Sorry if this has been answered before, but I searched all through the forums using the 'search' function and didn't find anything.
I'm looking to buy a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI GLS. I've shopped around on the 'Net just to get a feel for prices, and "invoice" is always $21k (leather, cold weather, monsoon, ESP). I have a friend that works at a nearby lot as the Sales Manager, and he was supposed to cut me an at-cost deal. The price he quoted me was about $200 over the online "negotiated" or "target" price (carsdirect.com), and said that the "invoice" price that was all of the salesmen's desk was his price, and he couldn't go under that.
My question: is this "invoice" price really the price that they get cars at? And even so, do they get other kickbacks? If not, then how do they make any profit if they are willing to throw around the actual dealer's cost so openly??
Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.