Donna asked:

How do I put a vehicle out for bid to all the Calgary Car Dealerships? We are actually looking for a new vehicle. We would like to let the dealers know what we are looking for and see who offers the best price. Eg) looking for a new 1999 Chrysler Concorde. I would then like to send all the Chrysler dealerships this information and each would come back with a price.

CO staff answered:

"This is an unusual approach, and you may or may not get dealers to respond to a "RFQ" (request for quotes) from an individual.

With that being said, I would recommend that you take the approach that a traditional organization would use when issuing an RFQ. First, create a list of specifications for the car that you want to buy. Secondly, using your local Yellow Pages, or the online Yellow Pages http://www.yellowpages.ca/, to develop a list of car dealers that sell 1999 Chrysler cars. Finally, once you have this list, contact each dealer and invite them to provide you with a quote on the car of your choice. If you are able to offer any incentives, such as paying cash for the car, let them know about this upfront. Since you will be basing your final decision on price, it will also be to your advantage to let each dealer know this upfront.

It is hard to predict how competitive the dealers will be given that you are only looking to purchase one car, but at least this way you should be able to get several quotes. Good luck, and please let us know this approach works for you."

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