New Car Buying Shennanigans

[RoyGBiv]

that reminds me of a fun one.

I bought a... 2006 I think... Cadillac Escalade, used from a dealer. The listing said "certified pre-owned". When I got there we did a little dickering and then the guy says "what if I add the 'certified' to the deal" at which point I pull the printout from my pocket and say "it's already there". All sorts of drama ensues, but ultimately I left there at something like 8pm with my damn certified Escalade.

Bought my current car CPO with total 6 years / 100K miles warranty. It was a dealer service loaner, current model year, with 4800 miles on it. Still under bumper to bumper warranty today. Walked in with a check, walked out with the keys in less than 30 minutes.

My wife likes to tell the story of getting stuck at the dealer with me and the kids for 8 hours buying a minivan. Much was learned from that experience that will never be repeated. Including the part about the minivan.

[trailrunner]

My best experience was when I bought a Tundra in 2011. I had been to the dealer enough times that I was pretty familiar with what they had in stock. I was looking at the dealership's website, when they put one on sale for a very low price. It was one of those loss leaders, but I had been watching them long enough to know that it was a good deal, and that I wouldn't be tempted by a bait-and-switch, which is normal practice for the loss leaders. The only question I had was that I wasn't sure exactly which truck it was. I think it was one that I had test driven, and I liked. I called the sales guy I had been dealing with. He wasn't available, or didn't take my call because he probably didn't think I was serious. So my wife and I drove three miles to the dealership, and I compared the inventory number in the ad to the truck that I thought it should be, and it matched. While I was doing that, my wife was sitting in my car about 15 feet from me, and I heard my phone ring. She answered it, and I could hear her say "we're here at the dealership right now." Turns out it was the sales guy, and when he found out I was there, he came running out of the showroom. I told him: "according to my math, this truck should cost $xx,xxx out the door - right?" He pulled out his calculator, ran the numbers, and gave me a number that was about $50 different. He pointed out that I failed to include tax on something. OK, fair enough. I told him I'd buy it. Simple enough.

When we started doing the paperwork, we got to the extras, like undercoating, scotch guard, and paint protection. He started going through the sales pitch, but was watching me. During this time, I'm always polite, let them make the pitch, and then firmly decline. He was a mature guy my age, and sensed that I wasn't going to buy any of this stuff. So he paused, and gently said "if you're not interested in any of this, just say so, and I'll stop right now." Done!

5 years ago when I bought my current truck I almost had them call the cops on me because they wouldn't give me back the keys to my potential trade-in and started getting louder and louder in the showroom.

When my mom and dad got divorced in the mid 1980s, my mom needed to buy a new car, and she asked me to come with her. At some point in the process (maybe before I got there), she had given the sales staff her drivers license, presumably to run a credit check or something. After a while, my mom got cold feet and just wanted to leave, but the dealership started to give her the runaround and wouldn't give her license back to her. This just made me and my mom mad, and we raised a ruckus in the showroom.

Having said all of this, I despise car dealerships and their sales model. Everything about it is slimy and insincere. I know almost all consumers feel this way, and I've never understood why car companies don't change their method, except that it must work for them.

I also learned not too long ago that dealerships have a lot of protections from state governments. I'm a little vague on this, but I believe that a lot (or all?) states have laws requiring new cars to be sold through dealership. I think Tesla tried to break this model by selling directly and got some pushback from states. If that's how I want to buy a car, why shouldn't I be allowed? I'm always suspicious of an industry that relies on government help to protect them.

[blues]

I had a similar experience with buying a motorcycle years ago where I ended up riding 275 miles each way from Key Biscayne to Leesburg, FL to pick up a bike I had been wanting but couldn't find locally with any of the dealers I knew.

Funny thing was that my local shop called me the day before I went and told me that they had found one that they could have shipped to them (new).

I told them that I had told the other dealer I'd come by, pick it up and trade in my current ride. He asked if I had exchanged any money or signed anything. I told him I hadn't.

He asked me why, then, wouldn't I save myself a 550 mile ride to get the same bike for essentially the same money.

I told him that the reason was I had given my word, and once given it was not negotiable.

Not sure he ever understood.

[farscott]

When purchasing a vehicle, I follow four basic rules:

1) Never comingle vehicle price, financing/payment methods, and trade-in values. First, I select a vehicle and then negotiate price. If we come to an agreement, then we can discuss how I would like to pay. Then we can discuss whether or not there is a trade-in and, if so, negotiate that price. I also bring a spare key when letting people evaluate trade-ins. That way there is no holding keys of trade-in hostage. That happened once in 1996, and I learned from that experience.

2) I work with the same people each time. In the past ten years, we have purchased five vehicles from the same dealership and same salesperson. That is easier in a small town but using the same dealer/business helps.

3) I have done all of my research before I buy, including test drives. When I ask for a test drive, I am honest and say I have no intention of buying today. I typically take a year or more to purchase, starting from when I decide it is time to doing the research to deciding financials.

4) I know my upper bound on price and will walk away. I never need to buy a vehicle when I shop; the dealer needs to sell vehicles when I shop.

[Borderland]

My last new vehicle was Sept. 2019. Took a trade in to see what they would offer. They were about 3-4K below what it was worth on the street and kept the keys to work on me for awhile. I'm a pretty easy going guy so let them have their fun. After I couldn't get the deal I wanted I ask for my keys for the 3rd time. They finally gave me my keys as I stood in the lot waiting to leave. At that time they said we can sell you the vehicle you want for your last offer. I thought about that for a few minutes and decided that the two hours of BS had to be worth something so I agreed to the deal.

There is enough info on the internet to know what you can buy a vehicle for and not get totally screwed by a dealer. If the vehicle you want is in good supply I start with 10% below MSRP. I usually end up somewhere around 6-8% below MSRP depending on how popular a vehicle is. Toyotas are tough because lots of people want those. I'm sure that many people get sucked into sales tactics which is unfortunate. I only buy new about every 10 years so I don't get too worked up over the dealer games. I've offered my services to friends but I think I embarrass some of them by being too direct, IDK. Sales people are fair game though.

[HCountyGuy]

I bought my wife’s car from Carvana and it was honestly the most hassle-free thing. Of course the down side to an online buy is that you can’t test drive it but they give you a week to drive it/evaluate and then decide if you’re keeping it. Best car buying experience I’ve had and would likely do it again.

Now if we could do something about shitty dealership mechanics fucking up recall repairs and actually inducing the problem said fix is supposed to eliminate, and having the stones to tell me I’ll have to pay them a diagnostic fee to figure out the problem when I outright know what specific thing they did wrong (only did 1/2 of what was supposed to be done).

But that’s another topic altogether, and nothing to deal with Carvana. Would recommend them!

[JodyH]

Bought 3 new cars this year.
2 Subarus and a Hyundai.

The Subaru's were almost all text messages with the salesman followed by 30 minutes or so in the managers office signing paperwork and writing checks.
Both are "base" models, so there's not a lot of dealer or factory add-on bullshit to negotiate over.

The first time I actually spoke with the Hyundai salesman was when the wife took it for a test drive and the manager took our trade-in for a test drive.
We then parted ways and I contacted him via text later that afternoon to say we'd take it and to negotiate the final deal via email (for a "hard copy" of the negotiations).
The next morning we arrived at the dealership, signed a few papers, authorized the wire transfer, handed over the trade-in title and drove off in her new car in about an hour.

It's 2020... I don't have any patience for "old school" car dealers. If you aren't on board with doing 90% of the process via email I'll go somewhere else.
I've found it's usually the sleazy dealers that want to avoid putting everything in writing and asking to negotiate via email weeds them out.

[RoyGBiv]

I bought my wife’s car from Carvana and it was honestly the most hassle-free thing. Of course the down side to an online buy is that you can’t test drive it but they give you a week to drive it/evaluate and then decide if you’re keeping it. Best car buying experience I’ve had and would likely do it again.

Now if we could do something about shitty dealership mechanics fucking up recall repairs and actually inducing the problem said fix is supposed to eliminate, and having the stones to tell me I’ll have to pay them a diagnostic fee to figure out the problem when I outright know what specific thing they did wrong (only did 1/2 of what was supposed to be done).

But that’s another topic altogether, and nothing to deal with Carvana. Would recommend them!

What's their offer if you decide you don't like the vehicle? Refund or credit?
One of their towers is in Dallas. I'd get a kick out of getting my car from a bubble gum machine.

[Nephrology]

The cheat used to be to contact fleet sales and I would assume that still works *if* you are buying and not trading. They were used to dealing via email, etc. and usually didn't mind dealing with an individual. If they didn't deal with individuals, they'd pass you off to a specific salesman and you bypassed the web site's marketing/data gathering "contact us" BS.

When I bought my Ram, I did it by a bid process. I emailed the fleet sales email address from the website of every dealer in the radius I was willing to drive. I gave them the specs of the truck I wanted and requested an OTD price minus state sales tax (as some where in different states), gave a date I would buy, and gave no other contact information. Once bids were received, I sent out to those that responded "current low bid is X, I will accept one more bid and then buy from the lowest on the date previously provided".

I went with the second lowest bid, as it was much closer to my house and once they through in a spray in bed liner it was actually the cheapest by a few hundred dollars.

Now I still had to go to the dealer to pick it up, go to the F&I office to fill out all the paperwork, etc. so it was not fully online.

Going to try that approach next time I am in the market.

[Jim Watson]

walking into the dealership with a check for that amount.
You forgot a fee or add on cost for something that's already on the car? I can leave or you can honor the price.

A friend did just that. Walked out over an add on "doc fee." Got a better deal elsewhere a couple of months later.