Been "car shopping" lately?

[jinman]

Do you negotiate what you feel like paying at the grocery store?, the gas station? No!!

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.

 

[tractchores]

A while back I bought a car over the phone and agreed to the deal on the basis that the new Toyota had the quality fit and finish he described and the 6 miles he stated. I said I was coming down to do the paperwork and he said I would be in and out in 20 minutes. I said good because I only had a half hour and didn't want to dick around. He agreed.

After I got there they actually tried to boost me to a higher price by claiming the price didn't include extras or options. I explained I have your written price on the vehicle and only have a half hour to wrap it up.

They kept screwing around and after a half hour I started to leave. The look on his face was one of disbelief and they chased me out to the parking lot to try to close the deal as originally agreed. I left anyway and bought the same car from someone else for the same price.

They tried to sell me another car for a number of years.

Moral of the story is there are lots of cars for sale, they make about 15 million more every year and most run for quite a number of years. There are lots of vehicles around and they need to be sold. if someone won't deal it isn't worth the aggravation. Just bail--but mean it--and go somewhere else. Buh-bye.

Thats why i like to get the purchase agreement via fax or email before going in. Less time in the dealer is better.

 

[Western]

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.

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.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Use the internet and you will get the best deal. Email the internet manager with what you want, every detail, color, extras, etc. Ask for the "out the door price" all taxes, document fees etc etc. Repeat this to as many dealers as you want. Then play one dealer against the other with the who can beat the price game. Give the last 2 dealers with the lowest $$ the last shot, done!

I have done this for the last 4 cars I have purchased and it was painless. You will find how much they are willing to lower the $. Again all via the internet no phone calls, no dealing with all the bull, just give me the out the door price. The last deal I used TrueCar Hassle-free car-buying experience from a nationwide network of certified dealers. - TrueCarto see what the cost of the car was trending. One car I purchased was 3 hours away, it was a hot car and everyone wanted $3-5k over msrp, I got it for msrp which was a great deal. I had several dealers I could not buy the car at that price, some wanted me to come to make the deal, some said they do not deal via the internet. They all got removed from the process. This really does work, unless you enjoy sitting with a car salesmen the entire afternoon and playing the game, your choice. :laughing:

 

[tractchores]

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.

 

[dmccarty]

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

I don't blame car sales people who really try to do a good job for "bristling" a bit at comments and crude jokes. They don't deserve to be painted with such a broad brush, but we all know people who deserve every joke and more.

I visited one of the biggest dealerships around and was ushered into a sales manager's office. While being there for 10 minutes, I looked down at his desk to see Xerox copies of several people's driver's licenses laying in clear view on his desk. They demanded your DL to copy before they would give you a test drive, but felt no responsibility to protect your info.

If you pay attention to TV ads these days, you'll think that everyone only leases cars. All they ever talk about is the very cheapest lease payment in their ads. Additionally, if you were ever around the used car business, you know that the prices of used cars are far different from new cars. I say that you should pick apart every little detail on any used car you see and low-ball to the max. Used car sales is a VERY lucrative business.

Well, I don't pay economists and seldom pay for a lawyer. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The weather forecasts for us lately have been horrible. I could have rolled a dice and gotten better results. I am sure The Resident TBN Economist has much better forecasts. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I have only bought four vehicles. The sales guys I dealt with on the first two vehicles were horrible. They really fit the car salesman stereotype. The sales guy's on the last two vehicles were not as bad but not good either. Now, part of this may have been that with the Internet and Sunday shopping I was able to minimize dealing with sales people as much as possible. I also knew which dealership had the vehicle I wanted so I did not have to deal with sales people. I like manual transmissions and they are always hard to find which limited the dealerships I had to visit which in turn minimized talking to sales people even more. The sales guy for my F350 was not too bad but his manager was something else.

Now, the sales guy my wife bought from was ok, and I might even say, nice. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Dealerships here will also let you take home a vehicle for the weekend. It has to be a very good sales tactic but I have never done it. I know what I want and how much I am paying when I walk in the door.

We have a couple used car lots in town that have been in business for years. Then there is another one that has constant churn of "dealerships." I would guess over the last 10 years there has been 10-15 dealerships on that lot. I don't know why they can't stay in business since the location is great, easy access, and on a main road in town. One of the dealerships that has been in business for a long time is just down the road. The last few dealerships on that lot had a nice looking inventory of a variety of vehicles. One guy came in early last year, lasted maybe 4-6 months before I saw the car haulers loading up his inventory. A new guy just showed up in the last month or so and his inventory seems pretty good too. But past history says he will not be in business long. Which is a shame. I do hate it to see someone go out of business. Even used car salesmen.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

This is one of the reasons I enjoy this forum so much. We can share ideas and information about tractors as well as other items of interest. They are lots of friendly folks on here, and even though we don't always see eye to eye on some things, for the most part we all get along. There is always a different perspective to be considered.

Now, before we beat up the lowly car salesman, I want you to admit that..................

When you went to the tractor dealership, and eyed that shiny new beast of a tractor, and you climbed up into the seat, and the salesman said "fire her up", you imagined yourself on your farm working that machine. You felt the power of that big bucket on the loader, as you inhaled the fragrance of the diesel fumes. And with your childish grin on your face, and the drool on your chin, as the the salesman asked, "Shall we write her up" ? You answered "You Bet", as you followed him back into the office like a little baby duckling, pulling your wallet out as you walked. Eager to sign that paper!!!

Am I Right????? I thought so!!! Nuff Said! LOL

Yes, TBN is a pretty special place on the Internet.

Your post did remind me about buying the tractor. I forget about that experience. Unlike vehicles, I had three tractors I was looking to buy and having a tough time deciding. I HAD to visit the dealerships and my purchases was VERY much influenced by the dealership staff and sales guy. One IDIOT in Raleigh would not even give me a price on a tractor! :shocked: I spent more money on my tractor than I have ever spent on a vehicle and that moron lost a big sale. The guy was a retire USAF NCO and he should have known better. Another dealer, selling the same brands of tractor was only sorta better. They did give me a price but not a great one and the dealership was a mess. No way in heck would I trust them to fix a lawnmower much less a tractor.

The dealership I bought from was/is great. The store was clean and organized as was the shop. The shop was very clean. Joe, the sales guy is excellent and still there 14 years later. I have said for years that I wish the JD dealership sold cars. I would buy from Joe. He is honest and does not play games. We bought a riding lawn mower, JD of course, :laughing::laughing::laughing: and I was a bit miffed that Joe was out of the office and could not get the sale. Another guy got the sale but he is just as good as Joe. For years the dealership's prices on filters, oil, coolant, chainsaw supplies, etc was at least as good as other places if not better. Unfortunately, the company merged with a bunch of NC dealerships and the prices really went up on my last visit. They are going to loose some business because their consumable prices are now to high and I can get products off of Amazon as easily as I could from the dealership AND cheaper. Honestly, I would rather give the business to the dealer ship but I am not paying that kind of mark up they suddenly have on their parts.

I did not just buy the tractor from Joe though. He had a danged good price. A fair price for him and me. :thumbsup:

Later,
Dan

 

[tractchores]

It's worth noting that car dealerships make far more on parts than anything else, followed by service and then finally be car sales. Used are more profitable than new usually. Something to keep in mind when you go in for that regular service. Also the service advisor is usually a commissioned position. Nothing wrong with it, just means you need to be relatively informed and good dealers make money on the repeat business VS trying to convince you to do unnesisary work in a single visit, so the games are somewhat minimized on that side of thehouse

 

[two_bit_score]

I was surprised, the last time we went car shopping and gave our name and phone#, we never heard from them at all! That was at a big multibrand car dealer.

OTOH, the local Jeep dealer salesman was a very nice and helpful guy, the kind of salesman I would want to deal with. However, after looking at the prices for new Jeeps, we decided that our current 2006 Grand Cherokee was better than anything new that we would be willing to pay the price for. Both our vehicles are seven years old now and they will probably get a lot older with us. It's just possible that we will never buy another vehicle. That's the best way to get a good deal, LOL.

One thing guaranteed to keep working people poor is a new car.

 

[TomSeller]

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.
.

Your friend should have done some more research or sell the car independently. However, if the deal he got on the new vehicle was lower than he would have received without the trade in, he may not have got such a bad deal. It is hard to know without all the details.