For The Love Of Port

I am in need of a new car (thinking volvo S80). The incentives on 2010s right now are 4000 dealer incentive and 1000 for volvo loyalty (our current car is a volvo).

This 5000 off "ends" Jan 4, and they "don't know" what the incentives will be like after that. Seems like they should go up as the 2011s approach although that is 6-7 months off. I've heard that January is the best month to try to buy a car, but don't know if that is right.

Any folks out there savvy on these car purchase dynamics that can advise?

Hi Bryan ,
It's been my experience that Oct. and Nov. are good months . Why ?
Its the end of the year , and dealers need to make room for next years cars .
I've always had better deals at this time of the year .

Bryan,

I just bought a new Toyota Rav4 a few weeks ago. But in my searching around, I found that Costco has a special deal going with Volvo. They're offering Employee Pricing + more. You can find out some more at the link: http://www.costco.com/Service/FeaturePa ... o=11273284 However it does appear it's only on the XC models (SUV/Wagons). It also appears that the factory incentives should be in addition to the employee pricing.

I did call Costco for my Toyota purchase, however it didn't work out for me. I had to purchase an in-stock vehicle from the dealer that called me (based on distance from your residence), and they didn't have what I wanted. They are supposed to have set prices, and from what I've found they're a bit cheaper than going through CarsDirect.com who also has set prices and goes through the dealer's fleet group instead of regular sales. The only variable will be your trade-in, if you have one. Also, I think the Costco dealers don't want to mess around with the customers as they don't want bad feedback to Costco. I'm sure they get a good deal of business through that channel, and they're not losing money.

What I've done is use the Cars Direct website to get an idea of invoice price and what they guarantee. And yes, I called them about a year ago and they appear to try and stick to the price they quote. So the price on the website should be a good indicator of what you'll get. Right now, Cars Direct's target price on a 3.0 S80 AWD is around $5500 under MSRP (about $3400 below invoice). These prices take into consideration the current incentives offered by the mfr, although they shouldn't take the loyalty incentive into play. I don't know if employee pricing is better. But it doesn't look like the S80 qualifies for that part.

Ultimately, I bought my Rav4 as a result of a demo model on sale for less than invoice that was advertised on the website. I didn't try to bargain price as I knew it was a good deal on a car that someone had done the breaking in for me. But there was a lot of research going in.

So I'd go through the Costco site, assuming you're a member, and they'll probably have a dealer call you that day (I did it late at night and had a call the next day before noon). You can talk to the dealer and tell them what you're looking at and he can give you an idea of what they've got and what their Costco price is.