Why I hate buying a new car

Azis

Azis

Joined
Dec 4, 2002
Messages
1,418
I went to look at a dodge magnum, made an offer, they countered (in writing) about $1,000 more. So I said no and went home. Then today they call say they can sweeten the deal and would have the car ready for me. So I go back down there to find it was a con. The "manager" wasn't a manager and the deal never was what they offered (in writing) it was now $3,000 more.
I said i'll take the deal you offerd then they said oh that was never the deal, that was just to see if you would counter. I reminded them I put my offerr in writng gave them a credit card and signed the paper, they put on the same paper their counter offer. Then I stopped talking and I left.

I will file a complaint with the BBB and other such things

I would say don't buy a dodge

The dealer is Fairbanks Dodge in Ft lauderdale
 
I recommend doing it over the internet. Hit one of the many car buying portals, figure out exactly what you want, and request quotes from all the dealers in your area. If the closest dealer doesn't have the best price, print up the best price and show it to them. It shouldn't have to be like this but the local stealership was playing games with me when I bought mine and this is how I ultimately resolved it, and in the end they agreed to my offer. (Invoice + $500, and they threw in free mudflaps for my troubles.)

If you haven't already and you ever get the chance, chat with a car salesperson or two off the record. They love it when people show up in person to shop for cars...that's where they make the real money.
 
Same thing happened to my sisters ex. We went car shopping and they had a real nice dodge truck that we took for a test drive. When he asked how much the salesman said that he would give it to him at a certain price and that it would be only X amount of money per month. Well we get back to the dealership and they were both set on buying it. When they went into the room to talk to the same guy and another one they asked the price again. Somehow the price magically got jacked up a thousand bucks. We left no questions asked.

Oh well. :)
 
Negotiated our last 2 cars online. They give thses guys a little more leeway and they usually are eager to sell.
Terry
 
I bought a new car last year while I was working in Wisconsin, the guy did the paper work up, I bought the car and about 4 days later they called me to tell me they needed almost 1000 dollars more because the car was being registered in Michigan, and the Michigan doesn't take trade in value off the sticker price of the car before taxing.

He should have done his homework, some times the good guys win.
 
My apologies to any Cantina members that may be or have been car salesmen, but I really, really hate car salesmen. i haven't found one i could trust yet. Well, maybe one, but that's because i graduated highschool with his son and my family has bought 3 or 4 company trucks from him. However, he doesn't sell Japanese cars, which my wife likes, so i was forced to deal with another set of dealers.:barf: What a run around! They think they're making easy money on a nice young couple that doesn't know what they are doing. They try to sell me on sporty cars like mustangs and street racers with god-awful ground effects. Dude, I'm 25 years old and married. Save it for some boneheaded teenagers that want to get themselves killed. No thanks, just here for 4 door economy cars, please. They they try to sell my wife on "cute". "oooo, isn't this a pretty one?" That really pi$$es her off. I have never had to shake my fist in rage red in the face and storm out of so many places. I finally went back to one after a fit of rage, and the guy knew i was serious. Before he could talk I stopped him and counted on my fingers, "SAFE, good MPG, reliable, SAFE, your bottom dollar, did I mention SAFE, oh and a sun roof:cool: ."
I was finally fitted with a nice 2002 Carmy Sport for my wife. We probably paid too much, but you always do. I asked him if it had been through the inspection. He said it had. I told him that another dealer had said the same thing, and when I had my mech look at it he found $3,000 worth of damage to it. He said he promised that it was up to snuff. I told him that if i had any problems with the car right off the bat that I would park it in his office. He suggested that we have it looked at..."just to make sure." Oh looky, it had a leaky head gasket that he was going to let me drive off the lot with. it was under warranty, of course, and fixed on the spot. however, that wouldn't have done my wife any good if it blew while she was on a business trip in TN:mad: For my troubles I was given a free oil change....gee, thanks, mister:rolleyes:

jake
 
I'd report them, but there is much leeway given to car dealerships, and I'd be surprised if it led to anything.

Find out the basic price from Edmunds, offer 500 to 1000 more and be done with it.


munk
 
$500 over invoice is fair to everyone. (Trust me, when all is said and done they paid considerably less than invoice for it.) If they want to sell it, they'll take that. Watch out for the dealer-installed options. If they don't get you on the sticker price, they'll try that instead.

There are also various games that a buyer can play with the dealership in order to pressure them -- showing up ten minutes before closing time on Friday, test-driving everything on the lot, continually getting cold feet, etc. A bit of research pays big dividends here. I actually felt a bit bad about what I put the dealership through before I eventually bought the car but we discussed it later; I had no hard feelings about the tricks they had played on me, and they felt likewise. It's strictly business.
 
Dave, 500 over invoice was fair 15 years ago. I don't know what 500 is worth today, I think it'll buy 250 loaves of bread, but not what it once was.

Two, it's worth an extra 500 to me to get the hell away from the purchase.

And if the car is desirable, the amount over actual dealer's invoice is going to be more.

munk
 
I know the sale guys lie all the time, but they don't make the deals. This guy was the sales manager and as I said it was in writing. If I end up buying the same car from another dealer I will drive it to his showroom to let him see the lost sale and then write to the general manmage with a copy of the sales invoice (price blanked out)
 
It is pretty funny how some of those guys try to jerk you around. The last car I bought - one dealer's b.s. was so good I couldn't keep a straight face. I'll bet he couldn't either because later in the day I bought that car from another dealer. Dealer #2 got the money - and then went and obtained the car I had been looking at off Dealer #1's lot. If Dealer #1 had been a little less of a fool, he would have gotten the money. Sometimes these people are their own worst enemy.
 
There is a rule in Phillips county one is supposed to buy within Phillips county.

(the major money holders do not follow this gospel)

I offered a local store 10% over the price in Billings for tile, plus any shipping cost. ( which he would not pay anyway) He refused.

munk
 
when i bought my toyota this past spring -i asked about loner cars when its in for work and was told they have free ones by 3 different guys-when i tried to get one for a srvice call they said "we dont have free loners they cost 20 bucks a day" so i said i get t o take that off the payment the right?

bunch of pricks-only thing lower than a arab terrorist is a lawyer or a car salesmen
 
I was still mad about the Dodge %$#$#% all day so tonight I went to Honda told the sales talker to take a seat went to the sales manager said this is what your going to give me for my car this is what I will give you in cash OTD find a way to make it work you have 10 mins....I got the deal and bought a black element EXP


and I put the cash on American Exspress and got the bonus points
 
I freaking LOVE car shopping. To me it's a bit like playing chess, but I probably do it more often :)

I'll give a little about me, just like I do when I first make contact with the sales person on the car lot. I've been in sales professionally for 23 years. For the last ten years I've held a job that involves doing sales training for luxury goods. Believe me when I say that if I can train a guy to sell a $20,000.00 DVD player, I understand the sales process and financial side of business.

Then I tell them the car I want and the options included, as well as the price I'm willing to pay off the lot.

I immediately ask for the sales manager, which is always resisted by the sales person. I explain again that I'm a sales trainer, and know all the closing tricks, and that I'm serious about buying, but will only pay X for a vehicle with X options. I will often get a step or two above the "sales manager" to someone who can really decide if they're interested in taking a deal with low profit margins. They keep trying trial closes and financing nonsense but I stick to my guns. It's fun to point out to the sales person which sales technique he's trying on you as he does it. There's the Trial Close, the Assumptive Close, etc...... Lots of things you can say or do (even with a concience and integrity) to find the buyer's motivation and press the magic "I'll BUY" button!

The last time playing the game was for my wife's current 2005 Honda CRV. The first dealer didn't believe me and held out for an extra $700.00 after two hours of back and forth. The second dealer realized at about 50 minutes that I was serious and we were out of the dealership in under two hours with a new car for the wife :) It was absolutely the fastest dealership purchase ever in my experience!

It does help if you arrange financing ahead of time on your terms and can bring their focus back to the bottom line price every time they mention monthly payments and financing options. Keep them focused on the phrase, "I'll buy this car for this much money right now!", but be prepared for following through immediately if they say yes.

I get to shop for a new truck for me next summer according to our plans and forecasts. I can't wait!
 
munk said:
Dave, 500 over invoice was fair 15 years ago. I don't know what 500 is worth today, I think it'll buy 250 loaves of bread, but not what it once was.
Click to expand...

It's fair. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have eventually accepted it. (I don't think that the sales manager believed what I said about ripping his soul out and selling it on Ebay. Everyone knows that you can't sell souls on Ebay.) It's not like I held a gun to his head, although I did kick the idea around some. Remember that they get the car for considerably less than invoice and there are other incentives from the manufacturer besides. $500 over invoice is not $500 profit. The profit is far more than that.

Besides, what they also knew (and I hadn't considered) was that they could always skin me later on the maintenance. There's not much that I can do about that.

The TDI option for VW's was at a premium in '04...not quite like it is now, but it was still selling briskly. They had to get mine from another dealership on a trade.
 
and walking out of Los Gatos Honda back in '91. Since then I subscribe to a buying service that solicits quotes from area dealers. I've done it twice and had nothing but good things to say from the experiance.
I've always felt insulted by a salesman that starts out with: "What's it going to take to get you driving off the lot in a new car right now?" Twenty thousand dollars(or more) and a five year loan and they want me to jump through hoops for THEM? Gimme a break.
 
I guess what drives me nuts about car salesmen is that they are selling a have-to-have kind of thing, yet they act like they are selling you this one of a kind gizmo that will make you better than everyone else. It's a car. it has 4 wheels, goes vroom, and doesn't (hopefully) break down too often. Quit trying to make sugar-plums dance in my head. I'm not a car guy. I like old cars, rebuilt cars, classic cars. However, there is nothing sold on any lot around here (that I will ever be able to afford or that my tight-pursed nature would let me buy) that will make me feel like I'm better than my neighbors, or sexier, or more of a man. Just show me what I want to buy...like now.

I always try to let the car bozoes know that I work 7 days a week and hate to have to spend what little time I have to myself in the evenings looking at their machines that I personally won't even drive that much. I also let them know that I sell holes in the ground for a living. My product costs as much as a car, does not appreciate your home (although it is a huge selling point to the right buyer), and you cannot take it with you if you move. My whole job is to let people know that this hole in the ground will make their life better, will cause them to treasure their family time more, and will be a foundation on which memories of lazy summer days and hot 4th of July parties will be built. I sell that to people 7 days a week, and I don't have to use magic tricks or special offers or tricky word play or hollow flattery. Why can't they?:confused:
About the closest thing I have come to that is when I bought my wife's first car (before some idiot wrecked into her 6 months later). We went to a Saturn used lot. No Hassle No Haggle. My kind of place. You pays your money, and you takes your chances. Naturally we had the car checked out by an independant mech. Everything went pretty smooth, and we had a great little Honda Civic for her long daily drive. However, when we had to buy he next car, they had moved the lot and it was no longer No Hassle No Haggle. We went to the same salesman we had before named Ralph and had a horrible experience. I ended up telling him to go to hell and storming off the lot. We were buying our second car in 6 months, yet he still wanted to jerk us around. he almost sold us a Jetta with $3000 worth of potential engine problems. Sure it was under warranty, but would it have really presented itself in that time period? Not without the keen eye of our beloved mechs. Bless their souls....and to heck with Ralph:mad:

Jake
 
Good comments above. That is why I'm still driving my 93 F150. Good truck, put a few things into it; ie A/C, 4wd transmission, my fault and delay tactics by the Dealer. Too long to report here.
My son calls it my 'terminal' truck. As long as it serves me well, it is my last vehicle.
 
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