This is a work in progress. Please reply with any additional strategies and information.
With differing degrees of work you can get a good to great price on your new truck. We will start with the discounted price on the truck and cover rebates/incentives after.
Easy Method
For those who do not want to put in much effort use just the Affiliate Pricing Program (FFP). You will get 1% below Invoice Pricing (FWP) and any available incentives/rebates.
Check to see if your employer is part of the Affiliate Pricing Program LINK
If not join Access Fund for $50 - LINK
or
Tread Lightly for $100 - LINK
After joining you must wait 30 days before you take possession of the vehicle. This works at any dealership.
You can find invoice pricing for your model and all factory options at one of these websites.
NADA Guides - LINK
Car Connection - LINK
Get a Lower Price
Now that we know anyone can easily get 1% off the factory invoice this can be a starting point to negotiation for those willing to put in the work.
Make email contact with as many dealerships as possible and ask them for their best price. Go to websites and look for contacts for Sales Manager, Internet Sales Manager or Fleet Manager if possible. Those in the internet and fleet departments are used to giving lower prices than the general salesmen. Some fleet departments will not work with an individual and will pass you off. Looking for high volume dealers in adjacent states can often get you lower prices.
Rebates/Cash Incentives
There are other nationwide and local rebates and incentives available in addition to the ones below. For those doing a factory order only the rebates/incentives available when the truck arrives will be applied.
You can often get a rebate ($1500 as of this writing) by going to ramtrucks.com and giving them your email. It is a popup so turn off you ad/popup blocker. If you don't get it try a different device or browser.
BonusDrive $250 Rebate - You or someone in your household must own, lease, or trade in a vehicle that is not a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, or Fiat. You do not need to be an Allstate customer for this - LINK
Membership Incentives
PenFed - $1000 (does not combine with military $500)
LINK
Future Farmers of America (FFA) - $500 LINK
SAM's Club (shows up sometime after using their car search) - $500 LINK
More Offers currently including Military Personnel $500, First Responder Personnel $500, and DriveAbility Disability Assistance $1000 LINK
Ram Incentives & Rebates List LINK1 LINK2
USAA no longer offers cash incentives.
You can call FCA Incentives at 1-800-227-0757 to help you figure out which rebates you can use. Helpfulness varies on who you talk to.
Volume Dealers
These are some dealers known to give out low offers. If distance is a problem you can do a "fly & drive", have it shipped, or use the numbers to negotiate locally.
Bud Clary in Washington State LINK
Mark Dodge in Louisiana LINK
Criswell in Maryland
LINK
Koons in Virginia
LINK
Dennis Dillon in Idaho
LINK
Lakeland in Florida
LINK
Phillip Olson at Bud Clary in Washington State is offering members of this forum great pricing.
Tell him Silent Bob from 5thGenRams Forum sent you.
Cell 360-434-2929 (text is great)
[email protected]
Aaron Ginsburgh at Mark Dodge in Louisiana is offering members of this forum great pricing.
Tell him Silent Bob from 5thGenRams Forum sent you.
Cell 318-792-1220 (text is great)
[email protected]
Extended Warranty/Service Contacts
Get genuine officially-authorized extended warranty by Mopar Vehicle Protection Plans, products of FCA US LLC (formerly Chrysler Group), at greatly discounted pricing. These two sites have the lowest prices on Extended Warranty/Service Contacts. Buy from them unless you can get your dealer to beat or at least match their price on factory plans.
Chrysler Factory Warranty - Currently forum sponsors -
LINK
Zeigler Factory Plans - Usually the lowest price with code PAYINFULL -
LINK
The Best Time to Buy Your Ram
This link has advice on when you are likely to get the best price on your new truck.
LINK
Rebate vs. lower interest: Which car incentive is right for you?
If you have to choose between lower cost of lower interest. Includes a rebate vs interest calculator.
LINK
Percentage off MSRP
In my opinion you should be getting at least 16% off the MSRP. The total number you should be using to determine your percentage off should include the total (with rebates and incentives) before trade in, taxes, and any required government fees. Your number should include dealer add-ons you did not request and any dealer fees not listed on the factory invoice, document fees, prep fees, etc. You can use one of these two links to find the factory MSRP and invoice price of the truck and all options.
LINK LINK
Try For More 14% to 15%
Good Discount 16% to 18%
Great Discount 19% to 23%
Amazing Discount 24% or more
Sample Email
Hello,
My name is [name] and I am looking to factory order a new truck this month. I know I can get 1% below factory invoice from any dealership with my affiliate number. I am really looking to get 5 to 8% off now plus any available incentives or rebates when the truck arrives. I will be ordering from the dealership that provides me the lowest price. What is the best you can do for me?
Please provide me with your best detailed out the door price including all fees and please be competitive as I am contacting several dealers.
Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing back from you.
All the best,
Here are some excellent links on how to save the most money.
Surprising tips for car shopping in Internet age
LINK
This forums thread "Price negotiated from MSRP"
LINK
Five-part investigative series on car buying
LINK
Why Invoice is the New MSRP
LINK
Another Technique
James Bragg technique (below) for car buying suggests calling but can also be applied to emailing if you prefer.
”¢ First, find the best price offered by dealers on your favorite car-buying website. Get both a price for the car and a detailed “out-the-door” price, including motor vehicle department fees, sales taxes and any dealer charges for documentation, etc. Then keep that number in your hip pocket.
”¢ On the weekend before the last 3, 4 or 5 consecutive weekdays of the month, check dealer inventories online. Many stores list it there. Choose 5 or 6 stores (ideally, but not necessarily, with cars you’d buy if the price were right), even if some are 50 or more miles away. More remote dealers may see you as a sale they’d never make and sell at a better price than they’d offer their neighbors.
”¢ Call their Internet sales managers on the 1st morning if there are 3 consecutive weekdays, the 2nd morning if there are 4, the 3rd if there are 5. Describe the car you want in detail, say you’re ready to buy by month-end, that you’re contacting a limited number of dealers to get price proposals and you’d like to get one from that store. That you need both the price of the car and an itemized out-the-door price (with the details listed above) by phone or email by 11:00 AM the next morning. (Be sure they know your location, so they can figure the sales tax correctly.)
”¢ Say you’ll call all responders that next afternoon, tell them the best out-the-door price and give them one shot at beating it. (It’s none of their business where it came from.) You’re ready to buy, and you want someone to knock your socks off at month-end. But you won’t buy from anyone who doesn’t participate from the beginning.
”¢ The next morning call those you haven’t heard from by 11:00 AM, tell them you have proposals from other dealers and you’re waiting for their response. If any responses have been incomplete, call and ask for the missing info. Call everyone that afternoon with the best out-the-door offer. If the initial o-t-d price from the online car-buying site is the best Round 1 offer, use that price in those calls. (When you’re eliminating the cost of the middleman, that won’t happen often. But it could happen.)
”¢ The store offering the best o-t-d price is the winner. “There will be no third round.” Ask the winner to confirm all the numbers via email because you hate surprises, and say you’re looking forward to giving that store nothing but the highest scores in the questionnaire about how you were treated. Make an appointment to sign the papers and pick up the car. Finally, as a courtesy, call the other dealers to thank them for participating.
__________________________________________________________________
Put in your trade in information at Carvana LINK and Vroom LINK to get some sample prices.
Walk Away
Here’s the best part of the “walk away” strategy: if you tell a salesperson or a private seller, “Thanks, but this just isn’t the deal that I’m looking for,” and you leave, they might call you in two hours to say they’ve got a better price.
If you don’t hear from the seller, and you really want the car, you can always call them back and tell them you’ve changed your mind, that you realized it’s a nice car and a pretty good deal, that you’re willing to take it now, etc.. You can do this and know that you’ve negotiated for the best price while also saving face.
My best deal so far on a factory order.
14.3% off MSRP before rebates/incentives
17.0% off MSRP with $2000 rebates/incentives.
18.4% off MSRP with $3000 rebates/incentives.
6.6% off Invoice before rebates/incentives
9.6% off Invoice with $2000 rebates/incentives.
11.0% off Invoice with $3000 rebates/incentives.
I am hoping I can do better than $3000 rebates/incentives when the truck arrives. When rebates/incentives are high we see some people getting 20 to 25% off MSRP. As of this writing the rebates/incentives are not great because of Employee Pricing Plus and 0.0% Financing offers.
I don't see the same think happening in Ford or Toyota world. Dealers don't sell 5% below invoice price usually.
