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Advice For New 2500 Build

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AsphaltCowboy

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Hello,
I'm trying to to order a new 2500, I have done the build I want on ramtrucks.com. I was contacted by a dealership closest to my home, Jason Lewis out of Sparta, TN. I am an owner-op/truck driver, so negotiations will have to be done over the phone. (business is booming) They tried to tell me about the trucks they had on the lot, which I have already seen via the internet and not what I want. I talked about ordering my truck and they said I had to come in and sit down to order it, after that Ram would get me a VIN and they would be able to get me a price. Sounds fishy to me and I would be locked in with doing business with them. I thought you had to do a down payment to order a truck. Are my suspicions correct? Also the salesman said he would email me to try and get them to build what I want without being there, never received an email. Tonight I sent a text to him with the build and asking for a price, Stated he would get back to me.

I spoke to Koons out of North Carolina, due to a thread on 5th Gen Rams forum. The salesman told me to wait until October 3rd and build a 2021 via ramtrucks.com, then order. He wasn't pushy, I like that! And supposedly they give good deals.

Any advice is welcome.

PS I have spoken to several other dealerships about buying, not ordering. I haul a stepdeck trailer so can buy anywhere and haul it home for the cost of fuel, just haven't found the right one and ramtrucks.com seems to limit you to the closest dealerships.
 
The sales manager I worked with on my order offered to do it over the phone. I was the one who pushed for in person (Jan 2020), so that in person requirement is pure BS. Just make sure you cover every option in Dealer Connect as they often have more/different options to select than the build and price (trailer camera and TPMS as an example).

Most will ask for a down to prove you're serious, but you are not locked into buying that truck if there's a problem or life takes a turn. That's the dealer's inventory until you pay for it.

Make them give you:
Refundable deposit
Price is Invoice less the FULL Holdback at a minimum. Perks, oil changes, etc if you can get them.
No BS fees on top.

If you're looking at extended warranty do not buy a dealer 3rd party package. FCA Maxcare only. Shop Zeigler online for best pricing, use discount code PAYINFULL and then beat up the dealer with it (when you go close and they are more incentivized to do a deal on warranty). The SM will hand you off to the finance guy for the hard close on add-ons.

If you have time (60 days to qualify), or are already a member, PenFed, USAA offer $1K incentives through Truecar lead gen. Sam's club, costco buying service etc. but you can still go buy from whomever you want and use the code you get. It doesn't come out of the dealer's pocket. Marketing dollars for you to play with.
 
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Mr. Irishman, thank you for your response, My heritage is also Irish or so I'm told, have the name and red beard, plus a couple greys.

I won't be going for an extended warranty, I have a GMC Sierra and Land Cruiser, they get less than a thousand miles on them per year. I'm more worried about shaking out any possible problems from the lack of miles I put on a vehicle. I read (I think) they want you to change the oil every 12 months, most likely the truck will not have been driven over one thousand miles in that period.

The salesman did mention another discount for owning a GMC, said to bring in the registration. I won't be trading it in.

Thanks for the info.

More than likely a stupid question, Do I just tell the salesman that I want to deal with a sales manager? To be honest seems like a pain in the rear to just get a salesman to answer questions.
 
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AsphaltCowboy said:
Mr. Irishman, thank you for your response, My heritage is also Irish or so I'm told, have the name and red beard, plus a couple greys.

I won't be going for an extended warranty, I have a GMC Sierra and Land Cruiser, they get less than a thousand miles on them per year. I'm more worried about shaking out any possible problems from the lack of miles I put on a vehicle. I read (I think) they want you to change the oil every 12 months, most likely the truck will not have been driven over one thousand miles in that period.

The salesman did mention another discount for owning a GMC, said to bring in the registration. I won't be trading it in.

Thanks for the info.
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LOL, we're descended from the Black Irish, Waterford County. Dark hair, blue eyes, mean as rattlesnakes.

You can also get a small rebate check ($250?) from Allstate just for filling out the form using any non FCA vehicle, no trade required. I used my old Audi.

You can stack those incentives and rebates. Though just one TrueCar lead (PenFed OR USAA, etc.)

I (regrettably) sold my 04.5 5.9L with 72K miles on it in 16 years.
 
If you want to expand your search beyond the 250 mile radius that the ramtrucks website offers, you can use many of the other new car sites to try and track down the perfect match. I scoured cars.com and autotrader.com for a couple of months before I ended up ordering, as I never did find exactly what I was looking for.

For the ordering process, you absolutely don't need to go in and sit down for an order. I ended up going through a broker and simply built what I wanted on the ramtrucks site, sent them the link, they then replied back with a build sheet that I had to print, sign and send back telling them it was ok to build. They did ask me to send a check for deposit since I was just some random voice over the phone/random email account. But I was fine with that.
 
LateToTheParty said:
If you want to expand your search beyond the 250 mile radius that the ramtrucks website offers, you can use many of the other new car sites to try and track down the perfect match. I scoured cars.com and autotrader.com for a couple of months before I ended up ordering, as I never did find exactly what I was looking for.

For the ordering process, you absolutely don't need to go in and sit down for an order. I ended up going through a broker and simply built what I wanted on the ramtrucks site, sent them the link, they then replied back with a build sheet that I had to print, sign and send back telling them it was ok to build. They did ask me to send a check for deposit since I was just some random voice over the phone/random email account. But I was fine with that.
Click to expand...
My experience is that the sales folks are paid commission on the profit of the sale. However, the internet sales guys are incentivized by the quantity of vehicles that they can sell, regardless of the profit and they make the same amount whether you pay $90k or $75k. Also, if you are willing to take a 2020 off the lot when the 2021's are coming in (especially a few days before then end of the month), and not order one you have the opportunity to save a ton. I did this and saved about $15k off sticker.
 
Brutal_HO said:
mean as rattlesnakes.
We may be kin! ;)


I (regrettably) sold my 04.5 5.9L with 72K miles on it in 16 years.
I have a 1997 FJZ80 Land Cruiser 130K miles (Their 40th anniversary). I have gone back and forth on selling it due to the price skyrocketing. They have a cult following. I've become a "Nancy" with it and don't take it offroading much. May hold onto for 5-10 more years, don't want to regret selling it, it's my 3rd one.
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20180520_165717.jpg
Hopefully not verboten posting a Toyota on a Ram forum.
 
LateToTheParty said:
If you want to expand your search beyond the 250 mile radius that the ramtrucks website offers, you can use many of the other new car sites to try and track down the perfect match. I scoured cars.com and autotrader.com for a couple of months before I ended up ordering, as I never did find exactly what I was looking for.

For the ordering process, you absolutely don't need to go in and sit down for an order. I ended up going through a broker and simply built what I wanted on the ramtrucks site, sent them the link, they then replied back with a build sheet that I had to print, sign and send back telling them it was ok to build. They did ask me to send a check for deposit since I was just some random voice over the phone/random email account. But I was fine with that.
Click to expand...
I have no problem with giving a deposit, I expected it in fact. The closest match on ramtrucks is 21 of 27 (at 250 miles) and a color I don't care for. At this point I believe having it built is my best option. Haven't heard anything back yet from the dealership. I'll give it another day and then move onto someone else to get the ball rolling. Thanks for the reply.
 
jpidgie said:
My experience is that the sales folks are paid commission on the profit of the sale. However, the internet sales guys are incentivized by the quantity of vehicles that they can sell, regardless of the profit and they make the same amount whether you pay $90k or $75k. Also, if you are willing to take a 2020 off the lot when the 2021's are coming in (especially a few days before then end of the month), and not order one you have the opportunity to save a ton. I did this and saved about $15k off sticker.
Click to expand...
I have thought about this, I feel like the resale will be better having a year newer. And also I spent some time in several of the fuel pump/CP4 threads. I should stay out of those threads so I can sleep at night. I'm hoping that issues is solved for the 2021s. I'm still searching daily like LateToTheParty mentioned Autotrader, etc. If I find a screaming deal on a 2020 that matches my criteria, I may have to eat my words and buy it.
 
AsphaltCowboy said:
I have no problem with giving a deposit, I expected it in fact. The closest match on ramtrucks is 21 of 27 (at 250 miles) and a color I don't care for. At this point I believe having it built is my best option. Haven't heard anything back yet from the dealership. I'll give it another day and then move onto someone else to get the ball rolling. Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...
Wow. 21 of 27. I guess I won't feel like I was being too picky when the closest I ever got was 3 of 4.
 
From what I understand, unless you are ordering something that is hard to sell off the lot (such as oddball color, or maybe a CCLB gasser) they should be pretty flexible and easy to work with. A friend of mine ordered one a while back and that's what they told him. he didn't even have to put a deposit down or make an official commitment.
 
Here's one that has piqued my interest it's been on the lot for 187 days according to cargurus. They have the price advertised at $54,795 MSRP $61,545. They only have 3 pictures, all of the outside. I've tried several of the links posted in other threads to see the build sheet, no luck, not sure if it's my laptop or the links down. The VIN 3C6UR5DLXLG146812 if someone could help me out. Thanks.
 
Watch out, some of those prices do not contain the shipping cost of 1695. I walked when the deal I thought was there was just playing with the numbers. And, my local dealer wanted me to come in also, I went elsewhere because I was able to do all of it over the phone, e-mail and text.
 
I have had the same experience- asking me to come in to do the build...I could go on and on about the horrible experiences in dealing with car salesmen - the only time you have their attention is when you are at the dealership and they have a car on the lot to sell you that day, which is really the fault of the sales manager for poor training. Car dealers have not transitioned their selling tactics to the way people want to buy. But a few have and they will do well.
 
I called about the truck mentioned above. The salesman looked it up and sent a link to my email with 37 pictures... My bad for not doing better research.(their website) He asked when I'm looking to buy, I told him immediately. I asked him to email me the invoice, he stated he would not sell me the truck for invoice if that was what I was thinking. About 2 seconds later he told me the invoice was for 57K something and he would sell it to me for the $54,795 posted in the ad. I asked again to email me the invoice, he refused saying when I come there he can show it to me. Based on The Irishman' AKA Brutal_HO posting I need to see that minus the HB. He seemed irritated I would ask for it, he said to just give him a number I was thinking of. I thanked him for his time.

Is the market that hot or am I a bad negotiator? I'm not trying to trash talk anyone, they are a business and need to make money and I'm a consumer (for lack of a better word) that wants a good deal. The journey continues!
 
Bdwb said:
I have had the same experience- asking me to come in to do the build...I could go on and on about the horrible experiences in dealing with car salesmen - the only time you have their attention is when you are at the dealership and they have a car on the lot to sell you that day, which is really the fault of the sales manager for poor training. Car dealers have not transitioned their selling tactics to the way people want to buy. But a few have and they will do well.
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Yes, this is exactly what I have been experiencing. I don't want to go home until the end of the month, so I can vote. And the closest dealer is about 40 minutes away, I live in the boonies. There are several about an hour, hour and a half away. I don't want to waste my home-time playing the walk out game. My time off is precious, it needs to be spent on cooking/grilling, having a couple beers and catching up on home maintenance.
 
AsphaltCowboy said:
I called about the truck mentioned above. The salesman looked it up and sent a link to my email with 37 pictures... My bad for not doing better research.(their website) He asked when I'm looking to buy, I told him immediately. I asked him to email me the invoice, he stated he would not sell me the truck for invoice if that was what I was thinking. About 2 seconds later he told me the invoice was for 57K something and he would sell it to me for the $54,795 posted in the ad. I asked again to email me the invoice, he refused saying when I come there he can show it to me. Based on The Irishman' AKA Brutal_HO posting I need to see that minus the HB. He seemed irritated I would ask for it, he said to just give him a number I was thinking of. I thanked him for his time.

Is the market that hot or am I a bad negotiator? I'm not trying to trash talk anyone, they are a business and need to make money and I'm a consumer (for lack of a better word) that wants a good deal. The journey continues!
Click to expand...

When I was working the dealerships on my order and it was down to three, I had one that simply refused to give me a number, kept asking me what other dealers were offering.??!! He kept making excuses about not knowing rebatres etc. I said I don't care about the rebates, just give me a price. After several conversations, I pretty much went off on him on the phone for not giving me a price. When I later received an email from the dealership on a follow up, I blasted them as to why I bought somewhere else.

FWIW, I did 100% of my negotiating via email, phone calls, and text before making an appointment to put in my order. The dealers that were willing to play didn't have any issue emailing me their invoice sheets. That said, I also called each dealership and asked for the email and phone number for their fleet or sales manager and dealt with each of them almost exclusively. One or two punted me to the "internet" sales associate.
 
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