Negotiations??

[Beagledoc]

Question regarding negotiating price on the smart car - anyone ever find some wiggle room?? On previous visits with my truly delightful dealer, Alan, I have been told margin is so low on Smart car that price is absolutely "non negotiable." I could get that facing my original 16 month wait. But...I got a call for a second Orphan and now that economy is tenuous, our employment situations are tenuous, personal finances have changed, etc, etc... and the lot seems to be full of Orphans.... wondering if I could I save a little so I can afford some Blizzak winter tires

[babybenz]

Give it a try and let us know your outcome. Whats the worst they can say NO. Go for it!

[Wdhitch]

You can try to negotiate but I've seen the actual figures and for what the dealer makes off the car you won't get very far... but like BB said... all they can say is no.

[rwcmick]

yeah, what they said. you've got 0 to lose and everything to gain. if they won't take money off, maybe they'd be willing to throw in some accessories or an oil change? at least they won't laugh you out of the showroom like they would have earlier this year. just be sure to tell us how it went!

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by Beagledoc

I got a call for a second Orphan and now that economy is tenuous, our employment situations are tenuous, personal finances have changed, etc, etc... and the lot seems to be full of Orphans.... wondering if I could I save a little so I can afford some Blizzak winter tires

I'm thinking along similar lines - sales have to have slowed given Chicago's recent weather, and a Smart on winter tires would have to be better than my M Coupe (err, still on Pirelli PS2s). What dealer has cars on the lot now? I was going to swing by Loeber tomorrow...

[SuperGeek]

You might score Blizzaks if they're really hurting but remember no dealer gets more than about a grand profit on the factory configured cars... they're just too inexpensive. A few hundred discount maybe... more likely if they swap out existing inventory since they're still trying to sell the tires too and don't have to go out and buy more necessarily (i.e. they bought 100 tires and there's now only demand for 50).

[Old Panda]

Up until now, the word "negotiation" on a smart car forum just had no place.

But with the economy the way it is, ya just never know. My guess is they still have a list for 'orphans' so probably no wiggle room, but hey.....ya can always ask for a FREE HAT!

[Beagledoc]

Well visited dealership and they have loads of orphans. Will sell to people now off the street - you don't have to be on the Orphan list right now with the extra Smarts they have until they are all gone. Still no deals at all though. I said yes to the beautiful black Cabrio. We tooled around the parking lot thru the ice and snow and could not skid or slide to save my life. It did great! (I am still ordering Blizzaks tonite) Going to pick her up Friday afternoon after I print out pick up checklist on the forum here - thank you to everyone who got theirs before me!!)

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by Beagledoc

Well visited dealership and they have loads of orphans....I said yes to the beautiful black Cabrio.

Congrats on the new car. I didn't make it today due to the weather, but tomorrow is supposed to be nicer. Hopefully I'll have similar luck finding one. Really, I'd like a black Passion coupe with heated seats - beyond that, I'm not picky.

[buellwinkle]

They had abundant orphans for quite a while now, even during the summer but never heard that they would deal on price. Think of it this way, you are saving money over the price increase next week.