I'll start with the standard disclaimer: I don't work for Jeep, FCA, or Koons, whatever. I'm not receiving any compensation, and have no affiliation with anyone involved. I'm just excited about the deal I got on my Jeep, that is available to any member of this site, and want to spread the word about the service received. They say a happy customer will tell 10 people about their experience, while an angry customer will tell 100.
I'll be honest and say I'm no credit expert up front. My best advice from my own experience is to try and keep your credit score at the highest point possible. If that means waiting, then by all means wait and pay things off, build history, whatever. Your score is extremely important when it comes to a lender making a decision on whether to lend you money, and at what rate. Generally, the higher the score, the more likely you are to get a loan, and the better the rate you'll receive.
On to the Jeep talk -Put together a build sheet, start with the trim line, add your options, and look it up on TrueCar for the MSRP, typical buyer price, and, most importantly, INVOICE price. A 5-minute research session with the Google machine will tell you based on what state and county you live in, what your tax rates on a new vehicle will be. These taxes and fees are applied based on the NET price of the vehicle, and added to the GROSS price at the end.
The discounts:
TrueCar - free signup on truecar.com, spec out your Jeep and give them a real email address, wait about 2 weeks and you should (75% certainty) get a $1,000 "Prospective Buyer" Coupon.
Military Service - If you are a veteran with an honorable discharge of any sort (including medical) on your DD-214, you qualify for $500 off the gross price.
Golden Ticket - Sign up on Jeep.com ask for a brochure, it may take up to a month, and there's likely only a 50% chance of getting the $500 off coupon from Jeep.
Amex/AAA/etc... - There are a couple organizations where membership nets you $200 off the price of your Jeep. Easiest one is AAA - get a 1 year bottom tier plan if you don't already have it, and presenting the card when it's time for the sales contract to be signed will take that $200 off.
--Removed- Nat'l Ass'n Realtors - Discount not valid on Wrangler--
Sometimes, Jeep runs a special rebate for current Jeep owners, or FCA may run one for "competitive vehicle owners" - doesn't happen often, but it can be worth some cash off the price. Your mileage may vary wildly.
Financing discount - I'd tend to stay away from this one, not because of who the financing is with (varies month-to-month), but because it takes cash out of the commission payment. That said, tightwad, you might be able to negotiate part of the finance holdback off the price. Go ahead, we won't judge you.
The trade-in:
You're more likely to get a better deal selling your Jeep outright than you would on the trade-in from ANY dealer. They have to turn the vehicle and make a profit. That said, have a number in mind, and when you call or text Erica, let her know you've got a Jeep for trade-in, and you want to compare her offer vs. what you can get selling privately. If her dealership is interested in your Jeep, they'll ask for detailed pictures, and will likely be able to work out a solid number for you over email/phone with agreement on total miles by the time it gets to them (let's say you have to drive it 1,000 miles to them, they'll ask for odometer now, and give you an offer contigent on no more than 1,200 more miles than it has at the moment).
Financing - This is the tough one. Not bragging, but I have excellent credit, and went through my credit union for a loan. I filled my paperwork honestly, and let them know that I would have a cash down payment of 10% to cover the new car gap, and got an excellent rate. IF you want to have Koons try doing the financing through their lender, they stand to recoup what they call "trunk cash" or, more professionally, buyer financing holdback. You can TRY to negotiate part of the trunk cash into the purchase price, but remember that this is where Erica and/or one of her team is making their commission, so every dollar they use from this to take off your purchase price is a dollar out of their pocket.
Working up your total price:
Step 1: Take the INVOICE price from your build sheet. I'll stress that again - the INVOICE price, not the MSRP, but the INVOICE.
Step 2: Got that number? Great. If you're purchasing a Rubicon or Hard Rock trim line, congratulations, subtract 5 percent. If you're buying a lower trim line, kudos, you can subtract 7 percent. You now have your NET vehicle purchase price (NET Contract) - you'll need to keep this number for when you do a tax calculation, so keep it in mind.
Step 3: Add $599 to your NET price to cover "documentation fees". Don't complain about this, your group buy is getting you nearly $400 off the standard fees from this dealership - they normally charge $995 in documentation fees to cover little things like the building they work in, the lot they own, the people they have to pay on non-commission salary, blah blah blah. All the stuff that isn't a salesperson making commission - that's what the doc fee covers, so suck it up, I know other states have regulated things like a maximum $80 documentation fee - dealerships in those states aren't offering you a deal like this. Moving right along...
Step 4: Take a look at the discounts above. You're probably thinking to yourself "But I don't WANT to wait a month, I want my Jeep NOW!". Cool your jets, there, sparky. That one-month wait stands to net you $1500 back in your pocket, and if you're financing, long term it nets even more because that $1500 would have also been included in your loan, and thus had interest tacked on. I know it's tough, but you can do it. Determine what discounts you qualify for, add those numbers together, and you've got your DISCOUNT value. You're in the home stretch, don't give up on me now!
Step 5 (Optional): Trade-In. As I've said before, you're more likely to get a better deal selling your vehicle locally. I hate playing the trade-in game because dealerships will typically offer you the "Fair" condition NADA black-book value of your vehicle. An example, I'm selling a 2003 Audi RS6 in Excellent condition. The street value is around $22,500. KBB private party is around $17,700 depending on zip code. The NADA trade-in in Fair condition is $8,800. Get what I'm talking about? Standard rate is about half of the immediate private sale value. I don't begrudge dealerships trying to make money, but this is an area where they could probably do better. Anywho, if you've got a trade-in, get your contigent offer in writing, and you'll need this for your next step.
Step 6: A little more complicated, because where you live affects this one. 5 minutes on the Google machine will tell you how much (percentage and flat cost fees) you're going to have to pay for the privilege of owning a vehicle. I'll break this down into some sub-steps for you here:
-----Step 6a) Tags and Title - This is LESS complicated than the next step, so we'll cover it first. Based on where you live, your Department of Motor Vehicles, or whatever they call themselves, likely charges a flat fee for stamping a license plate and shipping it to you, as well as printing up an official title of some sort. This varies wildly based on where you live, and like I said - Google is your friend. Try something like "New car taxes wherever_you_live" where you replace that wherever_you_live part with the State and County (or Parish, for you Louisiana peoples), sometimes even the City that you live in. This should also get you the next number you need.
-----Step 6b) Taxes - It sucks, but we all have to pay them (well, not all, we'll get to that) - Taxes vary even more wildly, with folks in Delaware paying ZERO on the purchase, and others paying upwards of TWELVE PERCENT of their vehicle net cost in taxes. Most of those states with the high initial tax are at least kind enough not to hose you on property taxes year-over-year, so they make out in the end vice a state like Virginia, where we pay the tax every year. But I digress. Figure out from the Google search I had you do in step 5a what your tax rate will be. Got that? Now Multiply the Tax Rate by the NET Contract price from Step 2. As an example, if my net contract was $35,000 and my state charges 6% on a new vehicle purchase, $35,000*0.06 = $2,100.00 in taxes.
Special Note: Some states only charge taxes on the DIFFERENCE between the vehicle you trade in, and the new vehicle you purchase. This can make a pretty big difference in the Tax you owe. I'm not the expert, this isn't an end-all guide to the costs, so do your research.
Step 7: The final frontier - Add your numbers together!
NET Contract from Step 2
+ $599 from Step 3
+ Tax/tags/title from Step 6a and 6b
MINUS the DISCOUNT value from Step 4
MINUS the trade-in value from Step 5.
And now you've got your "Out-The-Door" contract price.
I hope this helps, maybe it'll get stickied, we'll see. I just threw this together because I've posted up some/most of this info in a bunch of different threads and every day I see new ones on "About to pull the trigger on this $41k MSRP Sport S" and such threads pop up. Trying to save the community a buck, here, hope that it's appreciated.
Thanks!
O_E
I'll be honest and say I'm no credit expert up front. My best advice from my own experience is to try and keep your credit score at the highest point possible. If that means waiting, then by all means wait and pay things off, build history, whatever. Your score is extremely important when it comes to a lender making a decision on whether to lend you money, and at what rate. Generally, the higher the score, the more likely you are to get a loan, and the better the rate you'll receive.
On to the Jeep talk -Put together a build sheet, start with the trim line, add your options, and look it up on TrueCar for the MSRP, typical buyer price, and, most importantly, INVOICE price. A 5-minute research session with the Google machine will tell you based on what state and county you live in, what your tax rates on a new vehicle will be. These taxes and fees are applied based on the NET price of the vehicle, and added to the GROSS price at the end.
The discounts:
TrueCar - free signup on truecar.com, spec out your Jeep and give them a real email address, wait about 2 weeks and you should (75% certainty) get a $1,000 "Prospective Buyer" Coupon.
Military Service - If you are a veteran with an honorable discharge of any sort (including medical) on your DD-214, you qualify for $500 off the gross price.
Golden Ticket - Sign up on Jeep.com ask for a brochure, it may take up to a month, and there's likely only a 50% chance of getting the $500 off coupon from Jeep.
Amex/AAA/etc... - There are a couple organizations where membership nets you $200 off the price of your Jeep. Easiest one is AAA - get a 1 year bottom tier plan if you don't already have it, and presenting the card when it's time for the sales contract to be signed will take that $200 off.
--Removed- Nat'l Ass'n Realtors - Discount not valid on Wrangler--
Sometimes, Jeep runs a special rebate for current Jeep owners, or FCA may run one for "competitive vehicle owners" - doesn't happen often, but it can be worth some cash off the price. Your mileage may vary wildly.
Financing discount - I'd tend to stay away from this one, not because of who the financing is with (varies month-to-month), but because it takes cash out of the commission payment. That said, tightwad, you might be able to negotiate part of the finance holdback off the price. Go ahead, we won't judge you.
The trade-in:
You're more likely to get a better deal selling your Jeep outright than you would on the trade-in from ANY dealer. They have to turn the vehicle and make a profit. That said, have a number in mind, and when you call or text Erica, let her know you've got a Jeep for trade-in, and you want to compare her offer vs. what you can get selling privately. If her dealership is interested in your Jeep, they'll ask for detailed pictures, and will likely be able to work out a solid number for you over email/phone with agreement on total miles by the time it gets to them (let's say you have to drive it 1,000 miles to them, they'll ask for odometer now, and give you an offer contigent on no more than 1,200 more miles than it has at the moment).
Financing - This is the tough one. Not bragging, but I have excellent credit, and went through my credit union for a loan. I filled my paperwork honestly, and let them know that I would have a cash down payment of 10% to cover the new car gap, and got an excellent rate. IF you want to have Koons try doing the financing through their lender, they stand to recoup what they call "trunk cash" or, more professionally, buyer financing holdback. You can TRY to negotiate part of the trunk cash into the purchase price, but remember that this is where Erica and/or one of her team is making their commission, so every dollar they use from this to take off your purchase price is a dollar out of their pocket.
Working up your total price:
Step 1: Take the INVOICE price from your build sheet. I'll stress that again - the INVOICE price, not the MSRP, but the INVOICE.
Step 2: Got that number? Great. If you're purchasing a Rubicon or Hard Rock trim line, congratulations, subtract 5 percent. If you're buying a lower trim line, kudos, you can subtract 7 percent. You now have your NET vehicle purchase price (NET Contract) - you'll need to keep this number for when you do a tax calculation, so keep it in mind.
Step 3: Add $599 to your NET price to cover "documentation fees". Don't complain about this, your group buy is getting you nearly $400 off the standard fees from this dealership - they normally charge $995 in documentation fees to cover little things like the building they work in, the lot they own, the people they have to pay on non-commission salary, blah blah blah. All the stuff that isn't a salesperson making commission - that's what the doc fee covers, so suck it up, I know other states have regulated things like a maximum $80 documentation fee - dealerships in those states aren't offering you a deal like this. Moving right along...
Step 4: Take a look at the discounts above. You're probably thinking to yourself "But I don't WANT to wait a month, I want my Jeep NOW!". Cool your jets, there, sparky. That one-month wait stands to net you $1500 back in your pocket, and if you're financing, long term it nets even more because that $1500 would have also been included in your loan, and thus had interest tacked on. I know it's tough, but you can do it. Determine what discounts you qualify for, add those numbers together, and you've got your DISCOUNT value. You're in the home stretch, don't give up on me now!
Step 5 (Optional): Trade-In. As I've said before, you're more likely to get a better deal selling your vehicle locally. I hate playing the trade-in game because dealerships will typically offer you the "Fair" condition NADA black-book value of your vehicle. An example, I'm selling a 2003 Audi RS6 in Excellent condition. The street value is around $22,500. KBB private party is around $17,700 depending on zip code. The NADA trade-in in Fair condition is $8,800. Get what I'm talking about? Standard rate is about half of the immediate private sale value. I don't begrudge dealerships trying to make money, but this is an area where they could probably do better. Anywho, if you've got a trade-in, get your contigent offer in writing, and you'll need this for your next step.
Step 6: A little more complicated, because where you live affects this one. 5 minutes on the Google machine will tell you how much (percentage and flat cost fees) you're going to have to pay for the privilege of owning a vehicle. I'll break this down into some sub-steps for you here:
-----Step 6a) Tags and Title - This is LESS complicated than the next step, so we'll cover it first. Based on where you live, your Department of Motor Vehicles, or whatever they call themselves, likely charges a flat fee for stamping a license plate and shipping it to you, as well as printing up an official title of some sort. This varies wildly based on where you live, and like I said - Google is your friend. Try something like "New car taxes wherever_you_live" where you replace that wherever_you_live part with the State and County (or Parish, for you Louisiana peoples), sometimes even the City that you live in. This should also get you the next number you need.
-----Step 6b) Taxes - It sucks, but we all have to pay them (well, not all, we'll get to that) - Taxes vary even more wildly, with folks in Delaware paying ZERO on the purchase, and others paying upwards of TWELVE PERCENT of their vehicle net cost in taxes. Most of those states with the high initial tax are at least kind enough not to hose you on property taxes year-over-year, so they make out in the end vice a state like Virginia, where we pay the tax every year. But I digress. Figure out from the Google search I had you do in step 5a what your tax rate will be. Got that? Now Multiply the Tax Rate by the NET Contract price from Step 2. As an example, if my net contract was $35,000 and my state charges 6% on a new vehicle purchase, $35,000*0.06 = $2,100.00 in taxes.
Special Note: Some states only charge taxes on the DIFFERENCE between the vehicle you trade in, and the new vehicle you purchase. This can make a pretty big difference in the Tax you owe. I'm not the expert, this isn't an end-all guide to the costs, so do your research.
Step 7: The final frontier - Add your numbers together!
NET Contract from Step 2
+ $599 from Step 3
+ Tax/tags/title from Step 6a and 6b
MINUS the DISCOUNT value from Step 4
MINUS the trade-in value from Step 5.
And now you've got your "Out-The-Door" contract price.
I hope this helps, maybe it'll get stickied, we'll see. I just threw this together because I've posted up some/most of this info in a bunch of different threads and every day I see new ones on "About to pull the trigger on this $41k MSRP Sport S" and such threads pop up. Trying to save the community a buck, here, hope that it's appreciated.
Thanks!
O_E