I spent much of the past two days looking for a new car. By dinner time yesterday I told my Beautiful and Talented Wife (The BTW) that I was no longer in the market.
The reason? No matter what make of car I was looking at, each of the salespeople I spoke with were so demeaning and inept that I'd rather keep my current car rather than do business with them. So there will be no profits for the dealership, no finance charges paid to the financing arm, no commissions to the salesperson, and no sales tax collected by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Not one of the salespeople I spoke with could answer anything but my most basic questions. When I started asking about financing options, they generally tried to change the subject or gave me easy-to-disprove wrong answers. When I showed them that the answers they were giving me were not just wrong but silly, they handed me to a financing specialist who wouldn't or couldn't provide me with an understandable explanation. When I pointed out that the deal they were offering made no sense, they came back with the same deal with the elements rearranged and then made it sound like they had just done me a huge favor.
Special note to the Mustang salesperson: You're asking me to spend $30,000. Showing up for work in torn jeans and flip flops doesn't give me a sense that you understand that or respect me as a customer.
Notes to all car salespeople:
- I am not stupid.
- Telling me "That's a good question" instead of giving me an answer is not a good strategy.
- A smile, a cup of coffee, balloons hanging from the ceiling, and the word "SALE" are not substitutes for solid information.
- Telling me you'll get back to me with an answer and then not calling is not the way to sell cars.
- Let me get out of my car and take a few steps before descending on me like a shark who hasn't eaten recently.
I'm Not Buying a New Car, Either
Stan, I'm surprised at
Stan, I'm surprised at you...a guy with a blog and you are not shopping for a car online?
Assuming you already know what car you want, use a service like carsdirect.com. You can see the actual price that a local dealer will give you, and depending on the service you use, you can set it up such that all the paperwork is ready to go before you get to the dealership...you just walk in and sign, literally 15 minutes and you are done. Some services will even deliver the car to your home or office.
And the prices really are lower than anything you will negotiate yourself.
Stan, If you want help with
Stan,
If you want help with your new car buying negotiations
I founnd the videos at www.car educator,inc very helpful. If you think they are helpful let me know.
.
I Did
Me too...
I'm in the market and simply dreading the entire process too. I've keep a clapped out Ford Focus, (2000), yes the Modern Day Edsel, for 7 long years because the last experience was so 'memorable' & miserable. There's simply no way for the information to penetrate the market here guys, without the ready cooperation of the sales people. If the sales people will not 'cotton' to reality, well then as in the Washington experience, reality does not disappear, it's just held in abeyance for far too long. Hence we get double digit declines in sales for the Formerly 'Big 3', and them perfectly unable & unwilling to sell hybrids other than for small 'promotional & branding' campaigns to sell more trucks. (No , I've seriously heard this in interviews with GM execs). So they're actually LESS responsive in this than in the last 'gas crises of the 1970's. I mean we had 4cy cars designed and built within 2 years after the shock, and it's taken twice as long for the Bigs to catch on. And they Still don't really 'get it'. Our entire Fleet needs to be retired. We simply can no longer afford cars OR trucks getting the 'standard' 25-28MPG today.
And yet I'll mostly likely go out and buy one because I can't wait 6mo for a hybrid or desire to pay a ridiculous premium on one. And despite the hype, only a fraction of the fleet they're able to push out has a MPG of greater than 30. This should be possible with off the shelf technology TOMORROW, but they're still dawdling in Detroit thinking that Washington will save their bacon with some sort of bail out or tax credit scheme. Not this time. The market has spoken. Their Hudson's are gone. Their Studebaker's cooked.
But with a lousy trans, and a cracked windscreen and the most recalls endured by any domestic car in ages, I still may be unable to actually BUY a car soon either. For all of Stan's reasons & more. I mean look at the damn ads! Almost NONE of them to this day mention MPG!! Or IF the car is AUTO or Manual trans! Colors galore they can tell you. Audio this and that. But the basics that people Really Really need to know? That my friend they're perfectly unable to tell you. And when they can they'll lie through their teeth about anything & everything to able able to 'put you in that car'. No wonder people take CL or newspaper listings over actually daring to go to a dealership.
But I can't tell you how many times I've said recently, if only Business could be conducted in a Business like manner where people actually knew what they were talking about or what they're supposed to be doing or selling! Geesh. Cheers, VJ
Stan, your problem seems to
Stan, your problem seems to be financing.
The simple solution is to arrange financing at your credit union before you go to the dealer. There's a lot less opportunity for flim-flam when the deal has fewer moving parts.
My "new" car is 8 years old
My "new" car is 8 years old (Nissan), and my "old" car (Saturn) is about to turn 12. When faced with a repair, I cringe at the buying process, but even more at the cost, and choose the repair. A paid-off car, even one with so-so MPG, is a gift that keeps on giving.
Buying a new car
When I went to buy a car, I researched exactly what I wanted and how much the dealer paid for it (http://www.fightingchance.com/). I went in the fall, right before the new models were coming out, and at the end of the month. I made them an offer at 3% over dealer cost, and they accepted it.
By the way, I got all this from the following website: http://www.carbuyingtips.com/
I did this in 1998 for my wife's van (10 years old and still going!) and in 2004 for my Honda Civic.
How does the financing make no sense?
the tables here seem straightforward.
I think that you should try
I think that you should try to buy a new car...and maybe give your favorite niece the old one!
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