Belt Auction

what's the difference between the website and dealership?

I just posted on here about buying a Kia Soul, i'm pretty sure at this point i will get one. Here's the issue, i've always bought used cars, through private sales or auctions, this will be my first time buying a new new car from a dealership and over this last year i've been doing a lot of research on cars i'm interested in for safety, fuel economy and cost. So i've gone to many manufacturer website where you can "build your car" with the "payment estimator" You have to key in your zip code so my question is ...i did this at Kia's website for the Soul, when i was done and it asked to "find my car" it located a local kia dealership which had the souls marked up another 3-4k$. Is that normal and how should i go about getting the price that was estimated online? I love YAHOO ANSWERS!! :) Thanks everyone

Public Comments

1. You have to keep in mind that when you build a car on their website, the price is for that particular car. It might be that the dealer didn't have the exact one you built and gave the closest matches. Also, price will vary from region to region for fees, shipping, tax, etc. I would suggest ignoring the manufacturers website and going directly to the dealer and buying a car off the lot when they have a special deal on them. It's cheaper than getting one custom (there won't be discounts on that) and they should have specials every month
2. Was the price on the web site an invoice price or a MSRP price? You will find that many times the MSRP will be higher than the dealer. Dealers have all kinds of mark ups that they add to the cars. Dealer prep, delivery, advertising and the list goes on. The cars on the lot don't actually belong to the dealer, they belong to the manufacturer, but the dealer has to pay the manufacturer a fee for them to sit there. A lot of dealer mark up is just plain bogus BS, but there are some legitimate mark ups. The best thing to do is have the money in hand or be pre approved for credit before you talk to the dealer. Find out what the invoice price of the car is and the actual MSRP (manufacturers suggested retail price), Then you walk into the dealer and listen to their schpeal and let them offer you a price. Tell them you'll think about it and leave. Then come back in an hour or so and make them a counter offer. Make them a reasonable offer somewhere between the invoice price and the MSRP. They are in business to make money, so unless there is some manufacturers incentives to the dealer, they aren't going to take anything real close to the invoice price. Be ready to walk out if they aren't willing to deal. They will most likely make you another counter offer and say that's as lowe as they can go. That's when you raise your offer just slightly and tell them that's the best you can do. BE READY TO WALK OUT. The dealer may show you their "actual factory invoice". That's BS, they will never show you their actual factory invoice. They will show you what they printed on their own computer. www.edmunds.com is where you can find out the actual invoice price and MSRP. www.kbb.com will also give you a good idea of the actual price. On HOT selling cars, the dealer may not budge at all, but I can't imagine a KIA Soul being a HOT selling car.
3. Dealers can charge whatever they want for a car. Print out the payment estimator results from the Kia site and take it to the local dealer and say you want the price you printed out. They'll negotiate with you.