Buying question

[jhmvolvo]

Hi everyone, we're just about to buy an XC90 and I have a question!

Our local dealership doesn't have the exact model that we want, but there is another dealership in the province that does have what we want.

Should we buy direct from the other dealership? Or get our local dealership to buy the car from the other dealership and sell it to us? Would there be a major price difference?

Couple of things to note:
1. The dealerships are not part of the same business - they have different owners, so I'm not sure if that complicates things.
2. If the difference is marginal then I'd obviously prefer to get it from our local dealership and save a day of travel.

Thanks in advance!

[MoVolvos]

Hi everyone, we're just about to buy an XC90 and I have a question!

Our local dealership doesn't have the exact model that we want, but there is another dealership in the province that does have what we want.

Should we buy direct from the other dealership? Or get our local dealership to buy the car from the other dealership and sell it to us? Would there be a major price difference?

Couple of things to note:
1. The dealerships are not part of the same business - they have different owners, so I'm not sure if that complicates things.
2. If the difference is marginal then I'd obviously prefer to get it from our local dealership and save a day of travel.

Thanks in advance!

This is true of the U.S. and one would assume could be true in BC.

1) All dealerships are privately owned. It's considered a Franchise.
2) Dealers will do a Dealer Trade on a vehicle they both want and just pay each other the difference.
3) If you buy a Dealer Trade you may or may not get the same discount. Here in NC my local dealer honor a $1000 discount on a 2019 Altas which would have required me to drive 150 miles one way to purchase. They found another Dealer about 80 miles away so I decided to go with that.
4) They hire an independent company who supplies drivers to do the swap. Having worked at Acura I don't trust the drivers so asked if I could go along. The driver turned out to be a retired FBI agent so I really did not needed to go. Safe and careful was he when he drove the Trade Atlas for the swap.
5) The purchase transaction is done before picking up the vehicle sight unseen, although they did not get a check from me yet. Thinking the dealership would be responsible till they PDI and hand me the vehicle I asked my driver Mark if he wouldn't mind if I drove back? He said I owned it already after signing the paperwork the previous day.
6) The other Dealer had not prep the car.
7) The dash warning light for the Lane Assist was on, meaning problem. The mechanic who specialized in that area was out to lunch.
It disappear after starting it up a few times so decided not to wait.
9) The steering wheel shook back and forth besides the entire car for the 80 miles back to the selling dealership !

I would never buy a car again without having test driven it personally. I got everything I wanted in terms of features but to this day I still have some vibration issues. Just not enough time to take it to the dealership. Unless you have test driven it don't buy it.

EDIT: The selling Dealership was professional and courteous but the Dealership we got the car from was, I assumed the same .

[jhmvolvo]

That's very helpful, thanks! Good to know about the Dealer Trade - I think we'll buy from our local dealer.

[MoVolvos]

That's very helpful, thanks! Good to know about the Dealer Trade - I think we'll buy from our local dealer.

Let us know how you make out!