Been "car shopping" lately?

[econometrics]

But Dan, unlike the weather girl, you have to pay lawyers and economists a lot more money for their opinions. . . good or bad.

Hey now... I give my opinion on here for free all the time!

 

[dmccarty]

I admit not having read all of the posts in this thread, but I will offer this: We just bought a new Mazda CX-5 for Sharn Jean. She loves it; mainly because she drove a 95 Millenia for about 17 years. The dealer was great, honest, helpful and respectful. The didn't come off their sticker price much, but we couldn't deal with the Ford dealer either, and we can buy a Ford on the "X" plan.

I love the CX-5; it drives great, handles like a dream and gets great gas mileage. Yeah, we probably paid too much, the interior is not as comfortable as I would like at my age and it has way too many bells and whistles for my taste. I'll probably never figure them all out, but we have managed so far...(The Bluetooth telephone thingy is great...as is the Sirius Radio). Example; couldn't figure out why the rear hatch wouldn't lock. Turns out that even locked, if you have the key in your pocket, it will let you open it. First trip we took, it began to sprinkle and the darn wipers came on by themselves. Ah, modern technology. Still don't know how the low pressure tire reminder do-dad will work, but I guess we'll find out.

P.S. Here's one for the FWIW department. I have dealt with professional people nearly all of my working life...Scientists, Chemists, Engineers, Biologists, Medical Doctors and...yes...lawyers. Lawyers are no better or worse than any of the rest...in fact, in terms of honesty and integrity, lawyers constitute two of the top five individuals that I have ever known, and several Scientists and Engineers hold down the bottom...and maybe a couple lawyers. And that's a fact.

I work with quite a few professions and including lawyers. The lawyers I work with are not bad people at all though they can tick us off. :laughing::laughing::laughing: They really are just doing their job and I don't have a problem with them. They often keep us from making some bad decisions or keeps us from getting in some bad trouble. What gives lawyers a bad name is the ones making shady deals and saying shady things. I was at the barber yesterday and we were talking about people working and not working. The barber, who has been cutting hair in town for over a half century, mentioned walking into a store and an ex lawyer was working the cash register. The barber says the ex lawyer was a great guy and a good lawyer but something happened and he lost his license which is why he was a cashier. :shocked: Even the barber did not know WHY the lawyer lost his license and that barber and his retired partner know where the skeletons buried the skeletons in this county. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Looking at the new vehicles, I don't like all of the doo dads they are using. Too much electrical and computer scat to go bad or comprehend. I know Ford and BMW have had some very confusing systems in their vehicles. I have only been looking at interior photos on the Internet but it seems that some interiors are trying to replace physical controls with touch screens which I think is a big step backward. You can't feel a touch screen. You have to look. I don't have to look at the controls for my truck's AC or radio. I know where the controls are located and I can tell from their feel if I have the right control. I don't have to take my eyes off the road to turn up the heat, crank up the blower, change the radio station, etc.

I bought my Ford F350 with X Plan pricing. I tried negotiating a lower price and the dealership would not go past a certain point. When it was obvious the price was going no lower I pulled on the X Plan pricing. From my glancing at X Plan pricing today, it does not look as good as the old discount.

When I was looking to buy a new truck, many guys buying Dodge PU with diesels were flying out to a dealer out west. I think he was in OK. They could get a better price from that dealer than they could locally. They saved money even with the cost of getting to the OK dealership. :shocked:

Later,
Dan

 

[two_bit_score]

So, you are gonna tell me that people don't get ripped all the time on trade-ins even at your dealership? I had a buddy with a Ford Ranger pickup. He had 28k miles on that pickup, mostly driven 10 miles round-trip to work. The Ford dealer gave him $1500 trade-in on what looked like a brand new truck. I had offered him twice that much the previous day, but he thought I was joking. The dealer washed his truck and put it on his lot for $5200.

Now, I've never tried to trade-in my used food at the grocery store either , but I think your analogy is a hedge rather than making good sense.

If a grocery store routinely posted a 'sticker' price but let it be known by their advertising that they were the best place to 'get a deal' on groceries I think I'd be the first one there to make my offer.

 

[two_bit_score]

see post above.... no negotiating.....fixed pricing......Saturn tried that.....we know where that ended up ! LOL

Most people don't usually negotiate parts prices at a dealer. At least most walk in business doesn't.

Every shop that buys from them does.

All dealership body shops negotiate their estimates.

Service lanes negotiate in a different way. The whole concept of a car dealership is built up around the idea that you can get a 'deal' there. They have made it the way business is done with dealers.

Too late to complain about it now.

I appreciate your input in this thread so don't take this comment negatively.

 

[dmccarty]

Grocery stores do not up sell, over price, charge interest or change the prices at checkout. Well, ok, some chains/stores have charged more than the sticker price on the can of corn but that is unusual.

Back in the 80's when Hyundai was starting out, a woman coworker who was young, not real bright nor experienced in the world went new car shopping. She ended up spending $15K for a Hyundai! :shocked: That car might have been worth $10K. Maybe. I had a Camaro Z28 that was a couple years old and it only cost me $12.3K. I had a much better car. The sales guy saw this young blond chick, fresh from the hills of TN with a high school diploma, walking into a stealership in South Florida and they smelled blood in the water. They really squeezed her.

A few years later I had my sheep skin and was working with a bunch of professional people. One of these guys was smart guy, college educated and he got ripped off big time. He went to a stealership, I forget which brand, to buy a new car. Since he was from South American they were really Bull Scatting him big time. He bought a car at a fairly high price but where they really shafted him was on the loan. The told him he could only get a higher percentage loan because he only had a Green Card. He had not gone to the bank to check their interest rates and he took the whole hook, line and sinker. I forget the exact numbers now but they said his rate would be about 10% and that is what the paper work stated. The problem was that the payment was not for 10% it was for 15%. This guy, did not check the numbers. He had more than enough education to check the payments but he did not. Only later did he find out that they had not only lied about the payment but they had gone back and changed the rate from 10% to 15% on the paper work. By the time he figured this out and returned to the stealership, the sales and finance guy were long gone. He did get the mess straightened out but only because he finally caught the fraud and did something.

Later,
Dan

 

[rwork]

Dan, I don't know how in the world they pulled something like that on your friend, because dealerships can't just charge what they want in interest.
Laws do vary by state, but credit unions will allow the dealership to make 1 point above buy rate. Some secondary lenders will allow a max of 2points. The dealerships do not hold the paper on vehicle purchases, the banks do. Furthermore, if you finance with manufacuturers low apr incentives, the dealer is paid a flat rate for finance, a whopping $150.

 

[Depmandog]

Furthermore, if you finance with manufacuturers low apr incentives, the dealer is paid a flat rate for finance, a whopping $150.

CRAP!!! Didn't know it was $150 BUCKS!! All of that will be mine next time!! HAHAHAHAHA.

 

[MossRoad]

One thing to note on truecar. When i bought my last car a couple months ago I tried it. It gave me a price that was 4k higher than what I ended up paying in the end... I'm sure the reliability varies with area and models.

Also on the carfax I caught a dealer playing a funny game with one. They gave it to me and it was a clean 1 owner car, I ran it myself and it was a 2 owner car with an accident!!! They had run it a month prior to show it as 'clean' and never updated it. Very sneaky... buyer beware.

Also, a car fax will show a rental car as a one owner car even though it may have had a hundred different drivers. Just be aware of that.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Jim good point. Last I checked my grocer and gas station had a "no haggle" price:laughing: Those items are life neccesities and are sold as commodities, big difference in my mind. Also there is residual markup on other items, warranty, repair ect tra, I usually pay once for groceries, unless it's spicy Chili!!

It makes sense why they ask " do you have a trade and how much do you owe", I have no doubt the money owed on an unpaid off trade-in, is considered as much as the trade in offer they give folks. They just add the "upside" down amount onto the new vehicle and get the payments where they need to be. That's why I don't "payment" shop". I think used cars is where the big money is, as you're description above elaborates.

That brings in the "carfax" love/ hate relationship dealers have with it. They brag "clean carfax", but then now they are after a class action against Carfax. http://www.autonews.com/article/201...rs-scuffle-spirals-into-lawsuit#axzz2q3isDmTM

I look at Carfax, but take it for what it is, not everything gets on there, only what is reported.

I have bought cars with 'clean' carfax that absolutely have been in a wreck.. carfax has pretty much become a joke.

 

[two_bit_score]

I have bought cars with 'clean' carfax that absolutely have been in a wreck.. carfax has pretty much become a joke.

It's a sales gimmick now.

Check out: National Motor Vehicle Title Information System