Hi everyone, bit confused how to approach negotiations and what I should expect in negotiating for a leftover 2018 cayman S near me. Seeing as how it's late February 2020, I know the car should be significantly below sticker. MSRP is at 87k. Dealer has it marked at 69.9k. What should be the goal here? I know it's possible to get 8-10% off MSRP on current model year cars, so I feel perhaps a 20-25% discount is at least warranted? What do you think, would love some advice. Read through discount and pricing threads but nothing really applied to this unique 2 year old situation. Should I attempt to make an offer for 60k?
Thanks!
PS Dealer also has Boxster GTS's leftover from 2018. 93k MSRP, 83k asking price. They have 4 of these, maybe they would be more motivated to move them? Would the smarter move to try to get a steeper discount on these, which would also hold their resell value in the future better, making my overall cost to own less?
Would love to pick your brains.
When did the warranty start, or has the dealer not "put the car in service." I believe the warranty is running on most leftovers for one reason or another. So, this car could have a warranty of anywhere between roughly 2-1/2 years and 4 years. And what was the build month, eg, 9/2017, 5/2018? You can probably see where I'm going with all that. There are new cars, and then there are cars that are new in most every way but for a few reasons are not. The older and less warranty remaining, the more aggressive you can be with your offer.
All that said, $69.9K is right at your 20% off MSRP figure. For a very clean, very low mileage two year old car - since that's what it'll be the minute you drive it off the lot - I feel that 25% off MSRP is a reasonable starting point, and the answers to the above questions might provide ammunition to get you closer to your figure of $60K. Being one of very few "new" 2018s left on the planet, it's a unicorn and these negotiations tend to be as well. Make sure the dealer has done the first year service (Porsche covers it at no-charge), and have them throw in the 2-year service as part of the deal.
Regarding the Boxsters, I think the answer depends on whether you want a convertible or not. That is, assuming all the cars are in mainstream colors and typical builds (anywhere from stripped to loaded, but not outlandishly so), I wouldn't pick one model over the other because of a perceived difference in resale value. These cars are not investments (in the near term anyway) and all will depreciate at similar rates. To me, it's more a matter of ensuring there's a good size market for the car when it comes time to sell. For example some color combinations will limit the market. And yes, a GTS may go for a little more than a similarly equipped S, but I don't think I'd pay more than that difference for it to begin with.
As for the actual build, I don't think it matters much what specific options are included beyond my earlier comment about not paying for an outlandish build. For every buyer looking for a fully loaded car, there seems to be one looking for a stripper, and I think MSRP fairly represents the comparative value of most every build. Interestingly though, I haven't found that options necessarily hold their value particularly well. That is to say, a car with $15K of options won't sell in the used market for $5K more than one with $10K of options, so don't pay up for options you don't feel you want or need.
Good luck. I hope you'll let us know how it all worked out.
