12-13% off MSRP before rebates

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kltk1

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OK, hoping folks could help out here. I learned something the other day I wasn't aware of. I was looking at a vehicle in North Carolina. They have a $2000 southeast rebate, whereas where I live in the northeast it's only $1000. Or something on that order, my numbers may be a bit skewed. In the end the southeast rebate was about $1000 more than the northeast. Meaning, if I buy the NC vehicle, northeast rebates would apply as I'm not a southeast resident.

All that said, the discounted price on a truck here was MSRP minus 12.7% BEFORE rebates. The southeast vehicle coming in at a 12% discount, and I'm sure if I pushed a bit the southeast dealer would have met the 12.7%. My question is, I see a lot of people mentioning they were able to get 20%, or more, off of MSRP. I can only assume that 20% includes all rebates. Can anyone confirm 12-13% off BEFORE rebates the norm? Because rebates fluctuate so much between regions it's hard to compare apples to apples with the differences in rebates. Thank you.

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huntergreen

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just bought mine last weekend. the 20% was an october thing, but i still got a few 20% plus a few rebates. turns out the 3 trucks i was looking at each had different rebates. even the sales guy was surprised. bottom line, on a 16, you should get at least 20% off.
 

clh1220

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I got right at 25% off my laramie , the end of oct. That included all rebates. I bought it in Arkansas and they used my zip in missouri for my price.
 
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kltk1

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Thanks guys. I understand folks are getting 20% WITH rebates, I'm trying to determine what folks are getting BEFORE rebates. As noted, southeast rebates are higher than northeast rebates. That effects what people are paying OTD. Do you know what the selling price was BEFORE rebates were applied? Thank you...
 
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tojo

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I bought a 16 in April with a 6.4 Hemi...Now rethinking about getting a 16 "leftover" with a Cummins...I'm interested in info here
 

reek

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probably not a helpful post but my goal was the 'total off' price regardless of rebates when I went to buy my 2500. I wanted 20% off, didn't matter how, saved me on some heartburn trying to all the calculations. I know there was a rebate involved but don't remember how much. It didn't matter to if the dealer kept it as long as I got what I wanted. and the dealer still made some money I'm sure. In the end I got about 22% off total. had to calculate for plane ticket ($100) to Dennis Dillon but even so, I was happy. No one locally could even come close and travel time for me wasn't a factor, I have family in Idaho.

Not here to tell you what to do but you might consider an end goal/price/%off rather than focusing on the fine details of how you got there. money is precious but then again, I'm just old fat and lazy and maybe took the easy route.

good luck, hope someone else has a more specific answer for you.
 

huntergreen

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Thanks guys. I understand folks are getting 20% WITH rebates, I'm trying to determine what folks are getting BEFORE rebates. As noted, southeast rebates are higher than northeast rebates. That effects what people are paying OTD. Do you know what the selling price was BEFORE rebates were applied? Thank you...

guess i didnt post clearly, i bought my truck the first weekend of nov and got 20% off plus a few rebates.
 
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kltk1

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I think the two posts above are good examples of why I'm going through this exercise. Assuming reek got 13% off and the remaining 8% in rebates it's possible an additional 7% was left on the table if we were to use the discounts huntergreen received on his purchase as a model. On a $50,000 vehicle that's $3500 that was left on the dealers desk.

The idea of all this is to try and establish a baseline for negotiation. If dealers are offering 12-13% on an Internet purchase before rebates but 20% is available, it makes it easier for the buyer to know that, and to know how far to push, before walking away from, what could be, a very good offer. That's where negotiating price before rebates becomes useful. In all likelihood a dealer in Texas is going to pay Ram the same amount of money a dealer in New York is going to pay for the same truck.

All that said, I have no interest in beating down the dealer, they have to feed their families too. However, why would I spend $38k on a truck I could have paid $36k for? That $2k goes a long way toward lowering a monthly payment, a Maxcare warranty, a pre purchase oil change/service plan, accessories or whatever else you may use those funds for.

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huntergreen

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I think the two posts above are good examples of why I'm going through this exercise. Assuming reek got 13% off and the remaining 8% in rebates it's possible an additional 7% was left on the table if we were to use the discounts huntergreen received on his purchase as a model. On a $50,000 vehicle that's $3500 that was left on the dealers desk.

The idea of all this is to try and establish a baseline for negotiation. If dealers are offering 12-13% on an Internet purchase before rebates but 20% is available, it makes it easier for the buyer to know that, and to know how far to push, before walking away from, what could be, a very good offer. That's where negotiating price before rebates becomes useful. In all likelihood a dealer in Texas is going to pay Ram the same amount of money a dealer in New York is going to pay for the same truck.

All that said, I have no interest in beating down the dealer, they have to feed their families too. However, why would I spend $38k on a truck I could have paid $36k for? That $2k goes a long way toward lowering a monthly payment, a Maxcare warranty, a pre purchase oil change/service plan, accessories or whatever else you may use those funds for.

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very true, i walked in and made them an offer. the salesman i used found extra money for me in the rebates. i have bought 6 vehicles from him over the last 8 years. he treats me pretty well.
 
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probably not a helpful post but my goal was the 'total off' price regardless of rebates when I went to buy my 2500. I wanted 20% off, didn't matter how, saved me on some heartburn trying to all the calculations. I know there was a rebate involved but don't remember how much. It didn't matter to if the dealer kept it as long as I got what I wanted. and the dealer still made some money I'm sure. In the end I got about 22% off total. had to calculate for plane ticket ($100) to Dennis Dillon but even so, I was happy. No one locally could even come close and travel time for me wasn't a factor, I have family in Idaho.

Not here to tell you what to do but you might consider an end goal/price/%off rather than focusing on the fine details of how you got there. money is precious but then again, I'm just old fat and lazy and maybe took the easy route.

good luck, hope someone else has a more specific answer for you.

I think this is pretty good advice. Just know that no matter what you should end up at about 25% off sticker price. I got 28%. When you add in taxes and the other fees my total price paid was 25% below. Do you really care where it comes from? Just as long as you get a fair price based on the market right?
 
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kltk1

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Respectfully, I think you're missing the point of the thread. It's not about the price for the sake of it, it's about establishing a baseline of what a discount should look like before rebates because rebates change based on the residence of the buyer. Currently, there's an additional$1000 rebate for those who live in the southeast. As I live in the northeast if I wanted to purchase a vehicle located down south I can't take advantage of that additional $1000 off the price of a vehicle. As a result when someone from Florida states they received 25% off a vehicle, as a buyer from the northeast, that number is skewed as it likely includes a rebate someone from Boston can't take advantage of. Please see my example above about how much money could wind up being left on the table without even knowing it.

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reek

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I think that's going to be a difficult task, establishing a base line of discount percentage pre-rebate. rebates are changing, discounts differ region to region, and people's shopping and bargaining habits/methods are so different.
 
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And...ultimately isn't it that you're really concerned about getting the best deal? Which should be based not on rebate but total discount off of the sticker?
 
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kltk1

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I think reek is correct in coming to a base discount pre-rebate. It's going to be near impossible.

That said, I can't know if I got the best deal I could have if I don't have an idea of what to expect for a discount before the rebates are applied if I'm basing that decision on what others have received BECAUSE rebates fluctuate from region to region. As noted earlier, someone from North Carolina may come in at a full discount of 25% with all the rebates included. It's entirely likely I couldn't get close to that in New Jersey as the rebates here aren't as generous.
 

craigsez

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what you get before rebates depends on trade in if any and how good your talk is with the sales person..
 
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kltk1

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Trade really shouldn't matter as, typically, you wanna come to a firm final price before discussing trade. It's well known that when a trade is involved the sales folks massage the numbers and make it very confusing and difficult get a firm grasp of what the actual selling price is.
 

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There will ALWAYS be someone, somewhere that got a better deal than you. There will ALWAYS be that slightly better rebate that came out the month after you made your purchase.

I say get the best deal you can, but don't lose sleep over it. Don't let it take away from that euphoria of purchasing a new truck. Once you buy it, enjoy, and don't look back!

[emoji4]
 

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Still not sure I understand the OP's plight but I'm with the bottom line crowd. Who cares how you get there? Dealers and manufacturers use all these moving targets like rebates, hold back, invoice, incentives with one goal in mind: To confuse a consumer. Otherwise, they'd just put a price tag on a vehicle like a jug of milk at the supermarket.

As for what to use to start negotiations? Print out some stuff from Dennis Dillon and take it to your dealership. That should get things started off nice and quick.

:favorites13:
 
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kltk1

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Thanks for the tip about Dennis Dillon.

Regarding my "plight", understand this isn't a problem I'm trying to solve but an exercise in education. At the end of the day, as noted in prior responses, in all likelihood all dealers pay FCA the same for the trucks. That means that every dealer would only be able to discount so much before they say they can't go any lower on price. Understandably, big dealers have more room to play as they have volume sales on their side. Even still, what the small dealer pays FCA and volume dealer pays FCA is likely the same. So each one can only discount a vehicle so much before they tell a potential buyer they can't go any lower on price. This is all before the rebates start being applied. As the title indicates, the online sales departments I spoke with came in at about 12-13% before rebates. If that's the standard discount to expect before rebates then you know that's about as far as you can go during the negotiations. Start adding in the rebates the customer qualifies, FCA lessee, a veteran, an FCA employee etc, etc and what someone pays in Iowa is going to be completely different than someone from California. That means the discount people on forums are reporting is completely skewed. Some will get 15%, others 25% simply because of what rebates they qualify for. On a $50,000 truck a 10% swing is $5000. In the end I want to get the maximum discount I'm entitled to. Again, not to beat down the dealer but to receive everything that's available.

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