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There is a definite difference in the way the salesmen talk to female and male customers. Have you ever noticed that the salesman will address YOU on technical and financial things and your wife on the color of the car? Look for it next time. Amazing the difference in the treatment.
Ok. I keep on the lookout of that next time around. Though my wife doesn't care about tech stuff so she won't even care to know.
As for finance. That won't fly by her as she is a CPA and she can drill down any number presented on the fly. But I guess that is our specific situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lae60
BTW, I have no problems negotiating, do it for work all the time, just do not like to waste the time when not being paid to do it
I guess that is the main difference. I'd rather spent a couple of hour in the dealership having fun at all silly sales pitches as to why I should pay more while at the same time saving myself few thousand $.
A Pennie saved is a Pennie earner.
But I get it. it's always comes down to what you want to spend - money or time. In this particular situation I pick "spend time".
But there have been plenty of other situations in life where I choose to spend more money just so I won't spend more time.
#1. If you haven't bought and have zero first have knowledge your just guessing / spouting off..
I have bought 1 / ONE yes ONLY ONE Vehicle from a CarMax in IL .. I do or did before I moved south, know 2 buyers for Car Max.. If You Buy From Car Max IMHO BTDT.. You are getting the cream de la cream. No Flooded Cars, No Wrecked and Repaired.. NO JUNK .. that was Buffed and Polished and Touched Up.... hummmm grrrrr to look good and to hide garbage/issues. JMHO and its free
There is a definite difference in the way the salesmen talk to female and male customers. Have you ever noticed that the salesman will address YOU on technical and financial things and your wife on the color of the car? Look for it next time. Amazing the difference in the treatment.
Even asking if a vehicle, with no paperwork on the window, was a 4 cylinder or 6 will get a change to , ok the car is fast, etc. with a female customer, but for a male customer they will go into great detail about the engine.
And yep, female customers can negotiate a deal, etc. it just takes a lot longer as first you have to go through the bs.
....
BTW, I have no problems negotiating, do it for work all the time, just do not like to waste the time when not being paid to do it
So true!! Right down to the negotiation part! Its a waste of my time and would rather cut through the BS as quickly as possible. And i also used to negotiate for my full-time job.
I've bought too many cars in my day and have noticed that the older the male car dealer (i very rarely get a female), the more likely he is to speak directly to whatever "male friend " i happen to bring with me at the time. Even when it is crystal clear that my friend will have little to no input into my decision. Not only about the techs and specs but sometimes about EVERYTHING! And not surprisingly, these are the dealers that present the worst deals. Waaaaste of time!!
I bought a car from Carmax once. Given my situation, I was glad to pay extra for the convenience.
1. I was three weeks into a new job in a new field.
2. I had not even received a full paycheck yet.
3. I had zero savings.
4. I had just come out of a bankruptcy two years prior.
5. I had just moved to a new city.
My old car broke down for good in my employee parking lot. I started my work shift and called Carmax. At the end of my shift a Carmax salesperson picked me up from work in the car I was hoping for. He took me to Carmax, I drove a few more cars, decided on the one he picked me up it and drove off. almost a month later I made my first payment.
1. I gave them no money down.
2. I gave them no paperwork or pay stubs.
3. They gave me no headaches or hassles.
4. I still have the car which after four years has only needed a battery and a set of tires.
5. I've driven the car 60K so far.
6. I can bank up my payments...If I pay $100 more this month I can pay $100 less next month. I usually pay extra and can build that up to where I can even skip a payment if needed during a tight month.
They were there for me when I needed it! Now that I'm on more solid ground I would take advantage of other options but I'm glad I could over pay for the opportunity at the time. Sometimes the situation trumps price.
They have a niche...it's not for everyone, but it's nice that they are there.
We recently bought a nice suv from Carmax and I just wanted to say that not ALL cars there are over priced.
Decided what we wanted. Gathered all sorts of info from the web about it. Looked for recall info, known weaknesses and faults, features, and what years we preferred.
I searched that brand's dealers for the large cities nearest us (we are in a small town without that brand of dealer here). Their cars of a certain age, trim package and mileage were $4K-$5K over NADA.
Only one person that we know has ever used CarMax and they were very satisfied. So I checked CarMax going off of the rumor that CarMax was far too expensive compared to the dealers.
CarMax had the vehicle we wanted at what seemed like a fair price, good mileage, etc.
Family and I drove to that city and were invited to crawl through the two AWD examples they had on hand.
The first vehicle was clean but someone had hauled kids in this vehicle and there were was a tiny bit of wear in the rear of the vehicle. It had lower miles and a higher pricetag.
The second vehicle was perfect inside and out. ~5K more miles and several thousand dollars less.
We drove the vehicle and it was still perfect. Salesman was patient, not rushed and knowledgeable. Understand I'm an engineer. I study things like big purchases until there is nothing else to know. I am also a mechanic of 40 years so I know a few things about cars - like how to rebuilt engines and transmissions, do upholstery, paint and body work, etc.
Salesman was not trying to BS us as is often my experience.
I asked to see the vehicle up on a lift and they accommodated me. Two of the tires were factory originals but still in good condition. Two of the tires had been replaced with a brand of tire I have never heard of "Performer CXV Sport" but they are smooth and quiet. I suspect they are import tires but I'll give them a chance. I've had some good "off-brand" tires over the years though generally I buy Michelin as my tried and true brand favorite.
We spent about an hour that evening with him. We returned the following evening with a check and did the paperwork and drove our new suv home. And it has been perfect. I've added the factory mudflaps, factory trailer hitch and light controller, and 3M clear appliques over the high wear parts of the paint.
Our suv was sold for for a little under the NADA price. We brought our own money.
The dealer examples were priced upwards of $5K more than CarMax and frankly I don't have much confidence that they would have discounted their examples $5K nor would they have friendly and efficient about it. We would have needed to fight and claw back each dollar I'm sure.
The last time I dealt with a dealer was 18 years ago for a car of the same brand and those particular dealers tried every lying scheme in the book - except the last one. We spent four weekends looking for a fair deal. In the end it took all those weekends and several hundred miles of travel to get $5K off of the first price the closest dealer quoted us (at 14% interest which was ridiculous, our bank financed us at a fraction of that).
We have sold the car we replaced to a private party for a fair price and no fuss. It was too old for CarMax to consider. We keep our cars 15 years or more. Our other car - the same brand car that we struggled to buy way back when - is 18 years old now and still getting the job done.
If all else were equal, then there would be little incentive (other than still working with non comission, no pressure sales people).
That said, the question at hand is "all else equal."
Carmax will lower their prices as vehicles rot on their lot. So if that car is $2000 more today and doesn't sell, in a couple weeks it won't be $2000 more. Although the prices are no haggle that day for the consumer, they are not set in stone either in comparison to the general marketplace.
Along this line of thought too, however, why would anyone buy from any dealer when the private party down the road is $2000 cheaper than the dealers?
The last vehicle I ever bought at a dealership was back in 92. I've owned 55, and only have bought from dealerships 5 times between 86 and 92. I always buy from individuals. It's way cheaper.
haggling is negotiating, they use the word "haggle" to put a negative connotation to it. Everything is negotiable, I've gone into Target and negotiated lower prices just by asking for the last sales price, if the item was on sale for 20% less three weeks ago I've received a discount of 20% just for asking. Not a big deal on a $25 item but huge on a $20,000 item. I usually negotiate anywhere between 5 & 10% off of asking price of a vehicle and I've done it for years when negotiating car prices. I now have a new approach that works wonders and is much more efficient but you have to do some homework. Reaching the going rate for the car you want, the key is knowing your local market rate for a particular vehicle. For instance, here in SoCal Jeep Wranglers sell for a premium, usually 10 to 15% above book price, you'll need to factor that into your equation. Anyway, know what you'd like to pay and send a fax to every sales manager in your area, you be amazed at the feedback. I researched a 2005 Suzuki Forenza's for a month and noticed a dealer selling what I was looking for at $9500...new! That told me exactly what I needed to know. I sent out a fax asking for a $9500 price. The original dealer sold out at the price but there were several other dealers who responded. Turns out one dealer was overstocked and I had the pick of the litter, any color, auto or manual. At the time most dealers were advertising the Forenza's at $12,995. Took the same approach with a 2004 Dodge Ram truck (new), got it at a very low (below lowest advertised) price as well. It wasn't something the dealer would broadcast but it was available for the asking without driving all over town. I do have to quantify that I was a professional buyer for a living, I purchased medical goods for a very large public hospital district so I had some business acumen.
I've bought one car from them and never had an issues with them. Yes, the price was a bit steep sort of but the cars are clean and I didn't feel like they would sell you a clunker. No salvage title all titles are clean and yes the not feeling like you want to punch the sales person in the mouth is great.
Mostly because I want to punch him/her at some point.
That Carmax SUV has been flawless since I originally posted about it. So have the off-brand import tires. I bought two more pretty soon from one of the franchise tire stores so I had a matching set of four.
Years from now I'll shop around but won't hesitate to visit CarMax as well.
This SUV has taken us back and forth to work and to several vacations multiple states away.
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An update
