Greenhill

I need some tips on dealing with car sales people. I've always been bad at getting good deals.

I need a new vehicle in July, as the lease on my current car ends then. After shopping around the last couple of months, I'd pretty much decided on either an Impreza or a Suzuki SX4 - I would've considered getting another awd Vibe (or a Matrix) but they're more money, lower-spec and, as they added more weight and a bigger engine, the fuel consumption now screams "I drink your milkshake, I drink it up "

So, a couple of months ago, I agreed a lease deal with the local Subaru dealer for a 5 door auto Impreza. I'd made it clear from the beginning "I want it in July"...you know, when the lease on my current car is up. They agreed the deal then told me I had to pick the car up 3 days later, or the deal would not be held.

I'd said "July" from they outset, you know, made it perfectly clear. So I ended up with no deal and sent a complaint to Subaru's office, saying they'd reneged on the deal. That went: "Bla, bla, bla", they didn't seem like they were listening either.

So this weekend, after realising I can still drive a manual and I don't really need the 5 door model, I asked the same dealership how much the lease would be on the stick-shift sedan (which is about $2500 cheaper than the auto 5 door).

The sales manager told me it would be $10/month MORE than the quote he'd given me for the auto/5 door. The monthly payment was also more than the quote on the subaru.ca website for the same spec car

I pointed this out to him and he said "oh, I'll have to see what I did wrong...I'll call you in the week, ok?"

Kirstine

Yep, their whole goal is to get you through those doors and into the showroom so they can get your information from you and persuade you to buy. As the poster above said, don't let on that you are new and make sure you go well prepared and pretty much know what you are wanting to buy otherwise they will convince you that you should be driving something that they think, usually the car they can make the most profit on. Also be careful when buying used as one particular dealership in the area I'm in buys their used cars from the car rental companies and these are for example one year old cars with 90,000km on the clock, they won't tell you they are ex-rental cars either. Not every dealership is like this though, there are some genuine ones to deal with out there, but definately know what car you want and check online what you should be paying so you don't get overcharged.

redneckboy

for new cars try carcostcanada dot com, pay the 35 or 40 bucks and find a dealer who will give you the dealer invoice price plus a few percent.

Bit like broadspeed in UK for removing the haggle factor

pinzo

The salesman at the burlington dealership said the same.... said they don't haggle and they have a high turnover of cars (whether they say that to put the pressure on you to buy I don't know) Also said they keep their prices low so no haggling done at all.

MarkG

Personally I'd prefer to buy from a company that sets a decently low price and sticks to it than one that expects me to waste my time 'haggling' to get the price they should have asked in the first place.

As for the comment from another poster about ex-rental cars above, based on comments by friends in the business, while they may have been abused, they've probably been maintained better than a similar car owned by an individual who did 90,000km in a single year (of which there can't be many). Just check for bullet holes in the doors and dirty nappies under the seats before you buy one.

montreal mike

For those places that right up front openly state that they can't/won't/don't haggle, it is a waste of time to try to beat them down on the price. So they might lose a sale? No big deal. There are plenty of other willing takers. They also know if you can not find a better deal you will be back and pay the price listed. Bottom line is that it boils down to supply and demand.

In my case I knew the car I wanted and the price I was willing to pay. I walked in, found a salesman (nowadays they call themselves consultants), looked at the car, got in, walked around, didn't bother with a test drive, and the next thing I was doing the paperwork.

I think the whole process took less than one hour.

(Since it was a 2004 model I added on a 3 year warranty, so I can sleep well at night.)

Cassie 10000

We got our secondhand 2005 car from the Toyota Dealership and haggled him down, he was ripping his hair out and almost crying when we shaked on the price and my husband got very embarressed but we got a good deal in the end

Also managed to blag free oil changes for the next five years

We had a good experience.

Brownstar

I haggled when I bought my 05 Explorer, got $1000 more for my trade in than originally offered and $500 off the sticker price of the car

Bainesy36

We've just landed in Calgary and have had both experiences with car dealers. One wouldn't budge on price, so we walked away and we eventually bought a car from another with a sticker price of $7995 + GST for $7500 all in plus half a tank of Gas!

At another dealership, they offered us a car listed at $8995 for $7000!! I guess some will play ball and some won't, but also bear in mind if the sticker price of a car is well above the going rate anyway and then they reduce it for you while you're haggling, you're still not getting a great deal, so you need to do your research first on the vehicle you're interested in.

Best of luck to all those looking!

Atlantic Xpat

Bingo. You've hit the nail right on the head. Be an informed consumer and understand the price range for the vehicle you are looking at considering age, condition & market. If the fixed price dealer is at the right price level and the 'willing to negotiate' dealer is $2k above, then you know you need to haggle the $2k off to get to where you want to be. Conversely you also know that the fixed price dealer has little or no room to move.

Alinew

very interesting thread, thank you!

So where would you suggest we look for information on the car prices please? (any websites in particular)

We are going to make the move sometime later this year (autumn most likely) towards NB... there will be so much to sort out with our 2 little girls around, any tips is very welcome.

Aline

XCMTBer

One quick way of getting a book price on a car is to go to www.honda.ca, build a car ,any car and near the end there is an option to "apprise my car"

input the details of the used car and you will get a high and low for the car on trade in. If you do enough comparisons you will quickly work out how much more retail should be.

Southcote

On that price in teh current climate I would expect to get $500 off no problem. You did the right thing walking away

SivoxII

There is always room to "haggle" ... whether you are talking about the UK, US or Canada. Typically when I dealt with dealers in the UK, you could always talk them down 1 or 2 price agreements, as they always have a "bottom line" which of course, they will never start the proceedings with.

With the current situation in the auto industry, the customer is under far less pressure than those smooth salesman at any given garage/dealership ... so never be affraid to "haggle" or walk away. They need to sell that vehicle, you don't have to buy.

All the best!

pinzo

Thats what I thought, but it seems that dealerships are changing their ways....there are 3 dealerships around the burlington area that has adopted the 'no negotiation' way that I know of so far.