[aarondixon]

I wish there was one perfectly logical formula that we could all use, but unfortunately dealers are both "imperfect" and "illogical"!

If you are in or were in the Military, you can join the Navy Federal Credit Union (on-line) for $5 and use their Auto-Buying Service (this is what I did and saved quite a bit over trying to negotiate directly with Dealers). A few others have used Costco or True Car and saved comparably, while still others have been able to walk into the dealer and get a better deal than I did, it's all a crap shoot!

I also used Car Gurus to at least contact dealers, in hopes of getting them to compete against each other (it did not work for me in early March-2019) but it might work now, especially if they have Passports that have sat on their lots for long periods (this is also shown on Car Gurus).

To sum it up, each of us does as much due diligence as we can, and then proceeds with the purchase. If someone pays less than you, then good for them, but rest assured, this is a great vehicle and the price you paid quickly fades from your memory after you have owned it for a few months and are fully experiencing the "joy of ownership"...!

 

[aarondixon]

I'm actively looking and am due to sign a lease on one tomorrow. There seems to be a disconnect somewhere in demand. We hear they are in demand but I've also seen enough photos of vehicles with snow in the image or bare trees in the background. No incentives and market averages that are not that far discounted from MSRP. I went to 3 dealers recently and I was the only person looking at the Passport at all 3. There's this sense that while each dealer did not have many to choose from, they were all available for purchase or lease. I am in the NYC metro area so maybe just not a lot of local demand for the style / segment the Passport is aiming for?

In my case, the 1st dealer I contacted offered $500 below invoice for an EX-L so I tried to do even better. They would not go lower. Out of 5 or 6 dealers, none other would go below the Truecar market average. The other thing is that this dealer offered two lease separate lease options and creating an offer with the leasor with a money factor that is significantly better than what the Edmunds forums say is available.

I'll report back if/when we close the deal.

Good luck, anything under invoice sounds good to me...