better price online or in person?

[PRND[S]]

From https://help.edmunds.com/entries/23852383-Invoice-Price-or-Dealer-Cost-

Invoice Price (or "Dealer Cost")

Invoice price (sometimes referred to as "dealer cost") is the price that appears on the invoice that the manufacturer sends to the dealer when the dealer receives a car from the factory.

Please note, however, that this price is almost always higher than the amount the dealer actually ends up paying to the manufacturer. This results from a variety of discounts offered to the dealer that do not appear on the invoice. The two most common discounts are Dealer Holdback and Dealer Cash Incentives, and there are others that may be based on factors such as a dealer's sales volume for a particular month.

Also note that the invoice price does not reflect any manufacturer-to-consumer rebates, the destination charge or the tax, title, license, advertising or registration fees. For more on such fees, please see What Fees Should You Pay?

Sometimes the amount quoted as the invoice price includes the destination charge and sometimes it does not, so look closely. On Edmunds.com, we always make that clear.

In the end, determining a dealer's actual net cost is difficult even for seasoned automotive insiders. This is why we developed the True Market Value pricing system, which is our determination of what other consumers are actually paying for a vehicle. TMV accounts for the effect of all of the manufacturer's extra charges as well as the dealer's hidden subsidies, and we believe it is the most important price to know when negotiating your purchase.

 

[RoyB2]

Dealer an hour away wants 500 under sticker and between 17-19K for trade. May go take a look and see if they want to get closer to 38K

 

[ick]

$500 under dealer invoice is what I paid for my car. I also helped negotiate that deal for 7 others. Believe it or not that is entirely up to you, but I know of at least 5 others that are believers. (The last guy backed out of the deal and that car was marked up $5,000 over MSRP and sold.) It was a combination of emails, phone calls and one particularly interesting discussion with a sales manager that made it all happen.

 

[RoyB2]

Dang. I need to move to the whales vagina, CA!. Really hate to make the hour trip for them to not move. The fact that they moved a little is promising though. They 19K for my car is more than private party sale if they actually give me. I Was expecting 17K on the high side.

 

[RoyB2]

Just test drove an R at the local dealership. Told the guy I rather work the numbers first, but I think he really wanted to go for a ride. Already had 60 miles on it so people were obviously out driving it around already.

The best part, they had a $3,000 "market adjustment" sticker on it lol.

At the end, I only got offered 18K for my trade which is fine, but they would not come off sticker. at-all. They told me they have a line of people that want to buy it, yet 6 people have test driven it and either a) didn't qualify b) didn't buy it.

So out I walked.

 

[elmagoo]

It's definitely based on location whether you'll pay MSRP. Be lucky you don't live in Los Angeles, dealers know that there's many people with more money than brains out here and will add markups all the time (Priuses were going for $5k over MSRP when they first came out, Audi A5's were as well at some dealerships).

I got lucky and found a dealership that let one go for "only" $500 over MSRP (and later his boss chewed him out because it was supposed to be no less than $1800 over?!?!). The Van Nuys dealership is asking $10,000 over MSRP, and most others are around $4000 - $5000 over MSRP. Usually it's only certain dealerships that pull this crap (*cough* Santa Monica Audi / VW *cough*), but due to the rarity and demand of this car every VW dealership that has an R is doing it. As of last Friday when I bought mine there were 6 cars within a 40 mile radius of LA.

Personally it irks me that the manufacturers allow dealerships to do this as it's utter bollocks!

 

[RoyB2]

Well I was just about to pull the trigger on one locally (an hour away) that I have been emailing for a couple days. They were $750 under sticker and excellent condition trade-in. I waited too long and someone put a deposit on it and bought it. A dealer a couple hours away got back to me that they had one. We worked a deal over the phone, roughly 1000 under MSRP. These cars don't stay on the lot more than a day here. Unfourtantly my sanity is worth more than the $500 I maybe could have save had I shopped around more. I don't have that kind of time and I have been a basket case emailing and calling dealers. I put a deposit down and will drive down thursday. I am at 22K miles. The car value drops at 25K miles. If I wait another month or 2 my trade in would then be worth less. Damn VW for not making enough of them at once.

 

[Mark V1]

Thanks for the answers re 'invoice' - there's nothing to compare to that in the UK! We have no idea what the dealer pays VW for the car....

 

[dbtk]

Newbie here. I paid $38,437 plus $166 for the three year maintenance for a 2015 R with DCC and Nav. Trunk mat thrown in. I get the car on Thursday.

 

[Rob Daman]

I learned my lesson to get the best price in writing then verify it twice.

There are some dealers that try to make you feel guilty like you're ripping them off. The truth is they'll never sell you a car unless they're is profit some way or another.

 

[GolfRBlue]

I definitely agree with many in that the price of a 2015 R US model depends greatly on location!

There were two Mk7 Golf R's in the showroom of the dealership that I purchased mine about 6 weeks ago. There weren't any other Mk7 R's within 300 miles of my location!

After negotiating the trade value of my Mk6 Golf R, I drove away with a new Mk7 Golf R at MSRP ($39,900) and was honestly okay with the price because I knew that I wanted this car!

The Black Mk7 Golf R at the same dealership sold the next week! The sticker price on that one was ridiculous....$46k! I doubt they got anything near that, but I bet they got more than what I paid for mine because it was the only new Mk7 Golf R at any dealership within a 300 mile radius.

So many people seem to choke on the typical $40k price of a US Mk7 Golf R, but in my opinion, I think I have gotten a much better "bang for the buck" with this car than any other "sporty cars" that I have previously purchased by other manufacturers!
I am absolutely loving my new R! It is perfect for me.....

 

[RoyB2]

Dang old thread. I ended up going down and picking the car up like I said. Transaction went very smooth. At the end of the day, I had gotten excellent trade-in on my car and $38,500 (+/- 100 bucks, can't remember now). The whole deal was over the phone so they took my word on the condition of my car. Had I brought it there and they looked it over first I probably could had gotten a little better but they were taking a gamble on car.

Very happy with the purchase.

 

[vegasgolds]

For anyone looking to get a 16 R and want it at invoice price. Pm me and I can give you the details. It's in Idaho, and they won't give you this price unless you pm me