Can someone explain the difference between sticker price, cost, MSRP, etc? And how does someone find those different amounts? Thanks.

 

Well said!

 

MSRP - is what you see in the window from the factory.
Cost - is what the dealership buys the car from the manufature
Sticker Price - is the mark up off to the side next to the MSRP. There could additional parts added, or limited production price

 

So is cost > or < MSRP?

 

Cost is less than MSRP.

But cost is not necessarily what you think it is. Their is an invoice price which many people try to get the car for (or $200 over invoice or something similar) and then there is the true cost. Many times there are holdbacks and dealer incentives which lower the true cost below what is on the invoice. Typically though, the sales people only get commission on the amount over the invoice price that they sell the car for (there are some dealerships that work differently, paying salespeople on the front end and the back end).

Invoice costs can be found on the internet at sites like edmunds and kbb. On a WRX there should be about a $2,000 difference between invoice and MSRP.

 

some cars are very easy to get within +-$250 of invoice. my two toyotas for example, the 4 runner is like $200 over invoice, the tundra is closer to $500 under. my wrx i paid about the middle ground between invoice and MSRP, but that was back when every lot had a $5k markup on them. my G there was very little negotiating due to there being only 2 dealerships in town and maybe 3 cars within 200 miles that had what i wanted. i got msrp + free aero package on that car.