Price negotiated from MSRP

[jimothy]

So a couple of things on the incentives. In many cases the $1250 is an “either or” with the 0%. I called the FCA incentives line 800-227-0757, option 1, and they were very helpful so I could cross check what the dealer told me.
Also, and this is just me and my situation, but on a $70k truck if my decision comes down to $500-800 it’s not about the money, it’s about if I really want that option. Once I had my head around paying $70k+ for my truck it was more about getting what I wanted.

sounds like you’re getting a pretty good deal regardless of the the incentives. If it’s the dealer, try a different local dealer if you are opposed to a fly and drive. I sent my build to 6 dealers and went with the best service and will pay about $200 more. But service matters.

One reason for wanting to avoid the fly-and-drive is that it makes trade in easier (unless I did a drive-and-drive), and in Georgia, you don't pay sales tax on the trade-in value. So, if the vehicle is $70,000 and trade in is $40,000, you only pay sales tax on $30,000. On the other hand, if I could get at least 6% more selling private party, the financial advantage disappears, but it's still less hassle to trade in.

My main concern, though, is I'd expect some more formal paperwork/contract, both to protect me and for the dealer to protect themselves. What I'm getting seems very informal, at least so far. I would't say the dealer is bad; the process is taking me longer than I thought it would, but I also dragged my heals back in early March.

 

[BowDown]

I kinda said it out of jest. I think in 2-3 months or so they're going to stop building '21 and start '22. As far as difference I think a new n95 car filter was reported. Not sure anything else.

They didn't start 21 til August of 20

 

[PhillyPhan]

One reason for wanting to avoid the fly-and-drive is that it makes trade in easier (unless I did a drive-and-drive), and in Georgia, you don't pay sales tax on the trade-in value. So, if the vehicle is $70,000 and trade in is $40,000, you only pay sales tax on $30,000. On the other hand, if I could get at least 6% more selling private party, the financial advantage disappears, but it's still less hassle to trade in.

My main concern, though, is I'd expect some more formal paperwork/contract, both to protect me and for the dealer to protect themselves. What I'm getting seems very informal, at least so far. I would't say the dealer is bad; the process is taking me longer than I thought it would, but I also dragged my heals back in early March.

Definitely put some thought into selling privately. I got a quote for my 2014 Ram 2500 Megacab from my dealer. They offered me $38k, I said hell no they were crazy. Ended up selling it myself for $45k. Well worth the hassle.

 

[Runagun]

Has anyone paid cash for their purchase from out of state to Mark Dodge? Just curious how big of a pain it is. I'm almost thinking of just going with the 0% financing just to not have to deal with a cash deal, but I'd lose out on the $1k rebate.

Didn't pay cash. But charge 3k to my cc and financed the rest using 0%. Easiest way especially when everything is done over the phone.

 

[jimothy]

Definitely put some thought into selling privately. I got a quote for my 2014 Ram 2500 Megacab from my dealer. They offered me $38k, I said hell no they were crazy. Ended up selling it myself for $45k. Well worth the hassle.

Good advice. What I intend to do is list it for sale about a 4-6 weeks before the anticipated completion date of my new truck. Even if it sells quickly, I can be without a vehicle for a while (my wife and I both work from home, and she has a car. How I'll get my bikes to the trail is another matter). If I was unable to find a buyer (unlikely, considering the sellers market for used, low mileage trucks), then I'd trade it in.

In the event I do need to trade in, my plan is to first get an offer from CarMax, Vroom, and/or Carvana. Take that to the dealer, give them the opportunity to match/beat it. So I've got a Plan A, B, and C.

 

[PhillyPhan]

Try selling on OfferUp. I’ve sold so many boats and vehicles on there. They make it so easy. Craigslist charges now, so I stopped using them.

 

[PhillyPhan]

Didn't pay cash. But charge 3k to my cc and financed the rest using 0%. Easiest way especially when everything is done over the phone.

Wonder what the max is I can charge to a credit card.

 

[Runagun]

I'm very close to putting in an order for a 2021 Limited Longhorn from a local (Atlanta area) dealer.

MSRP is $71,155. Dealer discount is $10,036, dealer fee processing/doc fees are $798, bringing the price before incentives/rebates, taxes/gov fees to $61,917, or 13% off MSRP. Let's say I were not to take the 0% financing, current rebates are $1,250-$1,750 (extra $500 for financing through Chrysler). Through in $1,000 for my current coupon, we're looking at $2,250-$2,750. Taking the lower number, price becomes $59,667, or 16% below MSPR. Not great compared to what I could have got in December 2020, but I'm comfortable with it and here's the crazy thing: the KBB on my 2019 Laramie with 20K miles is a few thousand dollars higher than when I bought it (used with 6K miles).

So if rebates were higher, the value of my current truck would be lower, so I'd net out about the same.

This offer matches—sort of—Aaron of Mark Dodge's price. I say sort of because the dealer fees are $500 higher, and the price of the Hemi eTorque apparently has gone up by $300 recently. But $500-800 I can live with if it means avoiding a fly-and-drive.

But...the process with the local dealer has been slow and a little frustrating. Aaron seems much more straight forward, while I still feel like the local dealer has something up their sleeve.

And this is what is—finally!—getting me to my point: What paperwork should I get from the dealer before putting down a deposit and placing an order? What I've got is three separate documents:

1. The build sheet
2. A price breakdown specifying MSRP, dealer discount, dealer processing/doc fees, government fees (but not sales tax)
3. A credit card authorization form for the $1,000 deposit that states if I don't pick up the vehicle 72 hours after it arrives, I forfeit the $1,000 deposit.

That's it. I expected some sort of contract. For those that placed a factory order, what did you get from the dealership?

P.S. At this point, I can't say I would or would not recommend the Atlanta dealer. They also seemed really reluctant to match Mark Dodge's price, but they were the only local dealer to even give me the time of day. I will say that you're likely to have a faster, easier time with Aaron. And I fully expect them to play the financing and warranty game when I do pick it up, but I know enough now to stubbornly stick to my guns on that.

P.P.S. I dithered on whether to order or wait for the 2022s. If I do go through with the order, and the 2022s come with UConnect 5, I'll have a little buyers remorse, but with the continued chip shortages perhaps delaying UConnect until 2023 (pure speculation on my part), the prospects of inflation and higher interest rates, and the current KBB price of my 2019 Laramie, waiting may prove to be more expensive.

Check mark. As of a few days ago. Limited where around 15k off. Yeah it's a fly/drive. But if the local sales price of the car is what one pays OTD for the car at mark. It's a no brainer.

 

[Runagun]

Wonder what the max is I can charge to a credit card.

3k Is max. That's what they told me.

 

[mtehonica]

Check mark. As of a few days ago. Limited where around 15k off. Yeah it's a fly/drive. But if the local sales price of the car is what one pays OTD for the car at mark. It's a no brainer.

Agreed - working through a deal with him right now - about to sign all the paperwork through Docusign. Loaded limited, exactly the build I was going to order, right at $15k off. No brainer.

Mine will be a drive-and-drive road trip so I can trade my '19 Limited at the same time and save on taxes. 24 hour round trip for me but worth it!

 

[jimothy]

Check mark. As of a few days ago. Limited where around 15k off. Yeah it's a drive or fly. But if the local sales price of the car is what one pays off for the car at mark. It's a no brainer.

Yeah, I should do that. I feel a little bad, because I got a quote from Aaron @ MD at the beginning of March, and he was super cool and helpful, then I told him, I'm contemplating waiting for the 2022s. Then, the local dealer finally got back to me.

But you're right; if the price of the Longhorns have gone down similar to the Limiteds, then yeah, I'll fly-and-drive for an additional $5,000 off. I just feel guilty about wasting people's time (whether the local dealer or Aaron's). But I should remember, it's not personal, it's just business.

 

[jimothy]

Why the Longhorn instead of the Limited, you might ask? I thought about the Limited, and in fact, really like the Indigo/Frost interior. But I do some light off roading, and plan on some more (though still nothing intense), and I'm nervous about the air suspension failing/leaking when I'm up 10,000 feet in the Rockies (I took my Laramie there last summer, and am planning on more such trips).

 

[chuck01835]

One reason for wanting to avoid the fly-and-drive is that it makes trade in easier (unless I did a drive-and-drive), and in Georgia, you don't pay sales tax on the trade-in value. So, if the vehicle is $70,000 and trade in is $40,000, you only pay sales tax on $30,000. On the other hand, if I could get at least 6% more selling private party, the financial advantage disappears, but it's still less hassle to trade in.

My main concern, though, is I'd expect some more formal paperwork/contract, both to protect me and for the dealer to protect themselves. What I'm getting seems very informal, at least so far. I would't say the dealer is bad; the process is taking me longer than I thought it would, but I also dragged my heals back in early March.

Selling my old truck to Carvana. Prices are high right now. Getting about 12.5k for a truck i expected to get 10 or 11k for. Very easy transaction. They're picking it up next friday.

 

[jimothy]

Agreed - working through a deal with him right now - about to sign all the paperwork through Docusign. Loaded limited, exactly the build I was going to order, right at $15k off. No brainer.

You folks convinced me to keep talking with Aaron. Not sure if I can get the additional $5,000 off on a Longhorn (though I did say if the discount is the same, I'll order right away), but hearing that he's got the process set up with Docusign demonstrates, again, that he and Mark Dodge have this thing down, versus the ad hoc way my local dealer is handling things. I just sent him an email; we'll see what I learn.

So, if I can get $15,000 off, with a contract process that gives me confidence, then it's an easy decision: I'll plan on visiting western Louisiana in a few months.

Regardless of my eventual decision, though, I feel like I can recommend Aaron wholeheartedly, based on the feedback he's gotten here, plus my personal experience working with him so far.

 

[Runagun]

You folks convinced me to keep talking with Aaron. Not sure if I can get the additional $5,000 off on a Longhorn (though I did say if the discount is the same, I'll order right away), but hearing that he's got the process set up with Docusign demonstrates, again, that he and Mark Dodge have this thing down, versus the ad hoc way my local dealer is handling things. I just sent him an email; we'll see what I learn.

So, if I can get $15,000 off, with a contract process that gives me confidence, then it's an easy decision: I'll plan on visiting western Louisiana in a few months.

Regardless of my eventual decision, though, I feel like I can recommend Aaron wholeheartedly, based on the feedback he's gotten here, plus my personal experience working with him so far.

Awesome. Hope everything works out. Keep us updated.

 

[jimothy]

Awesome. Hope everything works out. Keep us updated.

Thank you, and all the others on this thread. You all either saved me $10-15K…or cost me a couple tens of thousands by convincing me to trade in my 2019 for 2021, depending on how you look at it.

P.S. If anyone is interested in a Retrax Pro XR for a 5'7" bed, feel free to contact me. My order will be for a 6'4" bed, so I'll need a new cover; planning on sticking with Retrax.

 

[Runagun]

Yeah, I should do that. I feel a little bad, because I got a quote from Aaron @ MD at the beginning of March, and he was super cool and helpful, then I told him, I'm contemplating waiting for the 2022s. Then, the local dealer finally got back to me.

But you're right; if the price of the Longhorns have gone down similar to the Limiteds, then yeah, I'll fly-and-drive for an additional $5,000 off. I just feel guilty about wasting people's time (whether the local dealer or Aaron's). But I should remember, it's not personal, it's just business.

If it makes you feel better. I did that with Aaron on another car last year or two I think. I didn't end up buying anything. Just was more kicking the tires then anything. But Last month I bought from him. And I'm all the way in illinois.

 

[laramie4x4]

Has anyone paid cash for their purchase from out of state to Mark Dodge? Just curious how big of a pain it is. I'm almost thinking of just going with the 0% financing just to not have to deal with a cash deal, but I'd lose out on the $1k rebate.

i did. just wire the money, super easy.

 

[Ramtruck86]

Wonder what the max is I can charge to a credit card.

Depends! I was in sales a few years ago and a customer swiped his business credit card for $15K no problem. I am unclear if because business or he called 1st for approval.

 

[Ramtruck86]

In the event I do need to trade in, my plan is to first get an offer from CarMax, Vroom, and/or Carvana. Take that to the dealer, give them the opportunity to match/beat it. So I've got a Plan A, B, and C.

In the same boat being a Georgia resident. Holding out on selling my current truck as I would rather trade-in for the right number to get the tax savings! FWIW Carmax gave the best price on my trade and VROOM was an insult. Vroom also waits to pay you until they take it to their facility to "inspect". Carmax and Carvana pay you on the spot but have not checked pricing with Carvana yet.