-hh
On Tuesday, February 18, 2014 6:39:08 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:

sms
The average age of vehicles on the road continues to increase so apparently there are many customers with a long term mindset.

-hh
Not necessarily: it could be as simple as "I can't afford a new monthly payment of $X for a new car", so they keep on plugging away with the old one.

sms
It's fairly easy to find a starting point from which to negotiate from. Look at the "x in stock at this price" ads, get quotes from someone in USAA, find the invoice price and deduct the holdbacks and factory-to-dealer incentives, etc. to try to get a rough idea of the actual dealer cost (often factory to dealer incentives are not easy to find).

-hh
Getting a handle on a dealer's true cost is a handful, and easier said than done. A coworker just got an Accord at IIRC 10% below the supposed Invoice, for example.

sms
What always amuses me is that 1-2 year old new vehicles often cost _more_ than a new vehicle of the same model

-hh
Depends on the model, but there's a couple of reasons why. One is that 'legal' (from the USA perspective) grey market exports from the USA to other markets, where the products sell for much more. For example, China has a 100% import tariff, which for even a $30K vehicle is an incentive to DIY import and bribe your way through the ports with money to spare.