Car Buying

Who Princess

What. A. Pain.

Am I the only person that thinks this is about as much fun as a root canal? Decided it was time for a new set of wheels, so for a month or so we spent our weekends visiting dealerships. People who sell cars really make me tired. Same conversation at every dealership.

Salesperson: Are you sure you want to get a i]type of car I've asked for[/i? We've got some great deals on i]type of car I'm trading in[/i!
Me (through clenched teeth, for the umpteenth time): YES I'M SURE.

Salesperson: Are you planning to pay cash?
Me: Do I look like I just robbed a bank?

Salesperson (to my husband): Check out this stereo . . . cool tech features . . . mpg . . . warranty . . . blah blah woof woof.
Salesperson (to me): How do you like the color?

Same conversation! I felt like I was watching my own version of Groundhog Day.

Enkidu

We just did it. With two driving kids it was time to pass along my 2001 to my son and I got a new car. My husband did most of the hard work - but oy, it really is insanity. I knew what I wanted (the same car, just the new model) and - duh, they didn't have that in stock. Why don't we drive one that's JUST LIKE IT, said the salesman. Except it was the hybrid version that's $10,000 more. No, thanks. And then they try to stick you with 600 different kinds of warranties.

I would rather have a root canal. I hope this car will last for 14 years like the old one.

hedonist

Damn! You'd almost expect a pat on the head with that.

I can only imagine what awaits me when I buy a new car at some point this year. Hopefully can pay it in full or finance a minimal amount.

By the way, what are you getting?

Who Princess

It probably doesn't help that I tend to keep a car about 10 years, so I don't get a lot of practice dealing with these people. I agree, when you've settled on a car it's amazing the stuff they try to sell you along with it. My favorite was probably the cost for the tinted windows, which came with the car. What are they going to do, go un-tint them? Also amazing how lots of these extra costs suddenly become no charge when you start to play hardball.

I usually do most of the haggling because I tend to be better at it than my husband, but I guess he'd been paying attention. He handled all of it and frustrated the hell out of the salesperson. I enjoyed watching that part.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Unless you are 20-23yrs old and buying your 1st car...
Or if you have the shittiest credit on planet Earth.....

There is no reason to get annoyed with a car salesman.
Just tell the salesman the truth..

"Listen you thieving piece of shit...Im in charge here, not you....Asshole!"
"Now get out of my fucking face until I decide which car I want to test drive..."

Who Princess

Well said, Speedy!

I only went off on one salesman, who had really screwed up something. My husband likes to keep things polite though. But I enjoyed it when the woman who sold us the car kept saying things like "OK, my manager says this is the last price he'll approve" and Glenn would say, "Sorry, it's still not good enough." Back and forth. They just want to wear you down.

One of the first things they tried to charge us for was making the car a "certified pre-owned." Which is really just a gimmick anyway, since there's no standard for it--it's just whatever the manufacturer wants it to mean. So when they offered to make it CPO at no charge, Glenn said, "Big deal, that doesn't cost you anything anyway, it's all on the manufacturer." I really thought this saleswoman was going to turn purple.

Who Princess

hedonist wrote: »

Damn! You'd almost expect a pat on the head with that.

I can only imagine what awaits me when I buy a new car at some point this year. Hopefully can pay it in full or finance a minimal amount.

By the way, what are you getting?

I got a 2012 Acura TSX sport wagon. Looks like this:



I traded in a 2008 Toyota Rav4.

I like wagons. I don't like SUVs. I schlepp a lot of stuff around for my job. This car is about the same size as many sedans and has lots of cargo room. I hated lifting stuff in and out of my Toyota because I was always reaching up. This is just the right level. It's also easier to haul my dogs to training classes and wherever.

I didn't set out to buy a "luxury" car, although that's what Acuras are supposed to be. The same car is sold in Europe as a Honda Accord wagon. Well, I had a 96 Accord wagon and it was the best car I've EVER had.



I drove it for 11 years and I'd still be driving it if some teenager hadn't slammed into me and totaled it.

mca47

Like Speedy said. You're in charge, not them. Do your research and call them out on their shit.
I bought my first brand new car a couple years ago. I really had fun with it. I did my research and ended up knowing more about the car I wanted more than the salesman.
That knowledge is powerful!

hedonist

Ahhh, Acura. My Integra is 18 years old and not quite 90,000 miles. Gotta say they're well made, so congratulations!

Enkidu

Oh, that Audi is pretty. My mom had (I think) a Honda Civic station wagon. I don't know if she got it new, but it lasted 20-years plus. Seriously. It was an amazing car.

Who Princess

mca47 wrote: »

Like Speedy said. You're in charge, not them. Do your research and call them out on their shit.
I bought my first brand new car a couple years ago. I really had fun with it. I did my research and ended up knowing more about the car I wanted more than the salesman.
That knowledge is powerful!

I agree! We did a ton of research in advance and it makes a big difference when they're trying to snow you with a bunch of bullshit. They try to get you to hurry through the whole thing. Before I spend that kind of money, I need plenty of time to look at what I'm getting and think about my options.

Another thing that I heard every dealership:
Salesperson (after test drive): Whaddya think? Ready to buy?
Us: We want to go home and talk about it.
Salesperson: Well, don't wait too long! I talked to a guy on the phone yesterday and he's very interested! He's coming out here Saturday to check it out.

I kept picturing this same "interested" dude who would go out every Saturday to test drive the same car we were looking at.

Who Princess

hedonist wrote: »

Ahhh, Acura. My Integra is 18 years old and not quite 90,000 miles. Gotta say they're well made, so congratulations!

So far I am absolutely loving it! Like having my old Accord back, only a little cushier! I hope mine lasts 18 years.

Wobbie

Enkidu wrote: »

Oh, that Audi is pretty. My mom had (I think) a Honda Civic station wagon. I don't know if she got it new, but it lasted 20-years plus. Seriously. It was an amazing car.

it's not an Audi.....it's an Acura. try to keep up, enkidu

I remember buying one new car.....first thing I told the salesman was "let's not do the whole good cop/bad cop thing. OK?".....he agreed......next thing you know he tells me "if you hear a thud, it's me getting thrown out of my managers office (with this offer)".....I was like "dude? Did we not just agree to not do this bullshit?"

Glad you like your new ACURA!

FrankieG

My current car, which was the one my parents gifted me when I moved out, hit 140,000 miles this past month. I think it's time I start researching.. Not looking forward to it.

Wobbie

how come MY parents never gifted me a car????

Enkidu

imalive wrote: »

Enkidu wrote: »

Oh, that Audi is pretty. My mom had (I think) a Honda Civic station wagon. I don't know if she got it new, but it lasted 20-years plus. Seriously. It was an amazing car.

it's not an Audi.....it's an Acura. try to keep up, enkidu

I remember buying one new car.....first thing I told the salesman was "let's not do the whole good cop/bad cop thing. OK?".....he agreed......next thing you know he tells me "if you hear a thud, it's me getting thrown out of my managers office (with this offer)".....I was like "dude? Did we not just agree to not do this bullshit?"

Glad you like your new ACURA!

Acura, Audi, I'm a girl. They're the same thing, right?

When I moved to LA my parents gave me $1,000 and said this is your rent down payment and you car payment. Get a job.

It kills me to see parents buying their kids brand new Escalades when they turn 16. Or BMWs.
(Escalade is like one of those big SUV cars, right? Like Bruce Jenner's?)

Who Princess

imalive wrote: »

how come MY parents never gifted me a car????

Join the club. Mine never gifted me with one either. What deprived lives we led in our youth!

And thank you, I am so pleased with my new wheels. My running joke is that the sports wagon is an old person's car. When we went to one dealership to look at a wagon we'd seen on their web site, it had been sold. They offered to find one for us, no obligation. We told them what we wanted and they found a car fairly quickly. Of course, when we decided to buy it, they made a big deal about how "we went and located a car for you, purchased it and brought it here all the way from Florida, etc." No obligation, right.

While we were going through the whole process, I'd occasionally go online and do a national search for a TSX wagon. I found enough of them to know we were going to get what we wanted. What I found hilarious was that more than half of them were in Florida. Like I said, old person's car!

Who Princess

Enkidu, thanks! I can believe that about your mom's Civic wagon. I knew someone who had one. Great cars. I agree about seeing teens with expensive new cars. I know that makes me sound like an old fart, but I am one anyway.

Wobbie

Enkidu wrote: »

imalive wrote: »

Enkidu wrote: »

Oh, that Audi is pretty. My mom had (I think) a Honda Civic station wagon. I don't know if she got it new, but it lasted 20-years plus. Seriously. It was an amazing car.

it's not an Audi.....it's an Acura. try to keep up, enkidu

I remember buying one new car.....first thing I told the salesman was "let's not do the whole good cop/bad cop thing. OK?".....he agreed......next thing you know he tells me "if you hear a thud, it's me getting thrown out of my managers office (with this offer)".....I was like "dude? Did we not just agree to not do this bullshit?"

Glad you like your new ACURA!

Acura, Audi, I'm a girl. They're the same thing, right?

I wanted to say that....but didn't want to be that guy

rr165892

The buying process can work in your favor and be made much easier if you research what and where the dealerships make money.
Usually the backend(service dept) makes the money and the sales of new and used is all profit.Car manufacturers have offsets for the dealer.No matter what the dealer is going to make a profit on a new car.If you are willing to play tough you can make the process really benefit you.
With the exception of gap insurance you should never buy anything from the finance guy.No extended anything.
Timing is always important as well.End of year,end of month and end of model year all can produce much friendlier discounts.a Costco card can also save you a few grand.Look into their vehicle purchase sign up.Its done online with participating dealers.

Wobbie

rr165892 wrote: »

The buying process can work in your favor and be made much easier if you research what and where the dealerships make money.
Usually the backend(service dept) makes the money and the sales of new and used is all profit.Car manufacturers have offsets for the dealer.No matter what the dealer is going to make a profit on a new car.If you are willing to play tough you can make the process really benefit you.
With the exception of gap insurance you should never buy anything from the finance guy.No extended anything.
Timing is always important as well.End of year,end of month and end of model year all can produce much friendlier discounts.a Costco card can also save you a few grand.Look into their vehicle purchase sign up.Its done online with participating dealers.

You're the man.....did you see where that rusty Talbot sold for $1.9M? That article had some funny links....like the 900cc Ninja snowblower and the Lamborghini V12 stuffed into a motorcycle frame.

Enkidu

Who Princess wrote: »

Enkidu, thanks! I can believe that about your mom's Civic wagon. I knew someone who had one. Great cars. I agree about seeing teens with expensive new cars. I know that makes me sound like an old fart, but I am one anyway.

People would stop my mom on the street and ask if she wanted to sell it. She lived in Virginia so it went through snow and sleet and just kept on working.

We went into the car dealership very prepared. And the only thing I wanted extra (oh, Imalive is gonna make fun of me again) was heated seats. Yeah, I live in LA, but we don't have a garage so sometimes in the morning heated seats are really nice.

Wobbie

I will not make fun of you....warm buns are a good thing.

deadendp

Our last experience with purchasing a car was a pain in my ass.

My RAV had to go in for an oil change and recall repairs. I phoned a salesman and told him that since I was going to be there at the dealership waiting anyhow, I wondered if they had a Yaris on the lot that I could test drive. My husband drives generally a half hour to work and he wanted something economical.

Do we have a trade? Yes, a 1997 Tercel. (This was December, 2013.)

I go to the dealership. I'm dropping the RAV off to the gentlepeople at service and some guy walks in and says, "My appointment hasn't shown up yet and it is noon!" Then he looked at me and said, "Well, are you Amy?" :tip of the head and clinching my teeth: "Yes, I am. When I made my appointment with you, I told you that I needed to drop my RAV off and I would be in to see you right after."

We walk out of the service door and he says, "So, did you bring your Tercel with you?"

"Well, as I just said and I stated when I phoned, I brought the RAV in for service. Unless I can drive two cars at once, then no-- I did not."

We go out. He shows me the Yaris. Fantastic. "Can we take it for a test drive?"

This is where he starts giving me statistics about the percentage of people who can drive standard vs. those who really do and what a low percentage it is of women who can.

Really?

I drove off and he was stunned. I think he expected me to stall it and not even get it out of the lot. Asshole.

So we take it for a drive. It's lovely. We get back and he says, "So, the dealership wants me to ask what I can do to get you in this car today."

"As I stated previously, this car is for my husband. It is not my place to purchase a car for him. I was doing a bit of legwork. I was the first who had the opportunity to drive it, but ultimately, it is up to him." Then he takes me to meet with their finance guy. This is where it got real ugly. They took me to a secluded room towards the back of the dealership. I have the two of them badgering me about buying a car and signing today . . . I was texting back and forth to my husband to tell him where I was and what was going on. They wanted to run financing. We did not rob a bank, but we didn't need to finance because I had saved for years to buy the car in cash. They were mad. "You know, no one will give you any type of deal with cash. That's not where the deals are at." I also told them that as a responsible consumer, we were price checking. "Where are you checking around?" "The Cleveland area." "Well, we can't even touch Cleveland prices!" Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? This is a major car dealership in the area. My heart did not bleed for them.

They wouldn't look at the Tercel for any type of trade-in.

I was finally able to escape, I got my vehicle and promptly went home to write the dealership owner a letter. I told him that we were driving 40 minutes north to purchase the car in Cleveland. We did. They were wonderful. I haggled the price down. We had the Yaris driven up from Cincinnati so that it was the color that my husband wanted. They happily purchased the Tercel from us without a problem. It was a 16 year old vehicle with 235,000 miles on it. They said a college kid would buy it cheap.

I will continue to go to the local dealership for service only. Their service department is wonderful. We will never purchase another vehicle from them ever again.

Halifax2TheMax

I have a market changing concept for car purchasing. Send me a blank check, your social security number and your full name. Once you do, I'll let you invest in my concept. I'm telling you, as one who hates the car buying process in this, the 21st Century, we can and will do better. But, in all seriousness, I feel your pain.

Hobbes

Agreed with statement above about timing. Went in on Halloween 2013. Through some clever chit chat between my girlfriend and the salesman, found out he needed to meet his quota for the month. Desperate to make a sale and to get home to take his kid out trick or treating, the haggling process was pretty painless. He dropped five grand off the price without me even trying.

Again, research is important. I knew exactly what I wanted. When he asked what I was looking for and rattled off everything down the color, trim and accessories, he knew he wasn't going to sell me anything else.

That was my first new car purchase. I had heard horror stories and by no means was this a walk in the park, but it wasn't so bad.

2014 Subaru Outback, in case you were curious.

HesCalledDyer

When I bought my car, I did my research beforehand online, knew exactly what I wanted. It only came with two options, 1) a moonroof and 2) traction control. I wanted the moonroof, didn't want TCS. Wanted the car in silver, I wanted a 5-speed, and I wanted the hatchback not the 4-door. I visited the two local dealerships and called a bunch out-of-town. I cannot tell you how many times I heard "We have what you're looking for in red/blue/black//white." Uh, then you DON'T have what I'm looking for. "We have what you're looking for in an automatic." Uh, then you DON'T have what I'm looking for. "We have what you're looking for without a moonroof, but we can install a pop-up." Uh, 100% fuck no! Seriously had a dealer tell me they would install an aftermarket pop-up sunroof on a brand new car!!

I ended up buying my car at the ONE dealership who said over the phone "We don't have what you're looking for in our inventory, but let me check our dealer swap and see if I can locate one." The guy called me back an hour later and said he found it. I asked him "Silver, right?" Yes. "Hatchback?" Yes. "5-speed?" Yes. "Moonroof?" Yes. "Traction control?" No. He then sent me a quote with the offering price and his signature. Starting price was $5 under factory invoice and he threw two mfg rebates on top of that. Their price was $5k less than every other dealer who couldn't even get me the car I wanted in the first place. 11 years later I'm still driving it and when I buy my next car, I will go back to the same dealer.