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It is AMAZING to me that a sales person will spend an hour telling you how wonderful and perfect a car is; and then two minutes later you have a business manager telling you the car will essentially fall apart as soon as you leave the lot if you don't buy extra coat protector; specific electronic warranties, etc. Such a scam.
And people fall for it, instead of saying, "You mean all the paint on this POS is going to peel off in a year? Thanks, I'll go buy something else!"
I'm quite serious in saying this is a situation we have put up with for far too long and deserving of high-level investigation. If any other business treated customers this way as a routine, they'd have been censured or punished long ago. It's the intersection of "tradition," mythmaking (that Joe can 'negotiate' a better deal) and far too much political power keeping us from cleaning up this nasty mess. Time to turn over a few rocks.
Yup, they take it and then you spend 2 hours with the "business manager" doing the paperwork, where they try and push all types of warranties and extras.
It is AMAZING to me that a sales person will spend an hour telling you how wonderful and perfect a car is; and then two minutes later you have a business manager telling you the car will essentially fall apart as soon as you leave the lot if you don't buy extra coat protector; specific electronic warranties, etc. Such a scam.
A retired attorney friend's method was to tell the post sales guy that if they tried to sell him anything he hadn't asked for he would leave without finishing the deal.He walked out a couple of times over the years, and ended up with a better deal.
A retired attorney friend's method was to tell the post sales guy that if they tried to sell him anything he hadn't asked for he would leave without finishing the deal.He walked out a couple of times over the years, and ended up with a better deal.
As I've said before, I once walked out on a $70k purchase that was pen in one hand, keys in the other... because after being warned, they stuck in a $100 "documentation fee" and wouldn't delete it.
Despite absolutely every other thing, a car buyer has to go in with balls of steel and stick to what they know is right.
A nice short presentation on the "four square method" from a guy who used to sell cars.
Who's every been in the 4-square situation? (I have not.)
You only get rip off if you go buy a car completely unprepared. In other words you get rip of if you allow someone to rip you off.
Do you homework and some research, check your credit, do your own math how much you want to pay and on what terms.
If you're buying an used car - get an info what to look for, what cars are reliable, get a car history and make sure you run a check on that car using a trusted car shop of your choice.
Going to a dealership to negotiate your purchase should be your last step of your preparation. And don't be afraid of negotiations. Every purchase is negotiable, no matter what they say...
Never show that you had fallen in love with a car and always be prepared to walk out the dealership if the sales terms are not what you want.
You also should inquiry how much it will cost you to insure that car.
Few of my friends didn't do it, bought the cheap model of Tesla and then found out that the insurance is a killer....
You only get rip off if you go buy a car completely unprepared.
That's simply not true; it's comforting BS the auto sales industry loves to have people think. You can do kata all day and still get run over by a tank.
Being very prepared only gives you tools to judge whether you're being excessively screwed, and most dealerships can razzle anyone who spent the weekend reading Consumer Reports to bone up.
Being very, very well prepared AND willing to walk out at any moment, even just on a hunch... that'll show those tanks.
Wrong assumption. I didn't meant sitting at home and reading Consumer Report...
Okay, spending three weeks researching car prices, options, MSRP, financing... it doesn't really matter.
You're going into the ring with Mike Tyson. Coming out with most of your teeth doesn't count as a win. That is, not getting excessively screwed in the hundred ways you can be and paying about what you've heard other people pay is kind of an iffy victory.
Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
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I can't stand car salesmen at dealerships, and for some years now only buy used cars from the owners, on Craigslist. Bought some winners and some losers, but overall have done OK for the prices paid. This method is so uncomplicated, low pressure, and no dealing with parasitic and/or deceptive salesmen.
You only get rip off if you go buy a car completely unprepared. In other words you get rip of if you allow someone to rip you off.
Do you homework and some research, check your credit, do your own math how much you want to pay and on what terms.
If you're buying an used car - get an info what to look for, what cars are reliable, get a car history and make sure you run a check on that car using a trusted car shop of your choice.
Going to a dealership to negotiate your purchase should be your last step of your preparation. And don't be afraid of negotiations. Every purchase is negotiable, no matter what they say...
Never show that you had fallen in love with a car and always be prepared to walk out the dealership if the sales terms are not what you want.
You also should inquiry how much it will cost you to insure that car.
Few of my friends didn't do it, bought the cheap model of Tesla and then found out that the insurance is a killer....
Totally agree, elnina.
I've only bought from a dealer once and he was the father of a friend in high school. I was very happy with the price and the truck lasted for years.
One of my friends in my early to mid 20s seemed to just have to change cars every 2 years.
To each his/her own, but that's a lot of $$$ gone.
We'd get a small group of friends to go with him to the dealerships in the Seattle-tacoma area.
Geez, I can't stand the negotiation, the this-and-that.
I've always bought from private sellers except for the one time noted.
Blue Book value, consumer reports, done before hand and then the Carfax report just before the buy.
I sold cars 25 years ago and I remember "sales consultants" trying to push the 4 square thing. No one ever actually used it and I've never seen anyone use it since then either.
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