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 ...
know what your car/pickup is worth on trade-in. Know what the new car is worth. Tell them those numbers. Don’t change your mind. And have really good credit. Buying a car does not have to be difficult.
We went to the dealership we bought our F150 from, nearly ten years ago.
Just lookin’. Tried out a F150 Lariat. Wonderful truck! Tried out a Bronco Outer Banks. Gutless wonder.
Couldn’t afford to buy the Lariat, so we went with a 3-year lease. At the end of it, we might finance and purchase, or go on to another lease.
The Lariat is in our driveway, waiting on a tonneau cover.
Yep, we had to do that at one dealership, they were trying smoke and mirrors and we ended up walking and buying the same car cheaper at another. It's a total scam, walking back to the "general manager" to see if they can meet your price. Him walking out offering a middle point, they get trained on this process. To save time, just get an idea what you will pay under their best price and stick with it.
Big mistake I'm afraid.
Many dealers on the Internet only consist of a website, an email address, a free Google Voice phone number, and a mail drop. They can set up their entire operation for a few hundred dollars and frequently have dozens of operations running simultaneously in multiple states. They sell the same car to countless buyers, get what they can up front, and then eventually disappear.
Even if it was a real, "reputable" dealer, they probably sold the car to someone else and are waiting until they find something comparable to try to sell you. If you threaten to sue them, they will point out a binding arbitration provision at the bottom of the paperwork that they sent you, with a mandatory venue provision requiring arbitration wherever they are located.
Best case if you push hard and long enough is you may get your $1,000 dollars back.
Yep. I have two Crown Vics that are retired police cars. They run great and are easy to fix. I'd certainly take either of them over a 68K electric Audi.
The Vics are almost all retired and gone now, but cities, counties, and states all sell vehicles on online auctions. Govdeals.com is probably the largest auction site.
Who said anything about haggling? I was just saying that non-running cars cost less, for obvious reasons.
A surprising number of places in the DC area...Some are charging 100% markup over MSRP. So, the suggestion to drive a few hours to get a deal is a good one.
I bought my 2019 Equinox last year and paid $19,000 for it. I got a notice last week that my trade-in value is now $22,000. The price of used cars is escalating.
—”Given my Mercedes experience, electricity and the Germans are not friends.”
A great line!
And here is an interesting article on the depths of the problem.
How Volkswagen’s $50 Billion Plan to Beat Tesla Short-Circuited
Faulty software set back a bid by the world’s largest car maker for electric-vehicle dominance
https://archive.vn/4Wn3v#selection-89.5-93.94
I love negotiating with car dealers .... and ticket scalpers too. I recall once my ex-wife asked me to go with her to buy a car. I told her no matter how much she liked the car to seem indifferent and even fickle about buying it. I strongly emphasized that she should never tell the dealer how much of a monthly payment she could make. She ignored all my advice: she found a car, announced that she just had to have it, and when the dealer asked her how much she could pay a month, she just went on and told him. The wheels turned, and the price of the car, the interest rate, and everything else magically adjusted themselves upward to match the amount she said she could pay.
It was a joke. I wasn’t trying to insult you!
I had a good experience with Enterprise Car Sales. They sell their rental cars after about 40,000 miles. In 2019 I got a late-model (2016) Toyota Corolla with 47,000 miles for $13,900 with no hassle. I’ve had no problems with it except for replacing the battery. I probably could have talked them down a few hundred bucks but it wasn’t worth the trouble. I was in and out of the dealer in less than two hours.
On new cars? About 20 models sold in the US. Good luck actually finding one. BMW M-3 and M-4, Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing, Chevy Camaro and Spark, Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang and Bronco, Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Veloster N and Elantra N, Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler, Kia Forte, Lotus Emira, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Mini Cooper, Mitsubishi Mirage and Mirage G4, Nissan Z and Versa, Porsche 718 and 911, Subaru has four (BRZ, Crosstrek, Impreza, and WRX), Toyota GR86 and Corolla and Tacoma, Volkswagen Golf and Jetta.
A couple stories along the lines you write about.
A friend of mine was deaf but could read lips like a pro. She offered a ridiculously low price. When the salesman went to “consult” the manger. She read their lips. “Don’t take less than $so&so.” She added a hundred or so. Then dickered up to that price. “I’ll write the check right now; I’ve other things I need to do.” The car was hers.
My barber’s daughter worked as a receptionist at a car dealership. Part of her work had to do with the price codes on invoices. So she was looking at cars at another lot. “I want that car.” “Why don’t we save both your time and mine; show me the invoice.” She decoded the price. “If you want to deal I will pay you $so&so.” Three hundred added on. “Oh! and by the way, when you talk to you manager, tell him that if he does not like the deal, his phone will ring within minutes. It’ll be (my former car dealer boss) saying ‘I want that car.’ Then he’ll get the $300 and you won’t.” The car was hers.
Had a dealer that always sold at the invoice price back when the invoice price was believable. Sold boatloads of cars because people understood they were getting a good deal. Then at year’s end, Chevrolet wrote a huge check for the (hidden cost that was the bonus on the sale or whatever) and the salesmen would get huge checks. Merry Christmas!
I have a question: What is the deal with the ads that promise $15,000 of sticker price? I would like to know the inside stuff on that racket.
A surprising number of places in the DC area...Some are charging 100% markup over MSRP.
In the DC area says it all.
Its a real dealership. I did a good bit of checking first. They’re just incredibly slow and unprofessional.
I would ignore those trade-in value notices. The dealer is offering you more money today than you paid for the car last year because they’re going to apply that trade as a credit for a new 2022 vehicle that is: (1) absurdly overpriced, and (2) won’t even be delivered to the dealership until August at the earliest.
I'm in real estate and for the $68k that woman was ready to spend (or borrow), I could buy at least ten decent houses and in the four hours she sat at the dealership, I could have flipped at least one for twice what I paid for it. So it's hard to fathom why anyone would pay that kind of money for an electric Fiasco --- and then turn around and be chintzy about her teenager's vehicle. It's ok to waste good money on herself, but not on the kid.
There's a lot of screwy priorities out there.
“...in a few years a bicycle - just a regular old bicycle without a motor - will cost $10,000.”
You are a bit behind times.
The brakes on my 30 year old bicycle cost $5,000 today. Just the brakes.
It’s easy to spend $25,000 on a bicycle today. Easy as can be...
FWIW I’m 62 and have only had four automobiles in my life — three new and one used ‘45 Dodge pickup.
I’ve ridden my various bicycles 1,000’s of miles...
- Don't do a trade-in. This just complicates the transaction and allows the dealer to "lower" your price on the new car while making up the difference on the trade. Sell your old car privately, to even to a CarMax, who gives a fair price. That way you walk into the dealer unencumbered.
- Have your own financing in place. Getting financed through the dealer is another way to get yourself fleeced. (Don't tell the salesman that until you are ready to close the transaction.
- Extended warranties are not a good deal and mostly pure profit for the dealer. Do have money in the bank to pay for repairs as they come up. But typically, if you maintain the car well, you are very unlikely to have a major issue over the first 100,000 miles.
- Watch out for dealer installed options you don't need like VIN etching, locked lug nuts, winter floor mats, etc. The dealer will tell you they are factory installed - just keep pushing back and be prepared to (politely) walk out if necessary.
- Never talk about your desired "monthly payment" as that allows the sales rep to adjust the price of the vehicle to fit that payment. You should have your own financing lined up so monthly payment is none of their business.
- Finally, the biggest shark in the building is the "finance guy" and you will see him at the end. His entire job is to add margin back to the deal so he/she will guilt trip you into all sorts of things you have no use for such as gap insurance, roadside assistance plans, extended warranties, etc. Just go in there prepared to politely say no to everything and it should be a brief meeting.
That all said, it does not have to be an unpleasant experience. So no need to be a jerk. I have nothing against car salesmen. I always make sure to be polite and pleasant with them. My goal is always to have a polite and fair transaction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.