Car Dealers

[EricW]

I drive a 14 year old truck. Why?

a) I'm a cheap bastard

3) I hate car dealers.

Par example:

Price on 2008 Accord: $24,784

Price on used 2007 Acord: $24,999

WTF? Are people's arithmetic skills just that f'ed up that people actually bite at this nonsense? When the hell did used become worth more than new? I don't give a f*** if it's Mick Jagger's accord, it's still worth about 80% of new at most.

I don't want to negotiate. And F*** NO you are NOT getting my car keys. All I want is your cash out the door price. Just tell me dammit. If I like it. I'll write you a check. If I don't, I walk away. Simple.

And if I tell you I'm looking for X or Y, do NOT try to sell me Z. If I wanted Z, I would asked for Z. Now go back into the office and resume the handjob you were giving the manager you asshat.

Oh, and did I mention just how irritating your $2500 "market value adjustment" is. Screw you, your adjustment, and the horse you both rode in on and smashed Tightloop's and my toes with.

Edited November 4, 2007 by EricW

[outerlimits]

I drive a 14 year old truck. Why?

a) I'm a cheap bastard

3) I hate car dealers.

Par example:

Price on 2008 Accord: $24,784

Price on used 2007 Acord: $24,999

WTF? Are people's arithmetic skills just that f'ed up that people actually bite at this nonsense? When the hell did used become worth more than new? I don't give a f*** if it's Mick Jagger's accord, it's still worth about 80% of new at most.

I don't want to negotiate. And F*** NO you are NOT getting my car keys. All I want is your cash out the door price. Just tell me dammit. If I like it. I'll write you a check. If I don't, I walk away. Simple.

And if I tell you I'm looking for X or Y, do NOT try to sell me Z. If I wanted Z, I would asked for Z. Now go back into the office and resume the handjob you were giving the manager you asshat.

Oh, and did I mention just how irritating your $2500 "market value adjustment" is. Screw you, your adjustment, and the horse you both rode in on and smashed Tightloop's and my toes with.

so much easier on the internet-u get hooked up with a guy who's salaried. mo betta. jus bought a new truck today-no hassle-in & out in 45 mins. way less than the normal joe.

[SiG Lady]

Eric is always so adept at telling us precisely how he feels.........

It's so cathartic. I feel better now (seriously).

_{(Since when does a Honda Accord cost 25-grand?!?!?!)}

[shadetree]

That's why I drive a '94 ford ranger.

[EricW]

Exactly. My cost per mile is the same, new car or old suburban. I'd rather have a new car, but the anger and frustration of doing so makes dropping $75 to $100 each time I fill up a lot easier than not clobbering some bottomfeeder. Not to mention the savings not having to shell out for bail, attorney fees, and court costs.

Is clubbing a car salesman with a wiffle bat even a crime?

[mactiger]

Exactly. My cost per mile is the same, new car or old suburban. I'd rather have a new car, but the anger and frustration of doing so makes dropping $75 to $100 each time I fill up a lot easier than not clobbering some bottomfeeder. Not to mention the savings not having to shell out for bail, attorney fees, and court costs.

Is clubbing a car salesman with a wiffle bat even a crime?

Not in certain parts of South Louisiana, it isn't.

Troy

[boz1911]

Please don't sugarcoat yout feelings, Eric, set them free..........

[RePete]

Eric is always so adept at telling us precisely how he feels.........

It's so cathartic. I feel better now (seriously).

_{(Since when does a Honda Accord cost 25-grand?!?!?!)}

I think you MAY be wrong here!

I think EricW is holding back and not saying what he really means!

[38supPat]

There is no more fun pastime in this world than going in and haggling prices, options, deals, incentives etc at a car dealership, when you have absolutely no intention of buying. Go through the whole program, let the dealer think you're hooked and got his best deals, then say thanks and walk out...lol

Yes, I've done it and yes I'm a cruel pr*ck

[HSMITH]

I have purchased just 3 cars from dealer lots in the last 15 years, I am not allowed to return to 2 of them and the other is 900 miles from here. If I were to go back they said they will call the LAW and have me removed. I hate them too.

[carinab]

I drive a 14 year old truck. Why?

a) I'm a cheap bastard

3) I hate car dealers.

Eric, you are a gifted ranter! Nothing is as amusing as a concrete opinion stated in humorous and colorful language.

I'm equally cheap but don't hate car dealers nearly as much as you do. For our next car, here's what we may try to address both of the above issues; buy from a car search firm. There are used car auctions that happen all the time. You inspect in the morning, bid in the afternoon. A car search company typically locates the car and you toss a finder's fee there way. Sometimes it's just a guy with a dealers license, you toss him a few hundred bucks and he bids on the car you want up to your price limit. These are generally whole sale prices. While the cars sometimes have a few extra miles on them, someone else took the hit on the depreciation first so not as much of your money is tied up in something losing value. That's what I hate, wasting money! I want to retire early!

[Cactustactical]

I've bought my last 2 vehicles through the dealers internet fleet web sites. You are quoted a price on an exact vehicle before you walk in the door. yo don't like the quote, you don't go.

The only haggling and other nonsense faced is in the "finance guys" office when he tried to sell upgrades that aren't needed. Fun to sit there and tell him no over and over while he tries to upsell.

[SiG Lady]

"I think EricW is holding back and not saying what he really means!"

Naaahhh... I think he somehow made himself pretty clear as is.

[Kingman]

You know I like MY dealer. i have bought my last 3 cars in a row and one before that from him. It is great at this point. I call him up, tell him what I want and what I want to pay. He makes it happen at this point because he knows I will be back.

[Big Bore]

Hate the bastards myself. Bought a new truck in May, did all the research went thru our company fleet dealer had a good price I was happy with, then went into the finance prick. he tried to add 2 grand of extra BS. (a dealer extended warranty, and a thft recovery system) It was amusing as my CPA wife tore him a new one. Then the a_-hole gets all mad because we caught him. We should have walked out but it was one of the last stick shift mega cabs in Utah and I wanted it. So lesson learned, should have went to Dave Smith Dodge in Idaho. Never had any problems there, call them tell them what you want they give a price. No BS.

[DonT]

Hey Eric, Great rant. You and I feel the same about car salesmen. They really do treat everybody like we are total idiots.

Ever tried an auto broker? I did for my last purchase and it was great. For $100.00 (3years ago) they guarantee they can get you a better price than you can. I had shopped locally and online and sure enough they got me the lowest price. They make their money off of the fee they charge you and not off the sale of the vehicle. They buy dozens of cars a day so they have a working relationship with the dealers and you don't have to negotiate anything. I saved about $2,300.00 and that's including them shipping it to Hawaii. They are based in CA. If you're interested in checking them out, PM me.

The down side_Most of the time you are buying sight unseen. It will be as you specified but they may have overlooked the tiny scratch or dent that you would have caught at a dealership. When I got mine home and started going through it, I found an open-unused condom stuffed down in the far back corner of my van I kid you not

Good Luck,

DonT

Edited for not being able to spell

Edited November 5, 2007 by DonT

[ChrisStock]

Great rant..helped end an abysmal weekend on a smile!

[PaulW]

"Is clubbing a car salesman with a wiffle bat even a crime?"

Now that was funny!!

We have one dealer in Central Florida that gets the Police called on them an average of once every other week. They even locked someone in an office once because they would not sign the papers. Hmmm, wonder what the outcome would have been had that been one of the IPSC crowd? Lets see false imprisonment equals kicked out door!!! Just terrible. One lady traded her car in for a new one, fianancing fell through, she returned their car but they would not give her her car back. Took this lady 2 years to finally get her car back. Just nuts man!

[boo radley]

There is no more fun pastime in this world than going in and haggling prices, options, deals, incentives etc at a car dealership, when you have absolutely no intention of buying. Go through the whole program, let the dealer think you're hooked and got his best deals, then say thanks and walk out...lol

Yes, I've done it and yes I'm a cruel pr*ck

That strikes me as an odd recreation; especially to describe in the superlative....A 'Canada' vs. 'US' hobby?

[sslav]

I had similar experiences until my last car purchase a few months ago. I did my research on the internet and had a price in mind that I should be paying. The guy sat down with me and quoted me the sticker price. I asked him if he could do better than that. He fed me a line of how they do not make that much of a profit on these and he can only do so much. Then he quoted the new price wich was actually $100 below what my research told me I should be paying. At that point I shook his hand, signed papers and had the new car.

I am going back to this guy for my next car too.

[bountyhunter]

I drive a 14 year old truck. Why?

a) I'm a cheap bastard

3) I hate car dealers.

Par example:

Price on 2008 Accord: $24,784

Price on used 2007 Acord: $24,999

WTF? Are people's arithmetic skills just that f'ed up that people actually bite at this nonsense? When the hell did used become worth more than new? I don't give a f*** if it's Mick Jagger's accord, it's still worth about 80% of new at most.

I don't want to negotiate. And F*** NO you are NOT getting my car keys. All I want is your cash out the door price. Just tell me dammit. If I like it. I'll write you a check. If I don't, I walk away. Simple.

And if I tell you I'm looking for X or Y, do NOT try to sell me Z. If I wanted Z, I would asked for Z. Now go back into the office and resume the handjob you were giving the manager you asshat.

Oh, and did I mention just how irritating your $2500 "market value adjustment" is. Screw you, your adjustment, and the horse you both rode in on and smashed Tightloop's and my toes with.

last time I did the new car thing I went online and got all the details of the Chevy cavalier I wanted, then went to the dealer and said:

"Find me this car and I will buy it from you for cash at sticker price."

Dealer says: "Yopu have to give us $1000 deposit before we can transport a car from another dealer."

ME: "I didn't tell you to transport anything, I told you to FIND the car... when you find it, and I see it exists, I'll give you the deposit. When it arrives, I'll pay the full price"

DEALER: "Don't worry... we can find it..... but you have to give us $1000 deposit first."

ME: "SLAM!" (door as I'm leaving)

The ploy is to get the deposit and start the paperwork, then they don't find the model with what you want and try to shoe horn you into whatever crap they have on the lot.

Edited November 6, 2007 by bountyhunter

[bountyhunter]

Exactly. My cost per mile is the same, new car or old suburban. I'd rather have a new car, but the anger and frustration of doing so makes dropping $75 to $100 each time I fill up a lot easier than not clobbering some bottomfeeder. Not to mention the savings not having to shell out for bail, attorney fees, and court costs.

Is clubbing a car salesman with a wiffle bat even a crime?

Most new car dealers have been forced to open an "internet sales side" where you can buy the car at their dealer online and you don't ever speak to a salesman.... and you save THOUSANDS because they are forced to compete with internet prices.

The dealer won't even tell you they pffer this, but most do and if you use it you will save a ton of $$$. If the dealer doesn't, go to another dealer.

When I looked at Hybrid Accords, the dealers were tacking $5k onto the alread high sticker price on the lot. The internet price from the dealer was about $1k BELOW sticker saving about $6k on the same car.

[bountyhunter]

The only haggling and other nonsense faced is in the "finance guys" office when he tried to sell upgrades that aren't needed. Fun to sit there and tell him no over and over while he tries to upsell.

One advantage of being old and having my house paid off: during the last "dealing" I asked if they give good rates on their loan.... then after I beat the hell out of them on price and rebates for the car (and it was all set), I whipped out my checkbook and paid cash for the car.

It's fun to watch a grown man cry......

Edited November 6, 2007 by bountyhunter

[mjbine]

TL's toes...... I love when threads come together....

[bountyhunter]

I drive a 14 year old truck. Why?

a) I'm a cheap bastard

3) I hate car dealers.

You will love this one: on the 2003 Chevy I bought when new, the sticker prices was about $18k. So, the dealer has his "mark up" BS, destination charges, etc..... and is asking $22k. So, he asks me to make an offer and I offer him $17k.

Then, he does the "negotiation" thing: takes a plain piece of paper and divides it into four squares and draws a diagonal line through each square. he explains that I write my offer in the left side of the square and he writes his on the other side.

he goes first: to "come down a little" he writes $21k on his side and slides the paper to me. I write $16k on my side (1k less than I just offered him).

he gets agitated and explains that in order to make the deal, we have to compromise on the price.... so he moves onto the next square and "comes down" on his offer to $20k and slides the paper over to me. I write $15k on my offer.

He gets pissed off and asks me what the hell I'm doing? I told him: "Seeing how long it would take you to figure out I'm not going to let you jerk me on the price."

So, eventually I paid sticker price because there was a $1500 rebate.... and when I told him I was paying cash the guy started crying that he was losing money on the car.

I told him I forgot my violin....

Edited November 6, 2007 by bountyhunter