[PumaFiveOh]

Maybe someone here can help me figure this sh!t out. How the hell is it that all these dealers are offering cars on this site and others for lets say $500 dollars under invoice?? To me this means one of two things...

1.) They are BS'ing me and that is NOT the actual invoice of the car....that's an awesome buisness practice to lose money on every transaction!!

OR

2.) The kickback they get for volume sold and or financing the vehicle through NMCA (Nissan Motors Credit Corp) covers the loss.

Either way this doesn't make sense to me......I think someone is jacking us somewhere. If you buy in bulk like Costco and get rediculous wholesale prices...then that new price is concidered invoice, not what KBB says invoice is. Either way I think the $500 or whatever amount under invoice is a buncha BS, unless someone explains to me how this really works.

 

[BIGDADDY]

invoice is not what a dealer really pays for a car, they get dealer holdback after they sell it from the manufacturer, and on an armada is probably about 1500-2000, so they are still making roughly 1000 on it. its common pracice, and a really agressive dealer will sell it for 500 over real cost, after holdback.

 

[NorCalJay]

Ask for invoice, minus rebates, minus holdback.

You may have to pay a little more than that but they will know not to gouge you.

Best thing to do is to call & say you're on your way right now to purchase a different car & ask for their best deal.

Worked for me, but I wasn't lying...

Sorry...your question was how can they sell it under invoice? It's the holdback they get from the factory like the second poster said, which I think is 3%. I'm sure someone here knows for sure.

 

[greengoddess]

Or use their "internet" department and put your best deal on the table and see if they'll take it. We have found w/ our past 2 purchases that we got the best deal going through the internet dept. We first went through edmunds.com and got quotes through them and went from there. We got the Mada in July 04 for 5.5% under invoice & 0.9% financing (although we only ended up financing for about 6 months).

 

[PumaFiveOh]

Ask for invoice, minus rebates, minus holdback.

You may have to pay a little more than that but they will know not to gouge you.

Best thing to do is to call & say you're on your way right now to purchase a different car & ask for their best deal.

Worked for me, but I wasn't lying...

Sorry...your question was how can they sell it under invoice? It's the holdback they get from the factory like the second poster said, which I think is 3%. I'm sure someone here knows for sure.

Ahhh, very nice to know about the "HOLDBACK"! Plus they also make money on the Finance deal. (Kickback from bank/ NMAC)

 

[fridayspast]

A fair deal for everyone is $500 over invoice. However, you can most definitely get it for less. We just bought our 2006 a few weeks ago and did it all over the internet. The first quote from the dealer was $600 over invoice. I said find me the car I want and take off $500 and you have a deal. The next day he found the car and we agreed to $250 over invoice. It's a fair deal. Plus, $1500 rebate from factory...When you start nit-picking every dime, it get's a little stale, so just know what's a fair deal and live with it. Anytime you shell out $40k for a freakin' car, it hurts, but as long as you know it going in that you're not getting completely screwed, everyone wins...Good luck!

 

[armoody]

Or use their "internet" department and put your best deal on the table and see if they'll take it. We have found w/ our past 2 purchases that we got the best deal going through the internet dept. We first went through edmunds.com and got quotes through them and went from there. We got the Mada in July 04 for 5.5% under invoice & 0.9% financing (although we only ended up financing for about 6 months).

Weren't you able to get more than a .9% return somewhere? (EG, at a .9% cost of money, you should have been able to make more than that somewhere else with an investment - help offset the massive depretiation of a new vehicle)

 

[greengoddess]

Armoody - Our thinking (whether it's good or bad) was that we are more likely to keep our vehicles if they are paid off - we both tend to buy new vehicles every 2 years and keep going into them upside down! We believe this will work for us because we want to be debt free in 10 to 15 years and that is incentive to keep our vehicles for a long time and using the money we would be putting towards car payments to increase 401K and college savings for the kids. Hopefully it works out - we haven't seen a financial advisor and in retrospect we should have, but we did what we felt was best!

 

[92TripleBlack]

I got mine for $3k under sticker with 2% financing out the door when the '05s first came out. You should be able to do below invoice now before taxes and tags, and before rebates or low financing.

 

[FL_Crushin]

Depends on your financial attitude

Armoody - Our thinking (whether it's good or bad) was that we are more likely to keep our vehicles if they are paid off - we both tend to buy new vehicles every 2 years and keep going into them upside down! We believe this will work for us because we want to be debt free in 10 to 15 years and that is incentive to keep our vehicles for a long time and using the money we would be putting towards car payments to increase 401K and college savings for the kids. Hopefully it works out - we haven't seen a financial advisor and in retrospect we should have, but we did what we felt was best!

This situation can't be handled in one way. There are many answers to this scenario. If you pay off a vehicle then you have more disposable income to do with what you please. (hopefully not blow it like most would). But it can be used to either power down some more debt or invest or both. Debt free is where you want to be (with a little tax planning of course). Gives you more freedom flexibility and control of your lifestyle. Sure you could finance and invest, but I believe that would require exponentially more discipline to follow through for the next 5 years, not to mention the personal accountability to ensure all the money you 'made' on your investments went to paying down the principal on your loan. What are the chances. I think you are doing it the right way and I'm am a big investment guy but a bigger debt free living believer (now I just have to convince my wife).

 

[92TripleBlack]

This situation can't be handled in one way. There are many answers to this scenario. If you pay off a vehicle then you have more disposable income to do with what you please. (hopefully not blow it like most would). But it can be used to either power down some more debt or invest or both. Debt free is where you want to be (with a little tax planning of course). Gives you more freedom flexibility and control of your lifestyle. Sure you could finance and invest, but I believe that would require exponentially more discipline to follow through for the next 5 years, not to mention the personal accountability to ensure all the money you 'made' on your investments went to paying down the principal on your loan. What are the chances. I think you are doing it the right way and I'm am a big investment guy but a bigger debt free living believer (now I just have to convince my wife).

Good points.
I'm also an investment guy. I look at it this way. Inflation is 3.5% long term. Subtract this from your financing rate, and this is how much you will save by paying your loan off. EX. I have 2% financing. With inflation at 3.5% I make 1.5% a year by paying my payments and no more.

Another way to look at it. If you had $40k in cash. Put it in the market. Market historically makes 12% annually. Subtract 3.5% for inflation and you have 9.5% a year this would make. Your money doubles in 8 years or so. Now if you take money out for payments but leave the rest invested, you would have paid off the $40k loan and still have had $20k or so in the bank after 5 years. Sell the truck and you basically had it for free. The real cost is the lost upside. Basically your $40k didn't make any money and lost value due to inflation. You could have had $60k if you didn't buy, you have $40k if you did but invested instead of paying off early, or you have $20k if you pay off early because your money didn't work for you for 5 years.

But again, this takes discipline. You could go grab the money and say I'll pay the truck off with my paycheck and use the money to buy something else.

 

[FL_Crushin]

You feelin me

But again, this takes discipline. You could go grab the money and say I'll pay the truck off with my paycheck and use the money to buy something else.

Exactamundo. And how much discipline does the normal American human being have in our beloved country, not including the hard charging Devil Dogs (United States Marines) both active and former, that roam and protect our blessed earth, and the occassional anomoly civilian. My guess... Not enough to fill my Armada. Sooooo... For most debt free is the way to go (still takes a change of attitude and discipline). Can't win for losin'. That's why 97% of Americans die broke.

 

[armoody]

Debt is used to fund growth, that is why very few companies are debt free. Most consumers thought simply get in over their heads. When you use debt to fund capital aquisitions that provide higher cash flow that is one method to build wealth. Any debt is not with out risk of course. My only point is that .9% is a low enough interest rate that maybe I would have spend that money on some new rims and stereo equipment for Mada instead of paying off the car loan. Wait, I meant to say invest in some rental properties, not buy goodies for the Mada! (And there my friends is why most people do die broke!)

 

[FL_Crushin]

Amen

Debt is used to fund growth, that is why very few companies are debt free. Most consumers thought simply get in over their heads. When you use debt to fund capital aquisitions that provide higher cash flow that is one method to build wealth. Any debt is not with out risk of course. My only point is that .9% is a low enough interest rate that maybe I would have spend that money on some new rims and stereo equipment for Mada instead of paying off the car loan. Wait, I meant to say invest in some rental properties, not buy goodies for the Mada! (And there my friends is why most people do die broke!)

I completely agree. I love the fact that because I have good credit the bank will loan me money to cover 4 mortgages when I really can't afford it. But honestly most people's finances wouldn't allow them to leverage debt to creat any kind of wealth. Most don't have the financial aptitude to understand the concept anyway. I'm with you. If I had 0.9% financing, I would have leveraged the heck out of the loan, but that's me. I'd probably have gotten the 22's too. We all have weaknesses.

 

[greengoddess]

Soooo...does that mean I made a good decision or does that mean only time & discipline will tell??? Our discipline comes from knowing what we want to do in life...we married young (I was 19 he was 24) and had our first child young (I was 21 almost 22); we now have 3 children and have been married 14 years!! First and foremost, we want to make sure they get a college education and we want to be debt free and retire early so that we can really enjoy the rest of our lives together (traveling abroad, etc.) while we are still young enough to do that!

Now to really start investing better......

And speaking of that, I've been on a leave of absence from my job (for 2 years) but have decided that I will not be returning at all. What do I need to do with my 401K?

 

[wwjdwithca]

Maybe someone here can help me figure this sh!t out. How the hell is it that all these dealers are offering cars on this site and others for lets say $500 dollars under invoice?? To me this means one of two things...

1.) They are BS'ing me and that is NOT the actual invoice of the car....that's an awesome buisness practice to lose money on every transaction!!

OR

2.) The kickback they get for volume sold and or financing the vehicle through NMCA (Nissan Motors Credit Corp) covers the loss.

Either way this doesn't make sense to me......I think someone is jacking us somewhere. If you buy in bulk like Costco and get rediculous wholesale prices...then that new price is concidered invoice, not what KBB says invoice is. Either way I think the $500 or whatever amount under invoice is a buncha BS, unless someone explains to me how this really works.

The answer is that most people on internet forums lie about how much they paid for their vehicles. One guy on this site said he paid $7k under MSRP! Holdback? Good bargaining technique? How about a flat lie? How about the idea that everyone is so afraid they paid too much that they undercut their purchase price by 3-5k to make sure they don't look stupid?

 

[armoody]

Soooo...does that mean I made a good decision or does that mean only time & discipline will tell??? Our discipline comes from knowing what we want to do in life...we married young (I was 19 he was 24) and had our first child young (I was 21 almost 22); we now have 3 children and have been married 14 years!! First and foremost, we want to make sure they get a college education and we want to be debt free and retire early so that we can really enjoy the rest of our lives together (traveling abroad, etc.) while we are still young enough to do that!

Now to really start investing better......

And speaking of that, I've been on a leave of absence from my job (for 2 years) but have decided that I will not be returning at all. What do I need to do with my 401K?

1) Yes, a good decision for you. As everyone is noting what is right for each person varies.
2) Roll your 401K into an IRA and don't touch it until you're 59, at least.
3) If your husband has his own business, talk to your accountant about adding you to the payroll as a board member or something and then you can get paid for that

 

[greengoddess]

Should I put it in a regular IRA or Roth IRA?

We actually just opened our own business a few months ago and it is just getting up and running. It was a hobby turned into business so we're taking it slow. He is still full time at his regular job.

We are actually thinking we should turn the business over to me so we can be a DBE or MBE (I think that's right) and attempt to get some government contracts.

 

[ggeorgie]

Should I put it in a regular IRA or Roth IRA?

We actually just opened our own business a few months ago and it is just getting up and running. It was a hobby turned into business so we're taking it slow. He is still full time at his regular job.

We are actually thinking we should turn the business over to me so we can be a DBE or MBE (I think that's right) and attempt to get some government contracts.

you mean DBA?, what kind Businessis it if you don't mind me asking

 

[armoody]

you mean DBA?, what kind Businessis it if you don't mind me asking

WBE=Women Business Enterprises
MBE=Minority Business Enterprises
Government attempt to get more businesses owned by women and minorities government contracts even if they aren't the low bidders by requiring a certain percentage of the cost of a Government job be awarded to MBE's and WBE's
This has been around a long time. That is why contractors have their wives own 51% of the business, all of a sudden they don't need to be low bidder and they qualify for WBE status on government contracts.
General contractors, needing to meet the WBE/MBE % requirements then award work to WBE or MBE companies even if they aren't low bidders. Another way our government works to figure out how to make everything cost more than it should.