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Email templates · Car dealer

Email template to ask a car dealer for the out-the-door price

You have found a specific car at a dealership, online or in person, and you want to know what it will actually cost to drive it home. The sticker price leaves out taxes, registration, documentation fees, and whatever add-ons the dealer has tacked on. The out-the-door price is the one number that includes all of it. Asking for it by email gives you something in writing to compare against other dealers and to hold them to.

Before you send

  • The exact car: year, make, model, trim, and the stock number or VIN from the listing.
  • Your zip code. Taxes and registration depend on where you live, not where the dealer is.
  • Whether you are paying cash, financing through the dealer, or bringing your own financing. Say so, because some dealers quote differently.
  • A firm date by which you plan to buy. A real timeline gets a real number back.
Subject Out-the-door price on [year make model], stock #[stock number] 
Hi [dealer or salesperson name],

I'm interested in the [year make model trim] you have listed, stock number [stock number] (VIN [VIN if you have it]).

Could you send me the full out-the-door price for this car, delivered to zip code [your zip code]? I'd like the total broken down into:

- Selling price of the vehicle
- Documentation fee
- Any dealer-installed add-ons or accessories, listed individually
- Tax, title, and registration

I'm [paying cash / arranging my own financing / open to financing through you], and I'm planning to buy within [the next two weeks]. If the number works, I'll come in to sign, so a written quote saves us both a trip.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A serious dealer replies within a business day with a breakdown. If you get a "come in and we'll talk" instead, reply once, restate that you need it in writing, and move on if they still won't.
  • Look at the add-ons line. Nitrogen in the tires, fabric protection, and etching are the usual padding. Ask for them to be removed or zeroed out.
  • Send the same email to two or three other dealers with the same car. The quotes will not match, and the gap is your negotiating room.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get me the out-the-door price on a car 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get the out-the-door price on a car for me and handle the back-and-forth with the dealer.

The car: [year make model trim, stock number or VIN, and the dealership's name or listing link].
My zip code: [zip code].
How I'm paying: [cash / my own financing / open to dealer financing].
When I want to buy: [date or timeframe].

If you can find other dealers nearby with the same car, ask them too and bring me all the numbers side by side.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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