I need to purchase about 25, 15 passanger vans for our business-what is the best way to do that? Do I just call our local dealer and talk to the fleet manager? Which is better?

 

I ordered about 15 new Tundras for my company.I just called the local Toyota dealer, ask for the fleet manager or the owner or director of the dealership.Compare prices with other dealerships too.Certain deals can be had when ordering a lot of vehicles.

 

any brand you are looking for specifically/?

 

Have you thought about possibly purchasing Dodge Sprinter passenger vans? These might be a great option, given their highly efficient Mercedes-Benz diesels. They appear to be a great workhorse--they're all over the place here (Portland, OR).

 

Not at all. I don't know much about this market, so if you, or anyone else, has any info, that would be great.

 

I'd chat with the fleet manager at a dealership to get a general idea. Then prepare a detailed bid request; "x vans equiped as follows" type of thing asking for a total price for all 25 or whatever.

Mail that to all the dealers in your area (and some out of town) and see what you get. We did that on 3 cars and it was worthwhile to travel 100 miles to get the cars.

 

when we spec fire engines,ladders,and tankers. we send a spec sheet to about 5 dealers(all different brands like Pierce, Crimson, E-one,Smeal, KME, and American La France) we put down what we EXPECT like thickness of metal on the side, size of engine, types of doors, it's clear down to types of mirrors.
some manufactures will match word for word and some will basically(in my opinion) use what they got and say well this will do.
then our truck committee(which i'm on) sits down and look at bids decide not only which bid is the best bang for the buck but also which truck will best take care of us and the community.

 

water-s?

 

yes, and it never ends........

 

guess you've been under a rock somewhere



25*15=375

Damn GH...that's a bunch of people (presumably kids?)! To simply restate what's already been said, fleet shopping is basically the same as single-car shopping - call around to the dealerships once you've decided which ones have the essentials for what you need and see who will give you the best price - most dealerships have a fleet sales person [manager]. The hard part is going to be figuring out which companies have the vehicles that fit your bill.

 

A couple of other thoughts- who is doing maintenance on the vans? You'll get a better price on the vans if you do a service agreement with a dealership, but I'd get the service terms in writing along with everything else for bids.

Also, what is your anticipated replacement schedule for the vans? You might try a manufacturer's corporate department if the 25 vans will be on a high use/replacement schedule. Yellow Cab in San Francisco, like police departments, went straight to the manufacturer due to the hundreds of cars and dozens of vans it bought every year.

Finally, you can contact similar or competing businesses to see what they did, if you are on good terms with some of their people.

G/L!

 

Yup, this is for our kids. The problem is that these damn vans MSRP at $25k a pop! We had a deal lined up for buying 40 used vans for $100k, but the deal fell through because they found someone who was willing to pay more. The assholes didn't even give me a chance to rebid. Whatever, se la vi.

Anyways, the other problem is that I need them to be delivered all over the country-I need 3 in NJ, about 5-6 in the Chicago area, a couple in Virginia, a couple in Kansas, yada yada. Is there anyway to make a deal with GM or Ford directly and say that I want to pick up said vans in different locations all over the country?

This is becoming one hell of a headache.

 

40 vans at 100 grand damn those vans must have been like buckets. cause most anything at 2500 bucks a pop for a van it's gonna nickle and dime you to beat hell.

now 2nd note: about delivery of the vans if their brand new GM or Ford has to (within reason) deliver to an authorized dealer of choice. most car makers you pay like 500 buck delivery fee it doesn't matter if from Detriot to Dearborn(which is right outside of Detriot) or Detriot to LA.
If GM or Ford isn't willing to "work with you" you can always hire a car transport company. my brother in law did with his 05 RL when he moved from western Oregon to Detriot. i forget how much it was.

 

If I understand your post correctly, you're recommending that a purchaser pick up a Ford or GM vehicle at the point of manufacture and not pay the delivery charges? A vehicle that hasn't gone through a dealer PDI and from a manufacturer that offers no such delivery process? Yeah, right.

Sorry to the original poster for getting off topic.

Terry

 

I'm not sure, but I think that most manufacturers can drop ship a vehicle for you at a dealer besides the one you purchase the vehicle from. This year I ordered a mustang and had it drop shipped to a store several thousand kilometers from the original dealer.

Terry

 

Different points of delivery = important factor.
1) Check manufacturers, and
2) contact auto brokerage firms.
Both can set up deliveries and inspections if they can arrange the sale.