Overhaulin'

Are car delears serious when they say they don't haggle prices on the Internet?

I just talked to a dealer about a car on AutoTrader. They said they don't negotiate car prices for cars listed on the Internet. Are they freaking serious?! Should I take their word? Or call them out on it nicely and try to haggle?

Public Comments

1. not wise to buy any car on an internet.
2. Since the internet is full of competition, most dealers post their absolute lowest price. You can try to haggle, but most of the time you'll get very little off. You called them because they showed an awesome price, they just don't have anything left.
3. Depends on the dealership. There are some dealerships that post their bottom line price of a car on the internet so you will actually look at that one car rather than skip to the next page and look at the other 386 honda civics posted on autotrader. I've never heard of a dealership that wont take a CONSIDERABLE( not ill give 10K for a 25K car) offer.
4. What they mean is they will not negotiate price over the phone or via email. They want you in the dealership. If you are a serious shopper and ready to buy you have to negotiate face to face. Why should they waste their time negotiating with a ghost on the phone. For all they know you're some under-aged kid with no money sitting in your mom's basement and they don't have that kind of time to waste. It's the only way they can separate the tire kickers and the serious buyers. If you want that car, visit the dealership and negotiate the price. Besides, how can you skip the test drive or the inspection and go straight to the negotiating table without even knowing if the car runs.
5. I am the internet sales manager at my store and I often have close to our best price on places like auto trader and cars.com. They can probably move some but dont be suprised if its not much and you have to really work to get it. Reason being is while your sitting there on your comp we have to give you a reason to call us and not the 48 other dealers your looking at right then, so usually we put a great price out there. Only time we dont is if its a car that stands out as being worth more.
6. Jay really hit the nail on the head. Most dealership who advertise on autotrader.com have to put their best foot forward because they need to be competitive. In fact, if you go to the dealership and compare the online price to the one in the window, you will find that more times than not, the window price is higher than the Internet price. Calling on the phone and haggling will typically be futile because until you are in the dealership, you are only a prospect. You will always get the best price when you are at the dealership ready to take the car home because you have the most leverage. Good luck and you have a couple good answers here.
7. I just bought a truck off a dealer on autotrader and they came down about 2k off the "lowest" price. I got them down 1k on the phone and another 1k when I showed up.