Is there a better way to buy a car that talking to a sales guy?

[TheGardener]

I can't understand the people who say I don't like to negotiate. You will spend an entire day or two searching the web, trying to save $20 on a computer peripheral, but you are afraid to negotiate and possibly save a couple thousand dollars, when buying a car.

I bought a new car 2 years back. I did my research, and narrowed down my choices to 3 makes and models. Then I went out and did test drives. Then I did it again. Told the dealers, I didn't want to negotiate until I decide what I wanted. After I made up my mind, I went to my closest dealer. He told me about their no haggle policy. Down deep I want to haggle. I asked how much are you asking for the car. The salesman asked me to make him an offer. Didn't like that approach, but I did. Chose a price down toward the lower end of the Edmunds "fair price" range, that being what other people paid, according to surveys. Then he responded said yes to accepting it. That's when I realized that I could do better. So I stalled, and then sent out requests for bids to 5 other dealers within a 50 mile radius. Took 3 days, but I received a deal for another $1,800 lower than my "fair price" offer. Totally off the chart of Edmund's graph.

Research is fine, but it is not the be all end all. If you want to save some dough, be prepared to earn it. If you want suck your thumb and parcel it out to someone else, then you will pay for that privilege or convenience.

 

[vi edit]

I can't understand the people who say I don't like to negotiate. You will spend an entire day or two searching the web, trying to save $20 on a computer peripheral, but you are afraid to negotiate and possibly save a couple thousand dollars, when buying a car.

Because if I buy new using a purchasing service like Costco I'm basically getting the invoice less any current rebates or incentives. The only thing really left to "negotiate" then is holdback (if applicable) and a couple oil changes.

New cars are easy. All the numbers are there. Buying used is the real challenge and trying to get a decent deal there takes a ton more work.

 

[yinan]

Because when I search all of these things and hit the buy button, I get what I want. I do not have to talk to a person. I can't wait to pick up my Model 3 or maybe Model S

 

[NutBucket]

So how is a car any different? You know what you want so you negotiate the best price.

 

[yinan]

Then they make you wait and wait and wait. I should be able click buy it now, and have my car show up tomorrow without ever seeing a single person.

 

[gorcorps]

Because when I search all of these things and hit the buy button, I get what I want. I do not have to talk to a person. I can't wait to pick up my Model 3 or maybe Model S

Then they make you wait and wait and wait. I should be able click buy it now, and have my car show up tomorrow without ever seeing a single person.

Your 2nd statement directly contradicts your first. If you want to be able to click "buy it now" and have a car tomorrow, a Model 3 or Model S isn't an option. Never in the history of Tesla's existence have you been able to pick up a car the next day. The Model 3 isn't even going to ship until the end of 2017 at least.

 

[yinan]

Well, ok. That was an exaggeration. My main point is that I should never have to see another person or negotiate with them at all. Just take my money and let me go.

 

[NutBucket]

You can do everything online and show up in person to sign papers. Hell, a lot of dealers these days will bring the final paperwork to you for signature. Again, what am I missing? If you'd like to overpay for niche vehicle I guess that's your right as an American.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I think it is interesting how many people will still negotiate for a car. Even if you go in and say "this is my price take it or leave it" Doing the e-mail shopping is so much easier, and if you e-mail enough dealers, you get a great price. The last 2 cars I bought were 9% and 13.5% off of MSRP. The prices are always at the bottom of the scale on any of the graphs that you see for what people paid. My father in law was trying to buy a car, I think it had just come out and the dealers were not negotiating any on the price. I sent a few e-mails for him and he bought it for 3K less than MSRP (Can't remember the percentage off)

I mean if you want to spend all your time trying to figure out the perfect price and then screwing around with the BS, go ahead. Personally I enjoyed spending the afternoon with my wife chatting while the offers came in. I think TGs story above is perfect. He spent time trying to find the perfect price, then when he e-mailed around he was able to beat that price by 1.8K. Save yourself the hassle and e-mail first. Some dealers will be high, but one or two are going to come back with low pricing.

I think the Tesla thing is funny too. Don't forget that Saturn had no negotiating pricing also.

 

[Anubis]

"you wouldn't download a car"


your god damn right I would I it was possible

my last one I got from that auto auction. was simple and painless

 

[Fritzo]

Are you a Costco member? Costco has auto buying program for its members.

Was going to suggest this. They have pre-set prices and they're really good. My dad bought a car in about 90 minutes though Costco- signed some papers and it was delivered to a dealer's lot a few days later.

 

[piasabird]

Lots of car dealers have a lower Internet only Price. That is becoming a racket too. However, by using the Internet I found the dealers who just offered better prices. Basically you have a car and the average dealer may knock off $1000 on the price, but some other dealership may sell you a car and knock off $2K-$3K.

I purchased a Toyota Corolla and I really like it. Frankly, I don't think any new cars are worth what they are asking for them. I guess I am just a dinosaur.

If they dont offer you a good price just say I am Leaving and walk away. That is what I did at the Nissan dealership.

 

[Kaido]

I spent a full day negotiating over my last car and I still paid too much. Surely in this day and age, there is some kind of middleman group that can help negotiate the best price on your behalf.

Yes, Truecar:

https://www.truecar.com/

It does 2 things:

1. Shows you what others paid in your area
2. Prints out a certificate to take to the dealer

For nearly every car I looked at, it took an average of $3k to $3.5k off sticker. That's the negotiation range that car salespeople have. The first time I tested it out was at a Toyota dealership when I took a Prius & BRZ for a test-drive. The Prius was $26k and they were willing to do $25k. I took out the Truecar certificate for $21.5k & they honored it right away. Didn't end up getting the car, but used the Truecar pricing at several dealerships until I settled on a car. Separate note on that, I used Truecar plus some monthly incentives (Black Friday discount) & negotiations to drive the price down a bit more on the car I ultimately ended up purchasing (Jeep Renegade), so some dealerships are still variable even after the certificate.

Personally I hate haggling. I like Tesla's model & Saturn's old model...here's the vehicle, here's what each feature costs, buy it or don't. The end. Tesla even drops the car off to you Amazon-style. The only reason regular car dealerships negotiate is because they can get away with it because it's the status quo. It will be interesting to see if future electric car makes have any give, or if they follow Tesla's fixed-price recipe for online ordering.

 

[Kaido]

I can't understand the people who say I don't like to negotiate. You will spend an entire day or two searching the web, trying to save $20 on a computer peripheral, but you are afraid to negotiate and possibly save a couple thousand dollars, when buying a car.

Because there's a difference between clicking around websites & having to deal with pressure in-person from a sales guy & the "let me get my manager" routine as they play their shell game with the numbers. My Jeep dealer was pretty good about not BS'ing me, but they kept trying to sneak in fees all the way to signing. I had a gameplan in place thanks to online research about delivery fees, dealer fees, required TTL fees, & so on, so I knew that it was going to be +$2k on top of whatever priced we finalized on (yay CT). I was able to come out just better than what the average in the area was, but it was a pain to have to do. If I could have purchased it off Amazon Prime, I absolutely would have

 

[JSt0rm]

truecar is the way to go.

 

[KLin]

truecar is the way to go.

Sig checks out.

 

[postmortemIA]

after you buy car, expect new scam from dealer. They will try to sell you all kinds of repairs and regular maintenance items that are way worse for your pocket than what manufacturer has set.

 

[NutBucket]

truecar is the way to go.

Not really. They're affiliated with the dealerships too.

 

[JSt0rm]

Not really. They're affiliated with the dealerships too.

Yeah they tell you the dealers that will guarantee the price. So what? They still see the lowest prices in the area.

 

[Beer4Me]

Management companies and condo boards are becoming aware. All I needed to get one in my condo space was the ok form the management company. Just paid for the electrician and the wall unit.

LOL, they're aware, but they could care less. You just did their job for them by paying for all the work yourself, so of course, they approved it.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah they tell you the dealers that will guarantee the price. So what? They still see the lowest prices in the area.

The last time I tried them a few months ago I was not impressed. I would agree it gives you some idea of the prices in the area but you can do better yourself.

 

[HeXen]

I can't understand the people who say I don't like to negotiate. You will spend an entire day or two searching the web, trying to save $20 on a computer peripheral, but you are afraid to negotiate and possibly save a couple thousand dollars, when buying a car.

Introverts. Like I said, they should just hand over all their money to them. Shopping on the computer is way different, they don't have to look anyone in the eye. Maybe they feel bad because the salesman has a family to feed? Maybe he's got 5 kids to feed.

 

[HeXen]

after you buy car, expect new scam from dealer. They will try to sell you all kinds of repairs and regular maintenance items that are way worse for your pocket than what manufacturer has set.

I notice they send me a lot of extended warranty crap...all scams imo. Later on they always send me that "we have a shortage of used cars like yours and we will give you top dollar for it....and a new car with the same low payment you have now"

lol, legal scams are funny.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Bought my first car when the Edmunds forums were still useful. There was a forum where people would tells others what price they got on a specific Honda Accord with whatever options. People then knew the price to beat and what was possible.

I went back when friend wanted a Prius, and those forums are basically dead. Everything has moved to specific forums like PriusChat or TacomaWorld or ClubLexus. So that's what I did more recently. If you search around in either Edmunds or KBB, you can eventually find the invoice and options price list (it used to be a lot easier and more informative).

Knowing the price, it's then just a matter of emailing all the local dealers that you're willing to drive to and seeing what you can get while comparing to what you want to pay (invoice + some small percentage).

All car purchases have taken an hour or less. All prices were determined before showing up at the dealership. After that, it was just a matter of loan rate... and I've always shown up with something in hand for them to match or beat.

 

[Rumpltzer]

truecar is the way to go.

You need to pay attention to the price they're giving you. They add an extra bit on as a fee. You can work it out by looking at invoice and comparing to what True Car claims is the invoice price. You'll find the add-on soon enough...