Be patient and Be Prepared…
Be patient and Be Prepared to Travel to Get a Fair Price. I spent all of 2022 contacting dealers in five different states adjacent to mine in order to find one who was willing to sell me the exact vehicle I had spec’d and priced through the OEM’s website at MSRP. At the start I committed to refusing to pay over MSRP, and the dealerships still willing to sell at MSRP (for Kia in my neck of the U.S.) equaled about one in every six I contacted. Some would only do that for “state residents” (to try to ensure future service department revenue). I was not going to pay extra for any options I didn’t want (addendums), so that meant two options: order one by the OEM’s build & price and take the order to the MSRP dealer, then wait ten months for it, or continuously check “incoming inventory arriving soon” every single day and jump on the exact car I’d spec’d the moment it showed up as “in transit” to one of these MSRP dealers. It took several months (but less than ten) and I picked my car up the same day it reached the dealer. I got my “out the door” price in writing before I ever put a hold deposit down, and I had to go further away from home than I would’ve pre-pandemic, but I simultaneously coordinated selling my existing car to the highest cash offer buyer (Carvana) to avoid financing and paid cash for the new purchase. Use the inflated market to your advantage (selling an existing vehicle yourself to the highest cash offer when you are ready) and refuse to pay over MSRP or for addendums. It takes time, effort and patience, but isn’t it worth it to avoid being ripped off? It’s absolutely doable if you put in the effort.