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No. Why? I skip on out to the lots on Sundays when they are closed to get an idea of what is there. The truck I bought last summer had just shown up on the lot when I test drove it, too.
The best time to look is when the dealer is closed.
In the modern technological world that we live in, there is no reason to put up with that. I say that as a former car salesman. Truly, you should look at, and participate in online reviews. Yelp, DealerRater, etc. should give you an idea of who you are dealing with. In just about any market, there are good stores and bad ones. It becomes hard when you're looking for one specific vehicle that doesn't have many comparable options. That said, if you call about a car on Friday and come in to look at it Saturday afternoon, you have to understand that without a deposit, they won't hold anything for you, and it might very well be sold.
I knew the last new car I bought in 2009 because I rented one a couple of times and drove it 600 miles. I searched online and never went to a dealer until I picked it up.
I called a few dealerships to locate a coupe and I was directed to the next state over that had two with the options I wanted.
I will say that I'll never fill out an online credit app again! One dealer said fill it out and you can finance through Ford and save $500 which I did even though I was paying cash once the loan had an account number attached to it.
Long story short I had a bad feeling and decided to look at my credit through that free annual site about a week or two after filling out the application..sure enough there on the credit report is an address in a town next to the dealership that said I was living there, I had never been to this town. I put a stop on any credit under my name until this was taken care of. They were establishing an address under my social when I decided to check on it because of a bad feeling I had and my hunch was right.
That's what I think I'm gonna start doing. Go to the car lots after hours (or Sunday). If I see something I'm interested in, I'll write the stock # and VIN. That way no overzealous sales ppl hounding me.
That is what I do when car searching. I look up the inventory on the dealership website and if I see the car I want, I go to the dealership after hours,( I find Sunday mornings to be the best time) and see if I can physically locate the car on the lot. I did that for my last car and went in the next day , the car was still there, and bought the car.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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When you find an honest dealer, stick with them. I found that Chrysler-Jeep is the worst. We found a Ford dealer that despite being 40 miles away was honest and provided great customer service when I bought my 2007 Ranger, so we recently went back and had the same great experience on a 2014 Escape.
If you do get the bait and switch, it's hard to prove anything that will get them in trouble. Best thing is to walk away, telling them why, and then post it on various dealership review sites including Yelp.
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