I purchased my Jeep. I have a Dodge dealership about 30 mins from my home, but the dealership I bought my Jeep and the truck from was a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive. So, I made plans to go there several days later to buy the truck. I was dealing with a different salesman, the salesman I had with the Jeep was no longer employed there. As we were going over all the sales contract stuff the owner of the dealership popped his head into the cubicle and welcomed me back to his dealership. As the conversation continued between this fellow and I, he picked up the paperwork and started looking it over. He looked at my salesman and asked him if he knew where I purchased the Jeep we drove into the dealership - of course the salesman did not and I had not mentioned the previous purchase to him - he then instructed the salesman to give me a $2,500 ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT because I was a repeat customer to the dealership PLUS he also threw in a couple extra goodies in aftermarket stuff as part of the deal at no additional cost. All I can say is MANNA, what an unexpected suprise. I learned from the salesman that most dealerships knock off something for repeat business, but this amount and the goodies was not the normal something, believe me when I say MANNA.
I have not returned to where I bought the truck for warranty work, I took my truck to the closest dealership 30 mins away. The first time I was there one of the salesmen that I had gotten a sales bid from approached me and asked where I finally ended up getting my truck, I told him. He went on to say that if I had come back with the other dealers bid, they would have matched it and made the deal a little sweeter - so I showed him my purchase paperwork - he was floored at what I paid and told me that I got the best deal he had ever seen. AND GUESS WHAT - I did not play the negotiation game, I just went after what I thought was a fair bid from a reputable, good dealership, who in the end gave me an even better deal without coersion from me regarding the price.
I was eligible for several discounts because I was purchasing my first Dodge truck, have several college degrees (of which each of them get a discount amount that does add up), am a self-employed person, and best of all a repeat customer. It amazes me that the owner recognized me and went out of his was to say hello. I had not met him when I bought the Jeep.
CD
