Hello Tony

I actually have two questions for you that I was wondering if you could possibly help me with.

My first question is as follows:

• I am wondering what would be considered a "fair" offer that I could make to a salesman for a Cadillac Escalade? The scenario is like this; the vehicle has an Invoice/Wholesale Price of $52,175 and a MSRP of $56,405. With all of the extra options, it then has an Invoice Price of $59,545.40 and a MSRP of $66,160.

  Calculating the 3% Factory Holdback off of the MSRP of $66,160 is $1,984.80. If you then subtract this from the Total Base Vehicle Price of $59,545.40, it then leaves you with the "Dealers Total Cost" of the vehicle, which is $57,560.60

  My question is how much above & beyond (if any) of $57,560.60 should I offer to the dealer? Note: there are no factory to dealer incentives and no consumer rebates on this vehicle as of yet as well. Nor will I be trading in a vehicle.

• My other question is this: I will be special ordering this vehicle and seeing, as there is no factory to dealer incentives or consumer rebates; would I be eligible for either of them if there were to be some between the date I order the vehicle and the date I pick it up?

Thank you very much, and any information that you can provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

James from Boston, Massachusetts

Answer:

Hi James,

First of all James it is very unlikely the dealer will negotiate any of the dealer holdback. This is usually off limits in most cases.

If you offer them 2% to 3% over invoice you'll be getting a pretty fair deal and they should be able to live with it.

You can make them a ridiculously low offer and see what they come back with. Go through this cycle several times and the dealer will let you know when they can't go any lower. To make this work you have to be hard nosed with them and you can't let them side track you into negotiating payments or trade-in value. Threaten to walk out a few times. This will let you know what the dealer's bottom line really is on the deal.

You can also go through the same process with another Cadillac dealer and compare deals. Play them against each other. In the end however, you'll probably end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 2% to 3% over invoice without getting into the dealer holdback.

As for your second question: You should be eligible for whatever incentives are in place when you actually take delivery of the vehicle, not when you order it.

Good luck James . . . and all my very best to you . . .

Tony Iorio