Understanding The New Car Invoice Cost

Posted in by admin on January 9th, 2012

When dealerships purchase new cars from the manufacturers, they pay the new car invoice price, then they mark up the price to somewhere around the sticker price when reselling to the public. This is why smart shoppers learn the new car invoice prices before negotiating with dealers, to make sure they are buying at rock bottom prices. This actual figure seems to be quite mystical to the general public as well as to employees of the dealership. Only the owners really know exactly what they paid for each vehicle at the wholesale level. However, when shopping around for the best deal, we find that one dealership may quote a particular price, then a completely different price will be quoted at the next dealer. To begin with, every dealer pays the same amount to the manufacturer for the same vehicle. The numbers change with the added charges and fees that are tacked on to each dealer, like delivery fees and transportation charges, all of which increase the invoice price. No matter where the dealership is located with regards to distance from the manufacturer, each one pays the same amount for delivery. These fees are simply added on at the retail level. An interesting fact is that most dealers will order vehicles from the manufacturer with borrowed funds whereby they are responsible to pay interest on those loans.
Floorplan is the term used in the industry to describe such financing to dealers. If a vehicle sells quickly, there will be less interest to pay, thereby reducing expenses so the dealer makes a bigger profit. What is commonly referred to as holdback is where the dealer gets a rebate from the manufacturer after the vehicle sells. Advertising on a regional or individual basis could also be a factor in increasing the wholesale cost which will affect the consumer at the point of purchase. That being said, it is time to do some calculations and discover one or more ways to end up with a new car but at a discounted price below wholesale. One way to do that is through taking advantage of slow car sales where there is a buildup of inventory on a lot. It certainly is not the ideal situation, for both the dealers and the automobile manufacturing company. If there is an abundance of inventory on a lot, the dealer simply won’t order more vehicles. When this situation occurs, the automakers will offer incentives. Look out for these sales that offer zero percent financing or large rebates. Before making a move, do the calculations to figure out exactly how much you will be saving. It is important to explain that consumers must be reasonable when expecting to purchase below the invoice price. If there is no help coming from the manufacturer, it just isn’t possible because this really is a combined effort. Consumers who miss out on a temporary incentive should know that these programs are often followed by new programs that might be even better.