Do you get gouged when building a truck.

[Marley]

I've bought several new trucks but never had dealer do a build.
Pretty much made up my mind that's the route I'm taking on a 2021 HD.

It feels weird sitting down talking to the salesman and trying to figure out a negotiation strategy when I'm ordering a truck.

How did ya'll do it ?

 

[Sandevino]

Nope, I actually got a better deal building to spec and ordering.

 

[McBroom]

Build your truck on the ram.com site so you know exactly what you want. Then take that list of specific things to the dealer so you don't forget any details also you'll know an estimate of the cost before you get sticker shock.

Black 20 Ram

 

[Papa Red]

Build your truck on the ram site and send it out for a quote. It goes to your local dealer. You can also email the build link to any dealer you want to get a quote. That's what I did. Several came back with their best out the door price. I then went to the dealer with the best quote, signed the papers and had the truck ordered. Seven weeks later the truck was in my garage. Very easy and I was very happy with my quote. Good luck.

Red

 

[laramielambo]

and.....
chances are because you are getting exactly what you want, that you wont be paying for options you dont want or need which should also help keep the cost down.

 

[Sandevino]

and.....
chances are because you are getting exactly what you want, that you wont be paying for options you dont want or need which should also help keep the cost down.

and.... since it’s not in dealer stock, they can’t add all the dealer add garbage to it. No paying extra for wheel locks, window tint, bed liners, scotch guarding, etc...

 

[Marley]

Thankyou all.....info I was looking for.

 

[Elkman]

The trucks on the dealer's lot will be configured to maximize the MSRP by having a moon roof or crew cab or night or chrome package and other additions that add little or nothing to the performance or utility of the truck. A crew cab truck cost $3400 more than an identically equipped quad cab truck for example.

Most of the trucks have the anti-spin differential instead of a real locking differential and most will have the small gas tank and all season tires and seldom have running boards (which make it easier to get in and out of the truck and protect the sides of the truck from road debris).

To negotiate I recommend going off the dealer invoice for the vehicle and forget about MSRP entirely. The dealers get various rebates based on volume and so never pay the full invoice for any vehicle. Even paying full invoice provides them with a good profit for a truck. If you sit down with an internet sales person or a leasing or finance manager then they do not get a commission and that saves the dealer money and that is on the table for you to get in your deal.

Something else that has worked for me is to arrive two hours before closing time around the end of the month as the salespeople and the sales manager are under some pressure to add to the number of units moved and help with getting better treatment from the factory for new trucks. One also has to be willing to walk away if the person at the dealership is not interesting in playing or wants to keep switching you to yet another person or pulls the stunt of saying "I will have to check to see if we can do this". You want to be sitting down with the person who is authorized to approve the deal.

I will probably buy a new truck this year but the 2021 models will start appearing in a couple of months and I want to see what features and changes they have before deciding on whether to buy a 2020 or a 2021.

September will be better time to buy a 2020 truck if you want one currently on some dealer's lot. A dealer will be happy to get you a truck from another dealer if it fits what you want to buy.

 

[Sandevino]

For what it’s worth, I never buy fully loaded trucks. I’ve found the loaded trucks depreciate faster and appeal to a niche resale market.

Anymore, the base models have the features the SLT’s and Laramie’s had decades ago as standard.

 

[Ramjob]

Hello and I am new to this site. I Fully agree with everything mentioned above. I just recently ordered a 2020 1500 4x2 tradesman ( I Personally do not have any need for a 4 x 4 where I live and what I do ) black grill, black bumpers, by trimming the fat off of what a dealer would have ordered For his lot I sprung for the Granite crystal paint, 5.7L, 3.92 Limited slip rear end, spray in bedliner, class IV hitch, it already came with vinyl flooring which is really nice and plush not to mention easy to keep clean Over carpet and purchased the ram All weather slush mats that covered most all of the exposed flooring anyway , came with vary sharp looking heavy duty Diesel gray and black Vinyl seats that most people think are leather, installed OME window vents, APG H Series running boards, and 20 inch Mayham Scoot wheels with Toyo 275/60/20 open country H T 2 tires and a sharp looking Metallic silver pin striping on the body line of the side of the truck. My next additions will be a hard trifold bed cover, K&N air filter in stock box, Some sort of throttle response unit like pedal commander and an Exhaust cut out and keep stock muffler. I have had in the past ( Power seats that I never used after setting first time, sliding back window which hardly ever used,sunroof Which tended to be hotter than hell when it Was opened,cloth seats that were hard to keep clean, it’s not a snowmobile so I don’t need heated seats or steering wheel heater and all that other BS That seems to add cost and break down anyway,just not for me maybe for others but not for me.) So in closing this is why I ordered the truck my way and made it mine and will keep it till the doors fall off and Then buy another.

 

[rule18]

Nope, I actually got a better deal building to spec and ordering.

^this. I built on the website, printed it and walked into my dealer. The rest was easy, and I got the price I wanted with some negotiation (that's the fun part for me).

 

[Docwagon1776]

I'll negotiate on a used car. On a new car, I do what fleets do and treat it like any other commodity bid process.

I emailed every dealer in the radius I was willing to drive with the build I wanted, got a round of bids from those willing to play, sent out an email with a deadline, current bid, and said the lowest bid I had by the deadline got my purchase on a given date, a few days after the deadline. Then I did.