Interesting Non Car Buying Experience

[RoyGBiv]

Last two cars I purchased over the phone based on an online ad.
Had the dealer email me the detailed specs on the vehicle. Looked up the dealer cost, deducted any incentives, added $500.

First one the dealer turned me down, but called back 2 days later and accepted my offer.
Second one (last year) the dealer countered at an additional $250 and I accepted, drove over and brought the car home.

Walked in with a check, filled out the paperwork, said "no" to all the add-ons. Was in/out last time in about 30 minutes.

Arrange financing in advance... Your lender can hand you a check marked "not to exceed" and you can write in the final amount on the spot. If the dealer offers you a better deal (first time the dealer beat my bank by 3/4%), just tear up the check. No harm, no foul.

[DocV]

USAA should be able to get you true invoice. I would never trust a dealer to give you a correct invoice.
Dealers also get quarterly bonuses for every vehicle sold. They aren't going to go hungry.
I would always try to get the best deal I could, there are plenty of folks who have more money than brains and only care about the color and options.

Child V used USAA last year. Turned out to be through True Car. The old USAA buying program was superior but the kid's purchase went smoothly.

[SQLGeek]

Child V used USAA last year. Turned out to be through True Car.

That's too bad. Scratch my previous advice then.

[SQLGeek]

If the dealer offers you a better deal (first time the dealer beat my bank by 3/4%), just tear up the check. No harm, no foul.

In the few cars that I've purchased, I've found that I get the best rates from the dealer. When we bought a truck for my wife, the dealer said they will go as low as X% (I don't remember what). I said, OK well we have our own financing lined up. Magically they dropped it another .5% below my credit union's offer when the credit report came back.

[RoyGBiv]

If the dealer offers you a better deal (first time the dealer beat my bank by 3/4%), just tear up the check. No harm, no foul.

In the few cars that I've purchased, I've found that I get the best rates from the dealer. When we bought a truck for my wife, the dealer said they will go as low as X% (I don't remember what). I said, OK well we have our own financing lined up. Magically they dropped it another .5% below my credit union's offer when the credit report came back.

It always works best when you show them you have other options.
Get the best deal you can outside, then let the dealer make you an offer, then show them you've got a better offer in hand.
If they can make you an even better offer, try not to be offended they didn't offer it to you until you showed them your hole cards.

[ELB]

The only time I actually enjoyed buying a car was in Los Angeles. I needed a vehicle right now, but I needed it only for about six months since I was going overseas on a one year remote tour where I wouldn't need to take a car.

I spotted a nice looking Chevy S-10 on a used car dealer lot, went to check it out. Was in very good shape, not too old, good tires, price was OK. While the salesman and I were walking around I asked him in concerned voice about reliability, I didn't want to pay for a lot of repairs in the future. "Oh, these are great trucks, ninety-something % of these trucks are still on road, never break down, " yada yada. I asked same question in different ways about three more times, same answer.

When we got signing the paperwork, I noticed that the dealer gave a 30-day warranty. So I asked what's this, only 30 days, I thought these were reliable machines? "Oh, that's just the standard warranty from our dealership." Ah, but I am not the standard customer, I don't want to be fixing this thing every month. "No problem, these are so reliable, you won't have any problems yada yada."

So I said, that's great, so you guys wouldn't have any problem giving me a warranty for 12 months, right?

The salesman looked like he had just found out those chocolate covered raisins he had been eating were really rabbit "pellets."

He sputtered and stammered about company policy and all that, but I wouldn't yield, kept reminding him of how reliable these trucks are, so it wouldn't cost his dealership anything, right? but it would make me the customer happy and get him sale right? Cuz it's never going to break down, you told me that about six times right?

He trots off to the manager's office, comes back in about five minutes, says his boss will go for six month warranty. Deal! that's just about the time I was going to go overseas, probably leave the truck in my mom's garage for a year (didn't tell him that tho).

It was a pretty good truck. Drove it from Los Angeles to Washington DC and back, drove again to Indiana, stored it for what turned out to be six months instead of a year, drove it to Texas, and drove it here for several years before selling it. Never had any serious problem with it, so I guess the salesman was right!

[WTR]

I bought my truck off eBay. Great deal, great transaction.

[RogueUSMC]

I have had people look at me sideways when I told them that there is a difference between buying a car and being sold a car...lol

[Soccerdad1995]

My last new car purchase was over 5 years ago. I was looking for a very specific car, and the color combination (black interior and exterior) was not common in Houston due too the heat. But I really liked the look of it. My local dealer told me that there were literally no cars like that available in Texas and the closest one was in Louisiana.

I tracked the car down looking at dealer inventories for every dealer in Louisiana. Then I called that dealer and got their best price to have the car delivered to me in Houston. Then made calls to each and every Houston dealer for that make. Ended up going with my original dealer but saved over $3,000 off of the price they originally wanted to charge me.

As I mentioned, the F&I person was a piece of work, though.

[karder]

Going to a dealership is like playing a game of 3-card Monty. It's amazing what so many of those places try to get away with. I bought my last new car in 1991. It was a crazy, 4 hour shell game to get them to sell it to me for the price that was written on the windshield.

I gave that car to my dad in 1998 and bought a used truck from a guy I found in the paper. He was glad to get rid of it, I was glad to get it, no muss, no fuss, and it has been my daily driver for the last 20 years.

My wife's 2000 Honda Civic is getting a little long in the tooth and she has been asking about replacing it. Stories like yours are helping me get emotionally prepared for that miserable trip to a dealership which I fear is on my horizon.

[Syntyr]

My wife's 2000 Honda Civic is getting a little long in the tooth and she has been asking about replacing it. Stories like yours are helping me get emotionally prepared for that miserable trip to a dealership which I fear is on my horizon.

If you dont have to have brangd spanking new go to carmax or carvana. I have had good luck with both. No haggle prices.

I am sitting at the local Honda dealership that i bought my last 2 Accords at waiting for my sales guy. Time for a new Accord. Trading in my 2014.

[strogg]

I used to work at a dealership. Selling cars. It was not at all fun, but that's just how the business works. As some of you have noticed, the best experience comes from internet sales or phone sales. Basically, you find a number of dealerships in your area and just pit them against each other. Let them duke it out while you're watching from the sidelines. Then you come out a winner. Another thing I learned is that invoice price is not really invoice price. Not only do you have corporate incentives (rebates from corporate that go to the dealership), they have volume kickbacks and financing kickbacks. If you want a killer price, one thing you can do is finance it through manufacturer financing even if you have the dough to pay cash. Once the loan goes through, just pay it off, and you'll be out the first month's interest plus a hard credit check on your record. It'll be more than offset by the extra money you get back from the reduced purchase price.

If you want to buy a used car, the best place to purchase is Craigslist. Cars are in much better shape, and they're cheaper. Used cars at dealers usually come from auction yards, and the quality are sub-par at best. Not to mention that dealers usually don't give a care how well the inventory is running. It's also a known fact that dealers make the least amount of money on new cars (I've known dealers in the red, actually), and the most on parts/service and used cars. Oh, do you need a loan to pick up a used car? Not to worry. Go to a bank or credit union, and pick up an auto loan for that car on Craigslist. Trust me. Effort well spent going that route.

On a random note, the most interesting experience I had at any dealership was me selling a car. I had this car that is very difficult to flip privately because they're so rare. I ended up just tossing it to a dealership I used to work next to. The owner of the dealership didn't even look at my car. He even forgot exactly how much he was going to pay me. I had to remind him what he told me over the phone. I handed him the signed title, and he made the bill of sale. Done. Never checked my ID either. He really didn't care about the sale whatsoever. I was literally in and out in 10 minutes.

[RPBrown]

My favorite saying to a car salesman
"Did you notice that I wasn't a pedestrian when I came in here"

[ELB]

... If you want a killer price, one thing you can do is finance it through manufacturer financing even if you have the dough to pay cash. Once the loan goes through, just pay it off, and you'll be out the first month's interest plus a hard credit check on your record. It'll be more than offset by the extra money you get back from the reduced purchase price. ...

Interesting. That has the potential to be the most useful, or at least thrifty, thing I've ever read on the internet.

[OldCurlyWolf]

My favorite saying to a car salesman
"Did you notice that I wasn't a pedestrian when I came in here"