First to your other post - they pay for plane tickets to fly in customers? I wasn't aware of that! One way tickets can be costly if you're less than three weeks out from a trip, and I would think they'd want you out as soon as possible (ie: not make a deal and buy a discounted ticket for the deal to close in three weeks!)
Second, how do they handle tax, title and license for out of state? Do they just not charge you and let you deal with your local DMV if you want, or do you pay your local DMV rate but they handle all the paperwork? It's an important little point because in the latter situation, you can include those costs in financing just as if you bought local, but in the former, you need to have that cash (tax is substantial) on hand when you go to your local DMV. Which means you're financing less, but also putting less money down most likely.
Third and finally, I've read elsewhere on the interwebz that Dennis Dillon's prices are only good if you use Chrysler Financing, if you have your own, all pricing is off. Is that your experience? Are people just paying higher interest rates in order to get these great purchase prices? (Nothing stopping anybody from doing the deal and immediately refinancing at a lower rate, but just one more PITA.)
Thanks. And may I ask, what is your need for a 3500 over a 2500? Just curious about use case.
I'll provide my answer to some of this as someone from Florida who did get a price from them...
$1000 more if you do not use chrysler financing. Not a big hurdle, you can finance with chrysler, then refinance with a local credit union when you get home.
I have purchased out of state, they estimate all the taxes/fees and send it to your DMV, when you go to pick up your plates, you would pay any difference... I haven't had any issues there on 2 trucks and an RV, maybe $15 or so.
The deal I got from them was $2700 cheaper than I got locally... but, locally, I got a good deal on my trade. Because I couldn't drive out there and do a trade there, I would have had to sell my truck outright and time that so that I wasn't without a vehicle for too long, or, sell afterwards which is scary... Also, at least in FL, you don't pay sales tax on your trade value. So, that was a $2100 bump to me in sales tax savings... I would have had to sell my truck for that much more than they are giving me in trade in order to see that $2,700 savings on the truck. They did not offer to fly me out, so, I assumed I would need to pay for my flight.
So, let's say I sell my truck for more than my trade value to off-set the sales tax, and, I sell it the day I fly out to pick up the new truck... do I really want to drive 2700 miles back to Florida? Burning $400-500 in fuel on the trip, plus a few nights in a hotel? I decided no. I honestly think I could have done it and saved maybe $1000, but, it would have been a major headache. I really did run all of the math because initially I thought it would be really fun to fly out there and see some sight on the way back over a 4-day trip or so, but, driving 10-hours per day for several days in a row finally clicked with me. I also wouldn't have been bringing my pregnant (with twins) wife and 2yo, so, I would miss them and wouldn't enjoy the trip since they weren't with me.
If you're closer to these guys, it's probably totally worth it, just wasn't for my situation. The tax/trade thing is really where it started going sideways.
