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aerog said:
Silverghost said:
What kind of b.s. is that? I know it is a ploy used by dealerships. It just irks me. :smile:
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I don't mind that, I just can't stand it when they try to sell the true-coat.
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They still try stuff like that?
I've never, ever been offered any add-ons.
But then I also do the math in my head, and I'm happy to walk out if don't like the numbers...

<edit> In the interest of full disclosure, I also make it clear up front that I want to buy it right then, I want their best price, and I have no patience for sales tactics. That usually stops a lot of the to and fro. Leaving stops the rest. There are plenty of car dealers around here...
 
Yep - you won't be buying gas, for sure. But you'll be buying lots more electricity. Why aren't people asking for the details?

<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">It has been suggested that employers will provide subsidized electric car charging as part of future benefit packages. No reason why this charging station couldn't be powered by solar or wind.

Also, on the home front, electric utilities can be encouraged to provide off-peak rates for customers with electric cars. </span></span>
 
alana said:
But then I also do the math in my head, and I'm happy to walk out if don't like the numbers...
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I don't even go to dealerships except to actually look at the hardware. I get on the 'net, I check to see what the prices <span style="font-style: italic">should be</span>, then I shop around and email the dealerships within a couple hour drive of home (sometimes more).

If I find what I want at the right price, I get it and drive it home. Trade-in negotiation isn't mentioned until after the purchase deal/numbers are settled.

I was joking about true-coat (ala "Fargo") :smile:
 
angelfj said:
<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">It has been suggested that employers will provide subsidized electric car charging as part of future benefit packages. No reason why this charging station couldn't be powered by solar or wind.</span></span>
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Those of us in extraordinarily small businesses or self-employed will appreciate that. :rolleyes:

I'll leave it at that :wink:
 
alana said:
<edit> In the interest of full disclosure, I also make it clear up front that I want to buy it right then, I want their best price, and I have no patience for sales tactics. That usually stops a lot of the to and fro. Leaving stops the rest. There are plenty of car dealers around here...
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I do my homework before I buy a car. I know what invoice is, and I know what dealer hold-back is (oh, yeah, they can often sell below invoice and still make a profit if they have dealer hold back). I expect them to make a profit, but I don't want to get gouged, so I go in knowing exactly what I want and how much I am willing to pay - which is usually somewhere between invoice and MSRP, but a little closer to invoice. Then I simply state that this is the car I want and if you will sell it for THIS MUCH, then you just sold a car. If they say no, I say "have a nice day."

I was almost to my car at the Miata dealer and they came running after me with a change of heart. I got the wife's Miata for exactly what I wanted to pay.
 
One local mall had about five parking spaces with free charging stations for electric cars. Of course, normally there are at least two taken by Mall Security's electric cars on the chargers. I don't know how this will work when there are more electric cars coming into the Mall's parking lot...
 
Basil said:
I go in knowing exactly what I want and how much I am willing to pay - which is usually somewhere between invoice and MSRP, but a little closer to invoice. Then I simply state that this is the car I want and if you will sell it for THIS MUCH, then you just sold a car. If they say no, I say "have a nice day."
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My father used to just choose the car he wanted (usually not exactly the most popular car on the lot!), decide what he was willing to pay (after researching....) and then write the price down on his business card and leave it with the salesperson. It rarely took more than a few days for the dealer to either accept the offer or at least provide a reasonable counter offer. No hassle, no arguing.
The dealer of course is paying interest on the car every day it sits on the lot, and a real, reasonable, even if is slightly low firm offer is much better than loosing money every day on a car.
 
70herald: <span style="font-style: italic">My father used to just choose the car he wanted (usually not exactly the most popular car on the lot!), decide what he was willing to pay (after researching....) and then write the price down on his business card and leave it with the salesperson.</span>

Now that's a great idea! Do the research, leave an offer on a card, and let them call you back.

Seems the biggest part of the new car headache is sitting at the salesperson's desk, subject to the art of sophistry, while the price keeps flip-flopping.

T.
 
It's a weird scientific fact. Car salesmen are the only species on the planet that can make a maggot throw up. I saw that on one of the science Channels.

.
 
<sends note to Mythbusters...can a car salesman REALLY make a maggot throw up??> :laugh:
 
Basil said:
Wonder why?

Teachers Not Prepared to Teach Math
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That explains the 3rd grade teacher who taught in the room next to my wife's classroom...Peg overheard her teaching the class that 5 x 5 x 5 was the same as 3 x 5 or 15. That teacher was a great reading teacher, but a poor 3rd grade teacher. Probably another reason my wife retired...it was hard to teach her students plus the "cute, young" teachers that were being hired.
 
70herald said:
My father used to just choose the car he wanted (usually not exactly the most popular car on the lot!), decide what he was willing to pay (after researching....) <span style="font-weight: bold">and then write the price down on his business card and leave it with the salesperson.</span> It rarely took more than a few days for the dealer to either accept the offer or at least provide a reasonable counter offer. No hassle, no arguing.
The dealer of course is paying interest on the car every day it sits on the lot, and a real, reasonable, even if is slightly low firm offer is much better than loosing money every day on a car.
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I gave a car sales person my Ph# once NEVER EVER again!
He kept calling me even after I told him I had purchased the car I wanted elsewhere!
 
I always tell the salesman that I want the final price the first time. I remember the shocked reaction of a salesman who called me a few days later with a better price when I told him that he had failed to give me a satisfactory offer when I was there, so I went to another dealership and had already completed the transaction. He never called me again.
 
Silverghost said:
Shawn, can you answer a question for me that ALWAYS ticks me off? What gives with a salesman when they say "Let me go talk to my manager."? What kind of b.s. is that? I know it is a ploy used by dealerships. It just irks me. :smile:
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It's simply a control game. Control over the customer, but also control over the salespeople by the managers. In my experience, they never let me see all the numbers. When I tried looking in the 'sacred' book with all of the actual invoices for the cars, to see what the numbers really were, they almost tore my head off. The control over the customer comes from baiting the hook, trying to convince you that the salesperson is on your side trying to get you a good deal. In reality, when the salesperson goes into the managers office to 'haggle the price for you', the manager coaches the salesperson on how to "sell" you the new numbers. It's a psychological ploy to get you emotionally invested in the car so that reason and logic go out the window. That is also why they try so hard to get you on a test drive. New cars feel nice, usually nicer than you expect. They count on you making an emotional purchase, not a logical one. They also tend to make fun of the customers in some way or another while they are behind 'closed doors' in order to help the salesperson's fragile ego and increase their confidence. I hated that aspect of it and is one of the reasons I lasted a very short time.

This is from my personal experience on the "other side of the desk". Not all salespeople are like this, but I think I can easily say that a majority of them are.

I tried selling cars at Saturn because I thought they would be different. "No haggle no hassle" etc... Notice how Saturn doesn't say anything about that anymore? Well, that's because they are now like any other GM Dealer. They just don't like to tell people that it's no longer "no haggle no hassle". Saturn's no longer use plastic bodies and space frame construction either. They are all basically Opel's anymore. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing either.
 
AweMan said:
I gave a car sales person my Ph# once NEVER EVER again!
He kept calling me even after I told him I had purchased the car I wanted elsewhere!
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You mean that even after you asked him how much commission he lost on that sale, and whether he fancied his chances of repeat business, he still kept calling you? :wink:

Wow, he was persistant...
 
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