Negotiating Free Extras When Buying New Car

[thelongshoot]

Hey there

Im going to order a new V Cross this week. Its the second time I have brought a new car - the first one the ex mrs dealt with a few years back so this is the first time I am buying alone, so to speak.

Just wondering how much of a 'hard ass' I should be when asking for free extras? I have noticed on different threads here that most people seem to get a few extras thrown in free of charge with a new car.... So what can i expect? Like i said, I have never done this before so I dont know how realistic i can be when bartering for free extras.

I am ordering a new top of the line V Cross at 927,000 Baht.....

The sports kit runs at 60,000 baht. Is it realistic to ask for this as a freebie? (60,000 is over priced massivley in my opinion. Could probably get simmilar kit in after market shop for 20 or 30,000)

Other bits and bobs include bug shield, window visa for driver and passanger windows, a couple of other cheaper extras like this.

If i could get the sports kit i would be happy. Again, is that realistic?

Cheers

TLS

[Darrel]

It makes sense that they should not be very keen on discounts but quite generous with in-house freebies which of course don't actually cost them very much on the bottom line.

It seems to depend on where you are though.

Recently I found that a Pattaya dealer offered me free insurance/tax, free bed liner, free mats, free sensors and camera, free window cover things and free door handle trim but baulked at a tank full of diesel and would rather watch me walk out of the showroom than offer even 1B discount on the 825KB list price.

So I contacted a BKK dealer who quickly offered the same freebies, plus free window film, free spare wheel lock, some other things I didnt want and 20KB discount.

So I went back to the Pattaya dealer and said "match this or I buy in BKK" and, following a rapid phone call to his boss, he did indeed match the offer. Obviously for me it was a much better deal as it avoided 2 tedious trips to BKK.

Since then I've been wondering how much more I could have got had I been tougher or, dare I say it, had I been Thai. Had I had more time (and been less bored with the process) I would also have gone and talked to the dealerships in nearby towns where I suspect they see far fewer farangs.

Either way, I think you have to be as hard as nails with all of them and don't hesitate to play them off against each other. Just like real estate agents, no car dealer in the world is your friend; they only care about their commission.

[transam]

And don't forget to mention your also going to look at a Toyota etc, to the sales staff.

[thelongshoot]

Thanks Darrel/Transam

Maybe I am a terrrible negotiator lol but I tried Darrels tactics and totaly bombed. They just simply said "sure. Go to Ratchaburi then" before I even got hard ass with them ha ha.

I went for the free sports kit at 60K and they just laughed. No chance. Even when i said Ratchaburi offered it me free they just said ok, go there then. Same with free insurance - would not budge at all.

What I did get was free bed liner, rain visas for side windows, rubber mats inside, bug visa for the hood, tinted windows (3M 5 year gaurantee) and a cover for the car. To be honest with you, I would have expected all of that to come with the car anyway so i dont feel like I had a great deal. Ok maybe the tinted windows was a bonus but seriously the rubber dirst mats for the floor? They dont come as standard?

I would have been happy with free insurance but as I said, they didnt budge.

If I was to folow darrels advice to the latter I should have drove to ratchaburi to see what they could offer or at least called but to be honest, I just could not be bothered. I find it hard ordering a pizza over here let alone calling a dealer to ssee what free extras I could get on a 927K truck.

So I guess to conclude, I didnt have a great deal but it wasnt bad. And if I wasnt such a lzy sod, i may have had a better deal if i had enquired at ratchaburi or Petchaburi.

Thanks again

TLS

[JAS21]

To be realistic I don't think that you will get anything off... they are like gold and a long waiting list.

When I bought my 3L VGS Z Prestige Navi 4 x 4 A/T Isuzu were offering an attractive insurance quote and a 'package price' of mats, window film and the bit of plastic that sits in the back. Probably same offer now.

The dealer did juggle with the package as I wanted Lamina L75 window film. I can't speak highly enough of my dealer, however I don't think that there is anything much going in the freebee line. Why should there be as they can sell all that they can make AND are selling a lot.

Actually I will be down their main office this eveing and will ask. I'm doing the Insight Challange with them at present and have recently talked with the company guys at length. They do look after their customers really well, actually I'm surprised just how well they do it. They have organised events such as 'caravan trains', golf competitions and probably other things that I haven't found out yet..

As a word of warning, at present the truck is 'very desirable' ... I've had fitted that 'anti theft' thing that stops the engine starting and also stops the brake pedal from being pressed. Beware if you take it near the border!!!

[thelongshoot]

Thanks Jas. Yeh they are desirable at the minute so its a sellers market I guess.

Can I just ask you a couple of things.... There is a seperate thread running regarding window film but I could not see the wood for the trees with all the different opinions on what is best. I just want the windows to be dark enough so you cant see inside too much - or at least cant see very clearly - but dont want to have to squint when I drive at night. Would lamina L75 fit that mold?

Also what is the Insight challenge?

Best

TLS

[Darrel]

I should probably add that the car I bought was a brand that did not have a very long order time (3 weeks). Somehow I doubt that I would have had the same success with a brand with long waiting times.

I did employ a Thai girl in my building to do the donkey work with the BKK dealer over the phone. Without that a trip would probably have been required, and I'm not sure that I would have got the same discount as she did (though initially she was saying "I'm sure we can get 50K off").

I did take a copy of the BKK dealer's faxed offer in to the local dealer. This seemed to carry more weight than me just saying "so and so offered me more".

Isn't one-year tax/premium insurance included automatically? All the dealers I spoke to seemed to be including this and I thought it was completely standard.

[Shrubbery]

When the Mrs and I ordered our Vigo from Kmotors Bangkok, the salesman gave us 2 options. Free Insurance or a package consisting of: Bed Liner, Wind Deflectors, Rubber Floor Mats, 3M Window Film, Brake/Clutch Lock, Licence Plate Holder!!! and Rubbish Bin. Additionally they gave us 10,000 Bht discount.

We had previously looked at a Dmax up country and Isuzu wouldn't give us anything.

[JAS21]

Thanks Jas. Yeh they are desirable at the minute so its a sellers market I guess.

Can I just ask you a couple of things.... There is a seperate thread running regarding window film but I could not see the wood for the trees with all the different opinions on what is best. I just want the windows to be dark enough so you cant see inside too much - or at least cant see very clearly - but dont want to have to squint when I drive at night. Would lamina L75 fit that mold?

Also what is the Insight challenge?

Best

TLS

For Insight Challange look here http://www.isuzuclub.com/webboard/viewtopic.php?t=38886 use google translate ... final is this Saturday

I think that L75 may not give you the effect you require ... it's pretty light and you can see quite easily into the vehicle. If you live in my area come and look. Near the junction of Prachachuen Road and Chaeng Wattana Road. Not that far from Makro.

I think if you 'need' a discount then look to something like a Vigo. You will wait quite a while for Izuzu to offer simular.

[PattayaParent]

When I was buying a new car from Toyota they included insurance as one of the freebies.

I didn't want it so they gave a 20,000 Baht discount on the price to remove their freebies and then I could choose what ones I wanted up to the 20k, or just pay 20k less cash.

This was the same at 2 different Toyota dealers for 2 different cars in the space of 1 year.

[sotsira]

Right now the market seems backlogged with orders and long waiting lists, until that

changes it will remain a sellers market and therefore less favourable deals regarding freebies

or discounts.

Obviously last years floods and the Japan crisis are still playing a major role in all this.

[aviadbkk]

i also ask in bkk about the v-cross....not even 1 free gift (ins',film,nothing) ! better to wait for the next motor show...there are always good deals than.

[JAS21]

Just got my V-Cross 4 days ago, Top Model, automatic, and white. Price was 996, they gave dark film (even the front is dark so i stopped at night to check for a broken light )

and some rubber mats which are flat; not the ones with edges so i have to replace them with real mats.. No discounts possible. We phoned 20 dealers all over the country, same same, the deposit of 3000 B all of them would have refunded if we find the car elsewhere...

Why should they? Waited three month, 100.000 on waiting list.

Plus 5.000 for the bed liner + 16.000 for insurance + 3000 for the red numbers which will be returned when the white ones come.

Oh, forgot, we got a key ring and a rubber toy for my baby; also some fruit and water!

And a very competent salesman who knew everything about the car, unlike these you know from Big C.

Until the "first Buyer program" runs out there will be no deals with Isuzu.

And driving home i know why - the car is fantastic. 14.5 l/km speeding/driving at 100 km/h for a 2650 kg monster.

Excellent quality, everything solid, no rattling, smooth AT both on D or manual, lots of store room in every corner, Garmin Navi, 6 speakers, a usable rear camera, comfortable seats (drove home 8 hours). Great.

At 80 km/h the engines reves 1400, when you go of the accelerator it drops to idle, saving gas, when you step on it there is no gap or shaking, just driving as it should be.

The interior dark brown leather bites the eyes though, but think, in 3 years you are happy that there was no "cream" which then has turned to greyish..

Yes, thats about it the truck is fantastic. We have just had our first 10,000Kms service, had the truck since March. Their 'Customer Relation Management' program, in my view, is working really well. They have a Facebook site with loads of information, photos etc. We did an event with them this last weekend, really well organised and as they say in Thailand 'good fun'. Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones.

As we had to go Tri-Petch last week, we had the service carried out whilst there. We had lunch in the restaurant, as you would expect pretty busy with their staff. Spent the rest of the waiting time in an area on the 2nd floor. Complimentary coffee, soft drinks, ice cream, popcorn and TV programs (in Thai).

They said that the car would be ready at 3pm and it was. We actually walked down to service reception earlier to see if it was ready ... got a speedy reply, definately ready by 3pm.

A couple of months ago we did their 4*4 course which is in the Chonburi area, you use their cars ... just let you know incase someone from TV wants to buy mine when I replace it in a couple of years. The All-New-D-Max won't be replaced for ten years but will have updates so I'm told.

I can't speak highly enough of the Isuzu set up. Whenever we visit our dealership the manager, if there, comes straight out and greets up. I have no idea what other companies do, but this one has got it right. Customer Relationship wise and Product wise ... well certainly with the V-Cross Z-Prestige 4*4 A/T that we have.

Here is a picture of some of the cars just before the start, we had to get up early to be first there, 'kin early!! Ah little problem with attaching..........

[JAS21]

Managed to upload

[Darrel]

I can't speak highly enough of the Isuzu set up. Whenever we visit our dealership the manager, if there, comes straight out and greets up. I have no idea what other companies do, but this one has got it right.

Strange. When I last visited my local Isuzu showroom they had no pick-ups on display (none at all) and no brochures. Just 6 girls eating somtam and saying "car mai mi ka".

I thought they were far and away the least competent brand I visited.

[funcat]

..."Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones."...

...and how exactly did you menage to get those results?...and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

[JAS21]

Ok You two

Our dealership is Nakornluang and the branch is in Chaeng Wattana, just past Central. The only other dealership that I have experience is Tripetch itself. As I said both excellent, cars in their showrooms but none of them for sale.

The fuel consumption, the 3L being better than then 2.5L, bit of a surprise to me but that’s the way that I saw the results. The technical guy also told me that the A/T and M/T cars do about the same kpl, something to do with the gearing and the fact that tolerances in the fluid coupling are pretty tight. Someone else said if you take your foot off the accelerator the engine revs drop to idling speed after a short while and you glide, of course if going down hill this disengagement does not occur and you have engine braking. Huge improvements have been made in A/T design and manufacture in recent years. Both Mercedes and BMW quote better fuel consumption from their auto units and have done for years.

The Insight Challenge. It was 300kms to be completed in four hours and that included three stops, I had worked out (not that difficult) that we needed an average speed of just over 75kph . So I would have to drive most of the time just over 80kph. Later I found out that you were actually allowed four and a half hours. Because of the route I expected everyone to get 100% on the five area that the computer programme looks at, so the winner would be decided on the best fuel consumption. So I dropped our average speed a little ... a fatal mistake as it meant that the accelerator position was in the 11-20% open position for a long period and the computer program likes it in the 21-30% for quite a bit of the time. So instead of getting 100% we got 96%. No one got 99%, 98% or 97% and for the life of me I don’t know why. Also we were held up on the last section both at the stop point and and on the road. To avoid being out of time and disqualified we upped our speed somewhat. Out of interest in that section our fuel consumption was just under 19kpl.

Now how accurate is the on board computer Kpl? I had checked previously on a full tank to full tank and calculated that the computer lied a little, about 5%-6%. The GPS reads around 6% slower than the car speedo at 80kph.

At Insight Briefings the Tech guys explained a lot about the cars ... well I think they did! ... and also how to get the best Kpl out of the car.

I show my computer print out for the competition. At each service you are given this sheet to show how you drove in the five areas in the last 10000 Kms. It encourages you to anticipate what is happening ahead, keep your speed down and don’t idle the engine whilst waiting for your wife to do the shopping. A bit of a GREEN THING really.

Guys what you buy is up to you but as I said before I like the product and I like the Customer Care. Both these certainly encourage Brand Loyalty.

I'll replace this with another in a couple of years, so bear it in mind and you will have the chance of a one carefully owned Truck, which has at least one panel polished every day (takes about one week to get around) this I find allows you to get the bird sh-t off easily!!

Pics to follow...............as last time I tried to attach I lost the whole lot!

[thelongshoot]

Update on this

I initialy deposited 3000 Baht with a view to paying a further 10,000 baht when i completed the order (two days ago)

Salesman visited my house which i thought was unusual but anyway he insisted that the freebies he promised me were actualy 10,000 baht and not free. He insists that I got confused between 10,000 baht deposit and 10,000 cost for the extras.

We had a bit of an argument about it and im still convinced that he said "give me 10,000 baht deposit and i will get you these extras for free"

So in the end i got nothing free. Not a thing. He claims the insurance should be 20,000 but he gave it to me for 15,000. I dont know if this is true.

And the delivery time went up from 2-3 months to 4 months

Ah well. I went ahead and completed the order anyway. No point in dwelling on it and as i said, it is a sellers market at the moment so a tough deal is to be expected.

[stevenl]

Ok You two

Our dealership is Nakornluang and the branch is in Chaeng Wattana, just past Central. The only other dealership that I have experience is Tripetch itself. As I said both excellent, cars in their showrooms but none of them for sale.

The fuel consumption, the 3L being better than then 2.5L, bit of a surprise to me but that’s the way that I saw the results. The technical guy also told me that the A/T and M/T cars do about the same kpl, something to do with the gearing and the fact that tolerances in the fluid coupling are pretty tight. Someone else said if you take your foot off the accelerator the engine revs drop to idling speed after a short while and you glide, of course if going down hill this disengagement does not occur and you have engine braking. Huge improvements have been made in A/T design and manufacture in recent years. Both Mercedes and BMW quote better fuel consumption from their auto units and have done for years.

The Insight Challenge. It was 300kms to be completed in four hours and that included three stops, I had worked out (not that difficult) that we needed an average speed of just over 75kph . So I would have to drive most of the time just over 80kph. Later I found out that you were actually allowed four and a half hours. Because of the route I expected everyone to get 100% on the five area that the computer programme looks at, so the winner would be decided on the best fuel consumption. So I dropped our average speed a little ... a fatal mistake as it meant that the accelerator position was in the 11-20% open position for a long period and the computer program likes it in the 21-30% for quite a bit of the time. So instead of getting 100% we got 96%. No one got 99%, 98% or 97% and for the life of me I don’t know why. Also we were held up on the last section both at the stop point and and on the road. To avoid being out of time and disqualified we upped our speed somewhat. Out of interest in that section our fuel consumption was just under 19kpl.

Now how accurate is the on board computer Kpl? I had checked previously on a full tank to full tank and calculated that the computer lied a little, about 5%-6%. The GPS reads around 6% slower than the car speedo at 80kph.

At Insight Briefings the Tech guys explained a lot about the cars ... well I think they did! ... and also how to get the best Kpl out of the car.

I show my computer print out for the competition. At each service you are given this sheet to show how you drove in the five areas in the last 10000 Kms. It encourages you to anticipate what is happening ahead, keep your speed down and don’t idle the engine whilst waiting for your wife to do the shopping. A bit of a GREEN THING really.

Guys what you buy is up to you but as I said before I like the product and I like the Customer Care. Both these certainly encourage Brand Loyalty.

I'll replace this with another in a couple of years, so bear it in mind and you will have the chance of a one carefully owned Truck, which has at least one panel polished every day (takes about one week to get around) this I find allows you to get the bird sh-t off easily!!

Pics to follow...............as last time I tried to attach I lost the whole lot!

Please post in a legible font

[JAS21]

[JAS21]

Update on this

I initialy deposited 3000 Baht with a view to paying a further 10,000 baht when i completed the order (two days ago)

Salesman visited my house which i thought was unusual but anyway he insisted that the freebies he promised me were actualy 10,000 baht and not free. He insists that I got confused between 10,000 baht deposit and 10,000 cost for the extras.

We had a bit of an argument about it and im still convinced that he said "give me 10,000 baht deposit and i will get you these extras for free"

So in the end i got nothing free. Not a thing. He claims the insurance should be 20,000 but he gave it to me for 15,000. I dont know if this is true.

And the delivery time went up from 2-3 months to 4 months

Ah well. I went ahead and completed the order anyway. No point in dwelling on it and as i said, it is a sellers market at the moment so a tough deal is to be expected.

Yep ... if I recall correctly the package of liner, mats and film was 9000Baht and you could have an insurance for either 16000 or 16500 ... as I said before nothing going free ................

My dealer changed the film for me and I paid extra ... however I got a good deal on the film ... about half what I could have got it for ... I went for TOR Lamina ... it's called L75.

Right decission though and worth the wait. Come and look at mine if you want

[Darrel]

and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

Certainly possible if the 3L vehicle has been designed with fuel economy in mind and the smaller one hasn't. Also it will depend on other factors as each vehicle could be more economical at different speeds and under different loads.

[stevenl]

..."Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones."...

...and how exactly did you menage to get those results?...and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

My experience with a 3L and 2.5 L Isuzu (not the new one though), is that the 2.5 liter is around 4 k per liter better. Part of that may also be to the fact that the 2.5 was MT and the 3 L AT though.

[LucidLucifer]

We took delivery (finally) of our Honda last week, and we managed to get loads of freebies:

Full leather interior

Rear parking sensors

Mats and boot liner

Window film

Door sill protectors

1st class insurance

Things that may have gone in our favour were we ordered at xmas last year when the Honda factory was still shut down, and the wife's brother ordered it for us. He has bought a few cars over the years from this particular dealership.

We originally weren't supposed to get the boot liner, but just as we were about to leave the sales girl put one in without being asked. When the brother-in-law joked he didn't get one, she told him to come back next week when they had more in stock and he could have one for free.

All in all, I think we got a pretty good deal. The dealer is Honda Thanyaburi, but they also have a branch on Suwinthawong. So far, i'd recommend them.

[JAS21]

Actually the 3L that won was

..."Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones."...

...and how exactly did you menage to get those results?...and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

My experience with a 3L and 2.5 L Isuzu (not the new one though), is that the 2.5 liter is around 4 k per liter better. Part of that may also be to the fact that the 2.5 was MT and the 3 L AT though.

Actually the 3 Litre that got the best consumption was a M/T ... mines an A/T. The All-New-D-Max seems to be somewhat ahead of the game and quite an improvement on the previous models ... they are selling a huge amount every week ... and as soon as they make one, someone else orders one, so the waiting time is not getting any shorter, in fact I think that it is going the wrong way! Pleased that I ordered mine last October! Have now done 10000+ pleasurable Kms since April.

Those that now are only realising how good it is have to wait a while ... else go for what many consider is 2nd best.

[transam]

Actually the 3L that won was

..."Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones."...

...and how exactly did you menage to get those results?...and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

My experience with a 3L and 2.5 L Isuzu (not the new one though), is that the 2.5 liter is around 4 k per liter better. Part of that may also be to the fact that the 2.5 was MT and the 3 L AT though.

Actually the 3L that got the best consumption was a M/T ... mines an A/T. The All-New-D-Max seems to be somewhat ahead of the game and quite an improvement on the previous models ... they are selling a huge amount every week ... and as soon a they make one, someone else orders one, so the waiting time remains the same. Pleased that I ordered mine last October! Have done 10000 pleasurable Kms now.

Those that now are only realising how good it is have too wait a while ... else go for 2nd best.

Out of interest, who ever has a new D-max, has Izusu got rid of the ancient V belt alternator drive set up. ? Have asked before but no replies.

[funcat]

Actually the 3L that won was

..."Didn't do brillantly well on the event, we averaged 20.42kpl whereas the winner managed just over 23kpl. That was over 300kms. Got our timing a little wrong and had to rush at the end and unfortunately that section was up to Sikhio and back to Chok Chai Steak House. Interestley enough the 3Ltr cars proved, on average, more economical than the 2.5Ltr ones."...

...and how exactly did you menage to get those results?...and how the 3L engine can be more economical than 2.5L ?...interesting...

My experience with a 3L and 2.5 L Isuzu (not the new one though), is that the 2.5 liter is around 4 k per liter better. Part of that may also be to the fact that the 2.5 was MT and the 3 L AT though.

Actually the 3 Litre that got the best consumption was a M/T ... mines an A/T. The All-New-D-Max seems to be somewhat ahead of the game and quite an improvement on the previous models ... they are selling a huge amount every week ... and as soon as they make one, someone else orders one, so the waiting time is not getting any shorter, in fact I think that it is going the wrong way! Pleased that I ordered mine last October! Have now done 10000+ pleasurable Kms since April.

Those that now are only realising how good it is have to wait a while ... else go for what many consider is 2nd best.

These are pretty impressive numbers,specially for the 3L...have you ever check it in the "real" life ?...What I do is I will fill up the car,drive it and than fill up again and than do calculations....do it a few times and you get yourself a good average(!)...that's the best way I know

The Isuzu is known for a good fuel consumption,but the All-New-Isuzu doesn't have particularly a new engine...it is a VGS,but not NEW one(Chevy 2.8 has a new engine)...

...and comparing a "new" VGS 3L engine with even older 2.5 L,doesn't really give a right result....if you compere the NEW 3.2 Ranger with the 2.2 L one,the 2.2 will win in the fuel economy test...IMO

[JAS21]

Have a read of one of my earlier posts ... Says ... I did just that ... Tankfull to tankfull.

Anyway thanks for the suggestion

[JAS21]

Actually in an earlier post I explained that I did just that and what the indicated speed was compared to the GPS speed ...you made a very valid point ...just a little lie by the msnufacture.......