anotherlimey

I just went through a bad car buying experience. Mainly because the negotiating on their part was so ridiculous, I mean they wanted Mercedes money for a Ford; they denied knowledge of any manufacturer's offers and had the nerve to tell me the $8k difference was fees.

I don't mind negotiating when both parties want a good result. But car dealerships here treat all their customers as if they were born yesterday.

scrubbedexpat099

Seems a trifle masochistic when you have the web at your finger tips.

It has been years since I last bought a new car and even then I just went to do the paperwork and pick it up.

anotherlimey

I did all my research before walking into a dealership.... But they obviously aren't prepared for anyone who can use Google.

Next time I'm buying at Carmax.

Guindalf

I had to have an oil change done on a Saturday before driving to New Orleans that afternoon to get on a cruise ship the next day. So, I hunted to find a dealership with a service area open and found one, who performed the oil change as requested.

However, they tried to sell me a cabin filter (fair enough) and then told me I shouldn't leave the lot with the current set of tires are they needed to be replaced. I refused and, a year later, am just getting to the position where I actually DO need to get new boots.

Needless to say, despite being told that when I got the survey, anything less than 100% was a fail, they got marked VERY low. I'm sure that, even though they are still sending me mail despite being told not to, they don't like me very much - just my money which they've absolutely no chance of getting another penny!

ChocolateBabz

There were a number of 'incentives' when I bought my new car, one of which was a $300 gift card to one of three stores (your choice). In order to get the gift card you had to bring a print out of 3 - 5 star reviews on your choice of online review sites - no 5 star reviews no gift card!!!

AdobePinon

Yep. I've bought four cars new. In each case I had a final price negotiated before I set foot in the dealership.

Rete

I only buy new cars, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2013. With the exception of the 1998 being a Ford Escort, the other three were Hyundai. I never received a survey from any of them ... dealership or manufacturer and if I had, I would not have answered it.

I have never had a difficult time either with negotiating the price on any of the vehicles having done my homework prior to walking into the showroom.

I never take my vehicles to the dealership for service. Their prices are outrageous and you do NOT invalidate your warranty by having your own guy do what work needs to be done. I only had to use a dealership once and that was when I had a needed to have the computer fixed and I was out of town. Fortunately, the dealership I went to was top notch and also fixed the recall issues at the same time and it cost me nothing.

Oil changes are done by my mechanic of choice and I keep all receipts in the glove compartment. I also never buy the extended warranty. The Hyundai run forever without major issues and the warranty is a waste of money IMHO.

scrubbedexpat099

Exactly.

MidAtlantic

Shortly after I arrived in the US I bought a new car, which involved about 3 hours of negotiating (Bullying really). I did finish up with the car at a reasonable price. I resolved never to go through that again and never return to that dealer.
For my second car I went to another dealer, having done my homework. I told them precisely the car I wanted and the price I would pay (derived from the predecessor of TrueCar) and that I would not negotiate. Within a matter of minutes I had done the deal. I now return to that dealer for most things and get excellent service.
The lesson, as others have said, is do your homework don't play games with anyone, and be prepared to walk out the door.

Galilite

But the price was still good. I wasn't in a position to walk away, I needed a car ASAP, and they knew it (since I told them I needed time to get the permanent address, etc.).

scrubbedexpat099

It does seem you were setting yourself up to fail so perhaps you should just look at it as getting away cheap?

Galilite

Oh, I am not upset or anything. I am just surprised at the local standards.

Tarkak9

..... that's because most people are. I tend to think there are 2 ends of the spectrum - people generally don't want to bother to go prepared and do their homework for their best interest; they much rather have the path of least resistance, the self-gratification from drooling over keys and having that new car smell - "Oooo, look at me!!". Also, at the other end of the spectrum, there are those who have discretionary means that they couldn't care less what the cost is and view it as its the cost of living per se. (weeks after a sale is over, do many people demand to get the same sale price for those jeans??). Giving the perception of accomplishment ("I won") and control to the consumer is also the easiest incentive to close a deal!!

I've never spent more than 20 mins finalizing a deal from the moment of sitting down in the chair to discuss terms and price. At the end of the day, its all about objection handling techniques and knowing ahead of time what one is prepared to commit to, the formula of $X for X stuff - ie why pay more than you have to?!

mrken30

Doctors here are also get bonuses depending on the survey they receive. I think it may be a cultural thing like tipping. In general most people still tip bad service and just see it as part of the bill.

Duncan Roberts

Last year we went shopping for cats one weekend and hit four dealerships on Saturday and got no haggle offers of $4000-4500 trade in. The first dealership we went to oh Sunday offered us $2300. When I said that was laughable he said that his manager had to start low and see what he could get. I was ready to leave then but asked why they couldn't just guided a fair price without the back and forth. To that he responded "I don't know how you do things in Australia bit we do it this way in America" We left at that point.