most economical family vehicle

[JasonDallas]

I find it really depends a lot more on how motivated the salesperson and manager/dealer are, rather than the brand of the dealership.

The reason it depends on the brand of dealership is because of dealer cash incentives that allow some brands to buy your car for more than say a Honda or Toyota dealer even could.

I had a ton of email/website offers and ended up negotiating a price near invoice and a far better value on my trade-in than my nearest Toyota dealer.

I bought 5 new Toyota/Hondas in a row and just got used to "just under invoice" being a good deal. With most American brands, that would be a bad deal, thousands more than the best deal you could get. The other thing that surprised me was how friendly the Ford dealer was. I've been to most of the ~15 Toyota dealers in my area, and it was so nice to arrive at a dealership with the keys out on the table and the sales guy telling me to call him if I need anything on my test drive. That used to happen 10 years ago at Toyota dealers, but when I was shopping for the Highlander before the Flex I had to jabber with sales guys that knew nothing about their vehicle before I could get anywhere.

I agree the dodge grand caravan is another you could get pretty cheaply. For 2011 it is a lot less low rent as well. Hopefully over the next year they'll continue their quality improvements. Personally for me, if I'm going to go all the way and get a minivan it better have 8 seats. Hopefully Chrysler/Dodge will correct that some day.

Jason

 

[SafeDad]

My nearest Toyota dealer is pretty much as you described. We were generally pleased at the Carmax new Toyota dealer for our Prius a couple years ago. We also bought a Subaru Outback there back in '99 when they had a new Subaru dealership. Sadly, they cranked up their no-haggle published prices from well below invoice a couple months ago so I ended up going elsewhere.

On the other hand, back in 2005 when I last bought a car, I was pretty unimpressed with the nearest Ford dealer, too. Ford is doing quite well lately. I even considered buying a Fusion hybrid, but ultimately decided I wanted one of our vehicles to have a third row of seating. I wish Ford had a 3-row extended wheelbase version of the Escape Hybrid!