quote:

I do enjoy reading about car buying experiences, it’s pure comedy.

Six new cars and two new RVs in the last twenty years and each one is a story unto itself.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

I do enjoy reading about car buying experiences, it’s pure comedy.

Again...WHY does it have to be "pure comedy"?

What is so special about a goddamn car that makes it different from literally everything else you buy?

I just want to pay a fair price, I'm not going to haggle like I'm in some friggen' Middle Eastern Bazaar.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

I do enjoy reading about car buying experiences, it’s pure comedy.

Again...WHY does it have to be "pure comedy"?

What is so special about a goddamn car that makes it different from literally everything else you buy?

I just want to pay a fair price, I'm not going to haggle like I'm in some friggen' Middle Eastern Bazaar.

Because some of the shit car dealers come up with doesn’t even seem believable.

I enjoyed haggling at the bazaars. The younger guys had trouble as they didn’t have much experience haggling but it’s a skill that’s necessary in life unless you have the income to not care.

I have always believed you can get a better deal by negotiating the price, but if you hate doing that, use the "employee pricing" deal and save yourself the trouble. And quit worrying about saving that last $800 or $1000. If you want to eke out the very best deal, do down there and bargain down the price.

Again, I personally think it is a sales gimmick, and nothing beats driving a hard bargain.

And finance it yourself. One less moving part in an already complicated pricing puzzle.

depends,
I had a GM employee discount through my employer. Went in for a Chevy 1500 and the fleet manager made a better deal. However on the next Chevy 2500, the employee discount was the best way to go.

Recently bought an Acura RDX via the CostCo program and they still came off that price a little.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nope, I want every last penny squeezed out of the deal and I want to wear down the sales associate to within an inch of his life.

A deal that they can offer across the board, means that there's plenty of profit padded in there.

I want the dealership and sales associate to lose money on the sales price on my particular deal. They may make money elsewhere on my deal through financing or hitting sales goals or sales tiers, whatever, but I want a price that's so low that is literally $1 from ruining the deal.

A perceived fair price has nothing to do with it.

HaHa, a man after my own heart. Fair deals are for everyone else, I want the deal that makes the sales manager cringe years later. Plus, I think it's fun to beat the dealer up; I have LOTS of stamina.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

What is so special about a goddamn car that makes it different from literally everything else you buy?

I just want to pay a fair price, I'm not going to haggle like I'm in some friggen' Middle Eastern Bazaar.

Lots of things are done this way. Cars, boats, houses, jewelry, high end watches, art, etc. It's not that it's a car, it's the value of the transaction --you could be buying potatoes, but certainly would negotiate a purchase of 1000 bushels.

Essentially, the more valuable something is, the more economically feasible it is to spend time negotiating it.

Everything is a negotiation. The value proposition that a retailer makes (prices, service, location, sales) is met with your decisions (retailer A or B, buy now or wait for a sale, online or in store). Sometimes you spend the time negotiating individually, as in buying the car. This takes more individual time, but the benefit to you individually is better.
Sometimes you spend the time negotiating as a market, as when everyone starts shopping at Amazon.com instead of in-store at Best Buy. The cost of negotiation is spread out amongst everyone participating in the market (each person contributing just a tiny amount of time deciding where to buy), but the benefit to you is also individually small.

In any case, the pieces are on the board and the game is set. You are playing the game, whether or not you want to or even realize it.

I just traded in my truck for another used but newer version using a dealer.

I am more on PAsig side than the other side.

I am/was not hell bent on squeezing the dealer at every turn. The sales person I had been dealing online with was good when meeting in person.
I did get my feathers slightly ruffled when it came time to sit with the sales manager. But I listened to his evaluation of mine. That was his job. It took all of ten minutes. In the end we worked out a deal "I" felt was fair and equitable for us both. So it worked and I was very satisfied with the deal and transaction.
Yes I could of been an asshole and maybe or maybe not got a deal done. They did not make a killing off of me I do know that. Probably all told they mad $4k when they took in the rig I bought. and most likely will make about the same on the rig I traded in. All seems like a decent deal and I got what I feel is a really nice used Toyota Tundra Crewmax.

So no you do not have to have a bad or adversarial encounter just because you are dealing and a car dealership. That is how your father had to do it. Different times. If not, find another dealer.

The person I dealt with we had time to discuss family and life situations. When done I hugged her and thanked her and we both received something very positive from our encounter that had nothing to do with buying a car.

I hate the sales game. I currently have a Wrangler on order from a dealer I found through a Jeep forum that offers up to 8% off of invoice. 5% for members of the forum, an additional 1% off for the affiliate program*, and then another 2% if financed through them. Jeeps may be a little different, but just mentioning it because deals like that do exist and don't require the back and forth that some love and some hate. The dealership is a couple hours away outside of DC, but that doesn't bother me if I save money, don't have to barter, and get exactly what I want.
*I paid $100 to join some conservation group - Tread Lightly - that includes access to the FCA affiliate program as a membership benefit

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nope, I want every last penny squeezed out of the deal and I want to wear down the sales associate to within an inch of his life.

A deal that they can offer across the board, means that there's plenty of profit padded in there.

I want the dealership and sales associate to lose money on the sales price on my particular deal. They may make money elsewhere on my deal through financing or hitting sales goals or sales tiers, whatever, but I want a price that's so low that is literally $1 from ruining the deal.

A perceived fair price has nothing to do with it.

YOU may like playing those games, but there are plenty of us who hate it, are not good at it, don't want anything to do with it.

You don't haggle and go back and forth when buying a new fridge or a steak, why do we still have to play this stupid game with cars?

Your post is EXACTLY why I want to only go to CarMax type car sellers.

You should be haggling over a fridge. You can at least get them to throw in free delivery. But you should be able to get a significant price cut on an item like that.

Americans are chickens about negotiating.