I have been looking long and hard at al three major brands of trucks and am about to pull the trigger any day now. I eliminated the Ford Diesel as too noisy. The GMC is very quiet, for a diesel, and I will look at the Dodge tomorrow.

Local dealers are willing to sell for $250 over invoice, which seems great to me, but I have two friends who swear that Dave Smith in Wallace Idaho will do me a much better deal. I called them and they quoted me $33,000 before the $2,500 rebate, for a 04 Dodge, standard cab, 2500 SLT, Cummins diesel, 4X4 fully tricked out. Sounds too good to be true. Have any of you dealt with him? If so what was your experience. Can he really sell for well below what the local guys are telling me is their invoice cost?

I have a friend who bought from Dave Smith motors. He had nothing but good to say about them. He saved enough money by buying there that he flew over and picked up his truck.....

Dave Smith motors does such a big volume that he can sell for less.

Dealers get give backs from the factories based on volume...Invoice is not really the bottom dollar. Those damn Republicans trying to make a buck again I think

That deal you described sounds good...so does the truck

my buddy hs bought 2 trucks from him allready, dave smith has very good deals..when i get enough money saved for my FORD, thats where i will be headed..

Dealer cost is probably really closer to 2% below invoice. In addition to that, there are volume bonuses to the dealers that kick in at the end of months and quarters. These vary with the manufacturer.

At the end of the month, if the dealer is right up against the edge of a layer in his bonus scheme, it can be worth it for them to just hand you the keys - the bonus that the last vehicle kicks them into can be $50,000.

We did a system for one of the japanese manufacturers to manage this some years back. It was eye opening.

BB75: Bad news. Dave Smith does not sell Fords.

When I bought my Dodge I Looked at Dave Smith but I had a trade-in. Got the Bellevue Dodge truck fleet manager to almost match the Smith deal, took my trade-in and only pay tax on the diff. When it was all said and done came out just a little bit better local and had no travel involved. Having said that, have heard nothing but good about Smith.

I bought my dodge in Longview. I checked all over the place including dave smith. The only difference in price is the tax. Lewis county has the lowest tax %. Another thing to consider is if something does happen to your new truck you will get better service from the people you bought it from.

Also the new dodge is 325hp and 600 torque. Its a no brainer. You won't be dissappointed. I'm not.

Got any ?s shoot me an email
Good Luck
Kris
Kris

My cousin and a few friends have bought from Dave Smith.Nothing but good words from all of them.My cousin saved a few grand by going to him, over Seattle area dealers.
I think if you do an internet search you can get quite a bit of info on him.
I saw a newspaper article about him a few years ago.It was pretty interesting.Went into how he could give the deals he does.
From what I remember,SH hit the nail on the head with the bonus program info.

I know that my cousin flew over ,I think to Spokane,and was picked up at the airport by somebody from the lot.I think he said they paid for his plane ticket,but could be mistaken about that.

It also seems like you have to pick from what he has on the lot.Which is a huge selection.No special orders.I suppose some of that could have changed since then though.

Dave, here in Eastern/Central Washington most dodge trucks are purchased at Dave Smith's or from a Spokane dealer that will try to compete with his prices. While I'm a ford guy (we've had 5 PSD's and they're great), I wouldn't hesitate to buy the new dodge either. I think they're the best "bang for your buck" in the diesel truck market. I shopped Smith's years ago before my first diesel, and the salesman offered to pick me up at the Spokane airport, but our local dealership had just lost they're cummins technician and I was told it would be a year before they replaced him, so that made my mind up for me and I went to Ford, but the Cummins motor is a very good motor. I have 4 friends who have made the trip to Kellogg within the last year for a new cummins. They're prices are awesome and you're right, they don't sell Fords (yet).

Geez, I bought my Chev from a local dealer.

Bought my Yamaha from a local dealer.

Guess Idaho isn't that far away, or is it?

Sounds like ya's shootin' the crap out of shopping local.

Just how much can you save from buying "out of town?" And then, is the savings worth the travel time to get it there?

fp

I think that you can do just as well with any of the local dealers as long as you work directly with the internet sales manager.with that said do your entire deal over the phone.these dealers all no about the big dave smith deal if your willing to talk local dealers are willing to deal these guys are not stupid.theres also alot to be said for dealing with a local dealer where you can go in and deal face to face with the salesman and the general manager if there is a problem with your vehicle.also don't quote me on this but dosen't the vehicle have to be purshased int the state of washington to qualify for the lemon law.well thats my two cents.

You guys aren't listening. Call dave smith get his price then call any local dealer and tell them what dave smith people said and they will match it. I didn't even have to mention dave smith and a lot of the dealers were telling me they'd do the dave smith deal. You can go to dave smith's web site put in your info and someone will call you asap, but why go over there? YOU DON" HAVE TO GO TO IDAHO. These local boys don't want to lose business to DS anymore.

Seven hr drive to save no money. Just don't understand it. Also I don't think Idaho has a lemon law. Not sure how that works, but someone told me that when I was looking for a new truck back in the fall.

Make sure that when you do get it that you don't pay any stupid fees. NONE. Tacoma dodge tried hitting me with $2700 in fees. Overhead, advertising, lot, and a bunch of other crap. Invoice minus rebate plus tax and that is the deal or else. Tell them that right up front.
Go to this page and put in what you want and it will give you a pretty close estimate at the cost.
http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.nc1?kbb.WA;455255;WA041&98355;pic&162&8&&Pick-ups&&nc

A couple of people here have made a good point. Dave Smith can and will make you a good deal, however, so will your local dealer. Its sort of a shame that you have to "milk" a deal out of most car dealers. Dave Smith is right up front about the price. I bought my cummings through the internet. It was called autobytel - I think I could check. Pretty simple. You say what you want and what your willing to pay. In my case I offered 30,500 for a 2500 Cummings quad cab SLT- This was in 2000. Anyway, you pick a range in miles you are willing to travel. Then "only if they have a truck that fits the decription you gave, and are willing to sell it to you for the price you quoted".. they give you a call. I had 3 calls in an hour, all willing to sell one for 30,500 or less. They can't call and offer you one for 32,000 or anything else, only at or under your offer. I'll make the long story short now.

In the end a local dealer offered me one for 29, 600. The deal was made. So I go down to this dealer the next day, first guy I see is the same salesman who sat and told me a week before that the best he could do was 32,700- and that was after two trips to " work on the manager " and try and get it lower.. what crap. Anyway, he says " ready to buy a truck today?"... I told him I bought one yesterday and am just here to pick it up.. He is pretty miffed when I tell him it was through internet sales and goes and gets the right person to help me out. In the end, the manager had the miffed salesman do the paper work for me because he "had nothing else to do".... was pretty funny looking at the paper work with a price of 29,600 with the same Jackass who was trying to get 32,700 ( BOTTOM LINE DUDE THATS WHAT WE PAY FOR THEM..) yea right..

the look on his face was priceless when they pulled the truck up front.. manager throws the guy the keys and says " John, make sure that truck has a full tank of gas before it leaves..."

The direction of this thread is going in the direction of "Why do we have to take this negotiation crap from our local dealers". The reason dealerships like Dave Smith and the internet shops are successful is that they work on a reasonable margin up front. No games. It's pretty stupid when you get an internet deal and the vehicle ends up coming from a local dealer who was trying to gouge you initially. Everyone needs to make a buck to stay in business but most of the dealerships try to extract as much $$$ as possible out of the buyers pocket. In my job I have bought several hundred vehicles over the past 30 years. The best info that I can give is to buy from the fleet sales department. They will sell to anyone. Call the dealership and get the fleet managers name. Make an appointment to see him, no one else! The retail salesmen often pretend to be fleet salesmen, only deal with the fleet mgr. You'll save a lot of money and not have to put up with the dirty dance.
Here's a link to a good website that will explain how things work in the business. Read it and you will have a much better understanding of how to not only save $$$ but also make the experience a lot less painful.

www.beatthecarsalesman.com

I was a chev fan and would only buy chev until I started hualing horses.

Chev has still not fixed its turning radius for its full sized extended cab pickup. Go drive one and try to turn it around and see how much you have to jocky back and forth. It's expensive for what you get also.

Ford has been making great trucks and the turbo D is by far the best. Look what the fulltime 5th wheelers choose. Above 65k however you need to work on the front end. I am on my 6th ford. Love them

I owned the Dodge Cummins TD and loved the motor. The truck fell apart. Interior panels broke,The windsheild motor went out 2x. Wnidows leaked.Little things falling off and rattling all the time. Just put togehter poorly. But a good looking truck. My neighbor has 9 dodge RAMS all purchased all from Dave Smith for his const business. He swears they are the best deal. The Rams still fall apart cosmetically but the motor is strong.

Calling for a quote is one thing....but

When I bought a GMC truck in 2001, I faxed the local dealer's list of the exact vehicle and options I wanted with the bottom line quote from the dealer blanked out.

Dave Smith's quote was only $150 less and they said it was the best they could do.

Hardly worth driving to Idaho.

I bought a Durango in 2002 and spent a fair amount of time on the phone with DS. I then went to the dealer that I bought my Passat from and without mentioning DS or 'beat this deal', they got me EXACTLY what I wanted and for a better price.
The dealer is Frontier Dodge in Burlington. better sales tax than King co also.
Very straightforward.
Ask for Internet Manager or do Autobytel and range 100mi.
Did you look at the newest Ford PSD? It's supposed to be much quieter.
In 2 yrs, my Dodge has needed nothing but oil changes.
My Jeep Gr Cherokee went 108k with nothing but maintenance and was PERFECT when I sold it.
I wouldn't buy a GM truck...maybe lease so you can bail after a few yrs and it becomes someone else's problem.
I would buy a new Dodge diesel in a minute.
Good luck.

I was told Dave Smith includes a travel credit so You can fly and drive.

Btw that drive is the best way to break in a new truck vs the short trip stop and go hereIMHO

Give Cars direct.com a look. They found a car for me for $250 less than Dave Smith Motors. Cars direct work with hundreds of dealers to find the best price for you. If I decide to buy the GMC Sierra, I have a great price of $27,500 which is an SLE 4 x 4 Ext cab, 5.3L V-8, etc. with many options. I think the MSRP on that truck is around 35,000. Dave Smith told me that they could not match that price, which surprised me. It is certainly worth looking into. Still trying to decide between the New F-150 and the Sierra. One other thing which I am sure most of you know and I have already scene it posted. I have received my best price quotes from the Internet Sale Manager and I did not have to go into the delaer to do it. It was all via e-mail and phone. Goood Luck!

Sambo

King you said it well. Cummins is a great motor. but in the end that is all you be left with. lol. I like the Chevy and Ford. If I was to buy one today it would be through Smith and probably a GMC diesel. my budyy went to him for his 02 dodge (gag) and couldn't believe the money he saved!!! As for service. you gotta be crazy to think you gotta take it where you buy it. You can buy it from Dave Smith and have the local boys work on it. the warranty is good @ any place that is certified for that brand of auto. I like the Idea of getting the best price from Dave Smith and then shopping in this state. the same buddy who got his from Smith had his dad do this and found actually got the truck in Aberdeen, WA.

I talked to a guy that knew the name of a dealer in Idaho tha twould make the same deals as Dave Smith but on FORD. I could find out the name if intrested.

dc

Buy the Dodge Cummins. They are all good trucks if you don't pull. But take a drive across eastern WA and tell me what is doing most of the pulling. Sure there are some Fords and Chevys but it is the Dodge more often than not. The fords powercrokes (tranny) and Chevy's Duramax (heads) will see the shop. I know one Dodge which has 350k and I have 262k on my 92. Still not afraid to travel with it. They are good trucks. Plus the 04 Duramax is close to 40k. You can get the Dodge for less than that.

Good Luck.

i read about a women who bought a new car and took it on a long road trip before "breaking" the motor in, i do believe it was said , you should put about 500-1000 miles on it to break in the rings and what not.. the dealership had to replace all the rings and some other stuff, cuz they didnt tell her about the breaking in process.. anyone else heard of this..?? btw, has anyone bought a truck in oregon to save on the tax? i know they will try to make you pay for it up here when you license it, but since i have some relatives there, i could allways license it down there.. and in a few short years i could "move" up here

BB75 ------- where the state catches you on that 'ruse' is the drivers license........ When it comes to grabbing your $$ those WA state tax boys aren't stupid.........

Break-in periods are pretty much a thing of the past. They can machine and hone those cylinders good enough now in mass production that there isn't much break-in required.

The old ways of manufacturing would leave the cylinders out of round and not as smooth so a break-in period was required of the rings, bearing, etc. Thanks to technology they come out pretty round and pretty smooth now.