Letter from Dealer Wanting to Buy Back my Pathy

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gilliam433
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Letter from Dealer Wanting to Buy Back my Pathy

Postby gilliam433 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:37 pm

Hey guys,
Just seeing if anyone else gets these letters. Its from my local dealer saying they are low on used inventory and want me to bring my car in for a free quote. I emailed the guy today and told him the only way I'd be interested is if I got something newer (not new, just newer than 06') with the same mileage or lower, and kept the same monthly payment. He told me to bring it in and they'd see what they can do.

Am I wasting my time by doing this or is it worth just going to see what they have to offer.

Thanks!


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MonkeyMike
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Postby MonkeyMike » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:46 pm

you're wasting your time. they send those to everyone. they want you to come in and trade in your truck and buy a new one. you will not come out ahead in the deal.

~mike

gilliam433
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Postby gilliam433 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:47 pm

Cool. Thats kinda what I was thinking. I figured some of you have been around that block a time or two before. Thanks for the advice!

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volvite
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Postby volvite » Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:01 pm

Never heard of that tactic before. Did you buy your pathfinder brand new or used? Is the letter from the same dealer you bought the Pathfinder from? I know there is a used car shortage. With the bad economy, more people kept their used vehicles longer.

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dawgn86
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Re: Letter from Dealer Wanting to Buy Back my Pathy

Postby dawgn86 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:19 pm

gilliam433 wrote:Hey guys,
Just seeing if anyone else gets these letters. Its from my local dealer saying they are low on used inventory and want me to bring my car in for a free quote. I emailed the guy today and told him the only way I'd be interested is if I got something newer (not new, just newer than 06') with the same mileage or lower, and kept the same monthly payment. He told me to bring it in and they'd see what they can do.

Am I wasting my time by doing this or is it worth just going to see what they have to offer.

Thanks!
I got one saying exact same thing

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Postby skinny2 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:11 pm

volvite wrote:Never heard of that tactic before. Did you buy your pathfinder brand new or used? Is the letter from the same dealer you bought the Pathfinder from? I know there is a used car shortage. With the bad economy, more people kept their used vehicles longer.
It's very common and been going on for years. My family owned dealerships until the mid-90's. You could pay a promotional/marketing company to send these letters out using the DMV database for your brand of vehicles. Anything to get someone in the door because people make really dumb decisions once they're there.

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kelleyo
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Postby kelleyo » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:03 pm

If you go to the stealer after a letter like that you might as well bend over and spread em. Bring the vasoline...

Frozen
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Postby Frozen » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:21 pm

I was just at the dealer getting a oil changer and canceling my service plan. The finance lady said they really needed trucks just like mine. I said ok great write me a check today for it. Needless to say I didn't walk out with a check, I drove my truck home lol.

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Postby skinny2 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:39 pm

You gotta admit...there's a psychological boost there. That promotion is one of the more successful you see.

Of course even if the dealer DID need your vehicle the chances of you being happy with the offer are pretty slim. The dealer can go to an auction and buy these and I know about how much they bring. I wouldn't sell mine for what that number.

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mar1
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Postby mar1 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:54 am

dude. just take it in, you'll get a free full car inspection :P

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hfrez
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Postby hfrez » Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:00 am

Since we are talking about sales tactics here is a buyer’s tactic. I bought mine last year in September. I went in on the 29th and the dealer was 11 cars short of his 2nd stage quota for the month of September. Nissan will pay the dealers $200 back per vehicle sold if they reach their first stage quota and $600 if they reach their second stage quota. So it makes sense for a dealer to give you what they call a "shit deal" because they actually lose money on the sale but make a lot of money on Nissan's pay back program. So I was able to get my 2011 SV Pathy for only $27,300 (down from a sticker price of $33,200). I also shopped other Nissan dealers in the area to see who would bite with the best price. I tried five dealers and three underbid each other several times to get to my price. In the end I went with the local dealer.

Hint: don’t ever deal with a sales rep in terms of monthly payment but in actual purchase price. Worry about the financing and payments after you set the purchase price. Too many people get screwed by the numbers game because a monthly payment does not reflect the best possible price.

Consumers just need to be more aware of what they are buying. Research is a must and willingness to do a lot of work to get what you want. I saved $5,900 for few hours of work and phone calls. I think that was worth it.
:D

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NVSteve
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Postby NVSteve » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:25 am

hfrez wrote: Hint: don’t ever deal with a sales rep in terms of monthly payment but in actual purchase price. Worry about the financing and payments after you set the purchase price. Too many people get screwed by the numbers game because a monthly payment does not reflect the best possible price.
I get pissed and sad every time I happen to be in the dealership for an oil change or whatever, and I can overhear a salesman speaking to a potential buyer about monthly payments. For some people, that's the only way they can operate because of limited finances. For most people, or at least I would think most, you may as well shoot yourself in the foot if you talk monthly payments. I always tell them to "stop right there-I could care less about monthly payments. I want to know if my offer for the total price of the vehicle will be accepted, nothing more." There are tools out there which will allow one to find the exact cost the dealer pays to Nissan for a vehicle, which really makes the process (aka the douchebag salesman game) a bit easier to swallow.

The used car market prices keep increasing, so it really isn't a bad tactic on the dealer's part. It's a bit of a win-win for both parties because a higher price can be offered to the customer, along with a higher profit margin for the dealer when they turn around and sell it.

Personally, I get 2-3 of these letters each month & have so for the last 1.5-2 years. I've thought about it, but I just wouldn't be getting anything different than what I already have, aside from a cleaner odometer. Besides, if someone twisted my arm and forced me to do this, I would have to special order an Xterra because they will not have what I want on their lot. The whole point is to move the inventory they have, so I doubt they would deal much with me anyway.

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hfrez
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Postby hfrez » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:47 am

NVSteve wrote: Personally, I get 2-3 of these letters each month & have so for the last 1.5-2 years. I've thought about it, but I just wouldn't be getting anything different than what I already have, aside from a cleaner odometer. Besides, if someone twisted my arm and forced me to do this, I would have to special order an Xterra because they will not have what I want on their lot. The whole point is to move the inventory they have, so I doubt they would deal much with me anyway.
Actually, my vehicle was not on their lot either but the dealer has the option to contact other dealers for inventory. Mine was delivered the next day at no extra charge. All they did was send a guy with one of their vehicles across the state and picked up the one I wanted.

Of course, I told the sales person what I was exactly looking for and I would not be interested in buying anything esle (eventhough he tried a few times to sell me a different package) but I was stern. And rather then letting you walk off the lot they will do what it takes. Again, they were motivated and went the extra mile to get it done.

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phrozeinglass
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Postby phrozeinglass » Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:06 am

Haha I don't know what letter you got but mine was the handwritten looking one with a smiley face on it.

No I actually got a letter from a dealership closer to me than where I actually purchased my car.

I called the number on the bottom, spoke to some guy, he said he wanted my car and if I brought it in he'd take mine and give me a new one. I said sure I'll take a blue GTR (with the intent of selling it and buying several Nissans) He laughed, assured me thats not how it works, said I could buy a new Pathy though and trade mine in... so I played dumb and continued to mess with him until I didn't feel so angry about getting that stupid letter. I am just glad he didn't try to sell me a 2013 (preorder)... would have ran him over with my '05 :)

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gond34
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Postby gond34 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:55 pm

My Pathfinder was the first time I had conducted a lot of research on buying a car and it really paid off. I agree, don't talk monthly payment... initially. I went in with a fair overall price that I knew I should pay for the car and, after doing a bit of yee-hawing with the salesman, I got the dealer to agree on that price (at this point I had already told him I didn't think I was going to trade in my current car, but that I was going to keep it as a commuting car). After that came the financing... I knew I had a great credit rating, and basically knew what the best offer in the area was for financing. Surprisingly, he came back lower than what I thought I could get... But I ended up haggling with him anyway and shaved another .2% off. When we agreed to that, he said he'd get the paperwork ready, at which time I told him, "ya know, on second thought, I think I will trade in my current car and put an additional 6k with it. Just to make things easy, I happen to have a printout right here stating the Blue Book value of my current car." That's when I knew I pissed him off, because all of a sudden you could see the fire in his eyes and he started stuttering. He just looked at me and said, "I'll be back with the paperwork." About 10 minutes later he came back, and starting the B.S. "line item breakdown" which had an additional $100 "documentation fee" that I saw he snuck in there. By now my monthly payments that he had calculated were within $2 of my wife's brand new Mariner, so I pushed him again and told him that there was no way my wife was going to let my payments on a used car be more than on her brand new vehicle (I left out the part that she got 0% financing)... He then asked me what her payments were and I KNEW I had him... he was defintiely ready to get me out of the dealership... I ended up telling him her payments were $23.xx less per month over 60 months. He then went back to his manager who proceeded to call the bank and keep me waiting for another 25 minutes... but came back with a monthly payment $27 less than the previous proposed payment (same # payments), effectively saving me another $1600. I ended up getting the car for a LOT less than what they had it marked at, with the number of payments I was looking for, got better than I expected financing, got exactly what I wanted for my trade, and had a fairly pissed off salesman... All in all, not a bad's day work! :twisted:


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