Posted on 02/08/2022 6:36:02 AM PST by devane617
Thinking of buying a car? Kimberly Walker, a mother of two in Columbia, S.C., can tell you exactly what that's like these days.
She recently found herself having to shop for two vehicles on opposite ends of the market. For herself, she wanted a late-model electric Audi, and after looking around, she was able to find a used 2021 e-tron at a local dealership.
The price? An eye-popping $68,000 with no room to negotiate.
"We went back and forth. We were there for four hours," she says. "They did not budge on that price."
For her teenage daughter, Walker was looking to spend just a few thousand bucks on an old car. The experience wasn't any better. For four months they tried private sellers and kept losing bidding war after bidding war. CarMax didn't have a single option under $15,000.
They eventually found a car. There was just one catch.
"We ended up purchasing a 2009 Toyota Camry that actually was not running at the time," Walker says. "But the mechanic agreed to put a new engine in it and gave it to us for $3,500."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbreak.com ...
I actually don’t mind car shopping. I bought my new 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee HEMI V8, after trading-in my 2017 Grand Cherokee V6, getting Chrysler rebates and dealer discounts, and a little haggling, for an amazing price. The dealership was willing to deal, and sell it to me. Best car buy experience I’ve had in 20yrs.
Perhaps you knew what you were talking about, but your words hardly give the reader a clue that you are talking about non-running cars.
While I'm glad you have that ability, and the tools to provide action to that ability, many others do not possess either the knowledge, tools, or time to buy cheap non-running cars and get them back onto the road. Kudos for you. 🙂
A lot depends on the salesperson.
I buy Chevys from a guy who belongs to the country club where my SIL is the golf pro and a friend of his. He treats us very well, no complaints.
“She recently found herself having to shop for two vehicles on opposite ends of the market. For herself, she wanted a late-model ELECTRIC Audi...”
Strike One.
a 2009 Camry with a bad motor ?
Yeah, motor can be replaced but the bigger question to ask is “What the HELL did the previous owner do to this thing to make it blow the engine?!”
Today’s cars are all plagued with automatic transmission issues but engine quality keeps going up. The 2009 Camry engine isn’t the most powerful thing out there but no one argues how reliable it is. What happened?!
That’s a good way to do it: use every connection you have.
A lot depends on the salesperson.
I haven’t been shopping for cars for a couple of years now so I really don’t know how the market looks at the moment. Since 1996 I have been leasing our “wife’s” cars every three years and 10K miles. These are sort of called “premium” cars like Acura, Lincoln, Lexus, etc. I know folks say leasing is a rip-off but I’m convinced it’s a pretty good deal in the long run. Of course you NEVER make any money on the sale (return) of the vehicle for a new one, but on the other hand you don’t loose 20%-50% of the value the moment you drive it off the lot, either... On the up-side you always have 100% warranty coverage on everything but consumables like tires and oil changes, etc. I plan to continue leasing.
My everyday beater is a 2009 BMW 128i ragtop with 125K+ miles and I plan to run the wheels off it. It’s a great runner and looks awesome.
One of my daughter’s friends sold cars at a Toyota store that had about ten experienced long term salesmen and the other ten were in a category where the two lowest performers every quarter got flushed and replaced. He said it was an ugly experience.
I have a 16 and similar.
“What the HELL did the previous owner do to this thing to make it blow the engine?!”
I drive a 07’ Honda Civic with 300k+ miles. I change oil and drive reasonably and I suspect if I want I can drive it another 300k. Maint is essential in car ownership.
Self service gas stations are part of the problem.
A lot of folks don’t even know how to open the hood now.
Back in the 60s as a pump jockey yout, we used to check the oil and coolant while the gas was pumping in.
Sad sad stories abound. Women need men to protect them is lots of situations. Car buying is just one of them.
And with the wussification of the citizenry ....
How long until the Congress enacts legislation to make car buying a pleasant experience? OH! It will be backed by the carmakers and others with embedded vested interests! So don’t worry peeps and sleeps - Help is On the Way /sarc
Neighbor across my street drives a car he bought at Enterprise. He bought it at a small town Enterprise location.
He is MORE than satisfied.
IT still is mail fraud.
“We went back and forth. We were there for four hours,” she says.”
I’d have been there 4 minutes.
One of my finest moments; when a finance manager kicked me out of the dealership, proclaiming “we have nothing more to discuss” and got and walked away. For the record, I was not disruptive, I was just not agreeing to his terms. In this case I was buying a Challenger as a toy and was just being a hard ass. I did eventually buy the car for just a few hundred over my initial offer.
Another time I was going to buy a truck. I mean, I went there to buy the truck. The dealership made their offer, and I made mine. The salesman came back and said the finance manager said we’re too far off and there’s no point in negotiating. The salesman walked me to my truck as I was leaving. He was so pissed off at the finance manager he could hardly see straight. He knew I had full intention of buying the truck, and probably would have if they had made a counter off.
Fleet cars typically get maintained to the specs required by the mfgr warranty. So that’s not a surprise.
And while there are a lot of stories about rental car abuse, the reality is that most people don’t drive that way.
She has to be a democrat/idiot (redundancy) in the first place.
Go in the dealership around December 28th. make them an offer and tell them you will sign paperwork buy the car right now if they meet your offer. They love year end quota making.
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