New Car Buying Hasn't Changed

[mystang52]

[spoiler alert, happy ending] Just bought DW a new car and the search was a brutal experience. Bought my first new car almost 50 years ago. It's amazing how things have NOT changed since then.
In those 50 years dealers' tactics have been frozen in time. And with all of the cars I've bought over the years, no matter how I tried to circumvent the usual B.S. I was unsuccessful.
Good news is, I guess, I've come full circle. My Dad negotiated for my first car (my money), I negotiated each of my kid's first cars, and my lawyer-son just negotiated this latest purchase for me. With my prior research in hand, DS had me and DW look at the car we had in mind (outdoors) while he did the dirty work. He texted me when to come back inside and all I did was write the check. Saved me a nice piece of change, to boot.
I should add I recall a prior thread on this topic. Thinking I learned something, I tried working with supposed Internet Sales Managers with nothing but frustration and futility to show for it.
But we ended up very happy, thanks to DS!

ETA: None of the problems had to do with chip or car inventory shortages.

 

[Al in Ohio]

Glad to hear. Nice to get some return on the parenting investment too!

 

[Rickt]

Great !
Can you please share what magic your DS did at the dealership?
My daughter's car was stolen today....I may have to go buy her a new one soon.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Out of Steam]

[spoiler alert, happy ending] Just bought DW a new car and the search was a brutal experience. Bought my first new car almost 50 years ago. It's amazing how things have NOT changed since then.
In those 50 years dealers' tactics have been frozen in time.

Car buying really is a slog; the effort involved can be comparable to buying a house costing ten or more times as much.

Both our cars are getting older, and while my annual mileage is down by nearly half from my commuting days, I still do a lot of driving. I'm definitely not used to the newer car in the family having nearly 150K miles.

So, we anticipate buying (or leasing) two vehicles, though I hope not until well into 2023. My wife drives relatively few miles and may have a good case for leasing. we will probably buy one new car and one 3-4 year old car.
xcept for the finance and insurance office, our last two buying experiences weren't too bad. My wife is a better negotiator than I am.

I am not looking forward to trying it again in a new city. Hope the shortage situation will have gotten better by then.

 

[MTB4me]

I used the "Costco deal" on my last two cars. I'm sure it wasn't the lowest price I could get, but it was a fair bit off of sticker in both cases. And I spent probably no more than an hour each at the dealer. I wasn't trading anything in and I wasn't financing either one, though, so that certainly helped. And I declined all their extended warranties and add-ons. Was also able to get exactly what we wanted in both vehicles, but that was 3 and 4 years ago, well before the latest supply chain issues. It's simply not worth my time for that last few hundred bucks to spend hours on end dealing with salesmen and the finance office at the dealers.

 

[bluelight]

I purchased a new Audi in the spring with the Costco discount. Because of low inventory it took awhile to find a dealer in our area who had the SUV with the options and color that I wanted. The internet made it easy and to our pleasant surprise, the car was on the showroom floor. When I realized it was the exact vehicle that I had been looking at online, I told the salesman that I wanted to test drive. We had no trade in and were paying cash which made it easier. The sales manager didn't even try to sell us any extras.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I bought my Tesla Model 3 online. No haggling, no trying to get you to buy paint protection, etc. Just a few clicks on your computer and that's it.

My favorite dealership tactic is when they take forever with the process to intentionally exhaust you.

So I disagree with the OP's premiss that nothing has changed in 50 years with the car buying process. A lot has changed.

 

[braumeister]

FWIW, when I bought my Volvo in 2018 it was the most delightful buying experience I could imagine. After plenty of online research I checked out my top 5 candidates in person. Fell in love with the Volvo XC60 PHEV and told the dealer I wanted to use their Overseas Delivery option (OSD). He brought up all the package/option choices on his screen and I picked the ones I wanted. No suggestions or prodding to get anything I didn't want.

The OSD procedure goes like this. First they took $3K off the MSRP. Then they gave me two round-trip "Economy Plus" tickets to Sweden. I elected to upgrade them to business class at a substantial discount, and we flew into Copenhagen for a few days to acclimate to the time change.

Then they flew us up to Gothenburg, picked us up at the airport and took us to the best hotel in town where we were given a free great room and a special gourmet dinner.

Next morning they took us to the factory where my car was rolled out and I was given a thorough orientation to all the bells and whistles. Then we got an incredible factory tour. Volvo provides two weeks of European insurance, so we got to give the car a little break-in.

We turned the car back in and they shipped it back to my local dealer for free, then flew back home. Actually we took the high speed train to Stockholm for a few days then flew home from there. All air travel and the first hotel night cost us nothing.

No other car maker offers anything even close to the Volvo experience, and after 3 years and over 50K miles I can honestly say it's by far the best car I have ever owned -- I absolutely love it. So I'm 100% positive on the experience.

 

[DrRoy]

We are buying a new car on Monday. It will be the first time that I have paid full sticker price. I always negotiated a discount, had a vendor's discount, or used Costco. This time, some dealers were asking over sticker and/or packed on tons of extra warranties. The good news is that I believe I will get a bigger premium from selling the old car vs. the price that I would have expected for that, and the selling premium is bigger than the lost discount on the new one, so I come out ahead by ~$2500.

 

[MichaelB]

FWIW, when I bought my Volvo in 2018 it was the most delightful buying experience I could imagine. After plenty of online research I checked out my top 5 candidates in person. Fell in love with the Volvo XC60 PHEV and told the dealer I wanted to use their Overseas Delivery option (OSD). He brought up all the package/option choices on his screen and I picked the ones I wanted. No suggestions or prodding to get anything I didn't want.

The OSD procedure goes like this. First they took $3K off the MSRP. Then they gave me two round-trip "Economy Plus" tickets to Sweden. I elected to upgrade them to business class at a substantial discount, and we flew into Copenhagen for a few days to acclimate to the time change.

Then they flew us up to Gothenburg, picked us up at the airport and took us to the best hotel in town where we were given a free great room and a special gourmet dinner.

Next morning they took us to the factory where my car was rolled out and I was given a thorough orientation to all the bells and whistles. Then we got an incredible factory tour. Volvo provides two weeks of European insurance, so we got to give the car a little break-in.

We turned the car back in and they shipped it back to my local dealer for free, then flew back home. Actually we took the high speed train to Stockholm for a few days then flew home from there. All air travel and the first hotel night cost us nothing.

No other car maker offers anything even close to the Volvo experience, and after 3 years and over 50K miles I can honestly say it's by far the best car I have ever owned -- I absolutely love it. So I'm 100% positive on the experience.

That’s amazing. It looks like that program is still available. I’d consider it just from this description.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have negotiated my last 4 vehicles totally over the phone. Only going into the dealership with an emailed quote in hand on the car I wanted to sign the lease papers and pick up the car. Still takes a couple of hours once you get there as there are so many papers, and sitting down with the finance manager, but no haggling or funny business. Nothing has changed in those 4 years as I recall.

 

[dixonge]

In June 2020 we got pre-approved via Honda Finance and then picked our car and a location and put it on hold, all online. We then talked via phone to coordinate pickup. We were coming back into the States from Mexico and picked the car up at Laredo. Still had some paperwork and a minor amount of haggling, but it was a lot better than my prior experiences. Maybe it's because I'm older and they can tell I have a lot of "IDGAF" going on. LOL

 

[Midpack]

What you did even a year ago, much less further back, doesn’t apply at the moment unless you buy a make/model that’s very unpopular (aren’t many) - there are waiting lists for more models than not. Dealers don’t have as many cars, and demand is high, so they’re adding “market adjustment” charges and/or loading them up with every dealer option they can think of. I’ve been buying cars for 45 years, paid (much) less than MSRP every time - but you can’t do that today in 90%+ of situations.

Though there’s no haggling on Teslas, they’ve jacked up prices on most models by $10K or more in the past year and waiting lists are many months out. I looked into buying a Model Y in Nov, prices are up $10K and deliveries are out to Jun to Oct depending on model. So that’s useless for now…

 

[jazz4cash]

I generally have pretty good experience avoiding the hassles with dealers. I’ve been trying to get DW to get a full size SUV but she’s too frugal. I found a certified used vehicle I thought she’d like. The interior color we like isn’t available on the current year models. We drove 45 miles to check it out and it generally met our expectations. After a test drive the salesman and sales manager started doing their dance but I interrupted to ask for the “out the door” price. They would not give me a total price including all the fees. I asked three times and they’d say “x +y +z “ which were ballpark figures. Nothing in writing. I assume they figured they could find someone else to pay more. I didn’t push because DW wants a different exterior color anyway. I had a voucher from the Credit Union I was prepared to use. I see they have now lowered the advertised price which does not include some accessories that are already installed. I think they’ve had it on their lot for >90 days now.

 

[Car-Guy]

My last several "new" car purchases have been entirety over the Internet. First I figure out what my trade is worth using things like KBB, then I find what I want from the dealers website(s) including seeing the MSRP (as a staring point) from the window sticker. Then I'll send them an email of what I want along with a good description, pictures and VIN of what I've got to trade and ask for a "ballpark" drive out estimate. They have always responded... Then a few more emails and maybe even a phone call and then deal is done... ALWAYS for less than their original offer just like when dealing in person. My last deal I save over 8k from their first offer until I accepted, which was my original target price range... All with just a few emails.

I always add a disclaimer when dealing on-line.... I retain the right to "back out" of the deal until I see and have test driven their vehicle and they can back out if my trade is not what I have represented.

Since I always pay cash there are no loans involved and the paper work only takes about 15 minutes...

Works for me and much easier than driving around to different dealers and dealing with all the on lot/in person BS....

 

[Zathras]

I quit dealers about 8 years ago.
My last Tesla was a 10 minute process at the sales lot. It can also be 100% contactless as well.
All documentation was done online at my own pace. If I had wanted to I could have wired the payment in advance, however I opted to pay in person with a check. (I never pay in advance before inspection).

The process of buying a car has changed dramatically. However, it is very true dealer networks haven’t changed.

 

[freedomatlast]

Yep, same old stuff, different day....Some day down the road when conditions change, it will be a buyer's market again and they'll be begging people to take them. I'm waiting to buy until after the insanity dies down.

 

[JoeWras]

Xzilon is the best fabric protection ever!

 

[Rocky mtn high]

I used Echo Park about a year ago, similar to Carmax. Really liked the pricing but they push the warranties big time. Just have to keep saying no.

 

[GTFan]

The process of buying a car has changed dramatically. However, it is very true dealer networks haven’t changed.

If you're talking about Tesla, sure. Most other makes are a steaming pile of BS just like it's always been, as mentioned repeatedly upthread.

It is possible to negotiate deals via email so that's new in the last 20 years, but a lot of dealers won't give you a final price or will do a bait and switch.

 

[freedomatlast]

Nobody else here thrives on the negotiating process? Kind of fun for me. Lots of laughs when they try the same tired old routines. Easy to get up and walk away after you've had enough entertainment for one day.

 

[Midpack]

Nobody else here thrives on the negotiating process? Kind of fun for me. Lots of laughs when they try the same tired old routines. Easy to get up and walk away after you've had enough entertainment for one day.

I’ve always enjoyed it, and done very well buying cars until this year. I’ve even done the buying for some family members who hate the process.

 

[braumeister]

That’s amazing. It looks like that program is still available. I’d consider it just from this description.

Yes, you can't do it for all Volvos, just the models that are built over there (some are built in a newer factory in South Carolina).

The only difficulty today would probably be getting into Sweden, since their COVID travel restrictions are pretty variable right now.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

The Internet offers a big advantage in that you can shop around without leaving your home. You couldn't do that 20 years ago. It also has forced smaller dealerships to compete on price.

I looked around at the start of the year for a 4WD Ford Ranger. It quickly became clear that considering a used truck was pointless since they hadn't depreciated. Moreover, turbocharged, direct-injection engines are maintenance-intensive, so it was reassuring to have an engine I knew wasn't ridden hard and put away wet.

Scoping out the options including Costco, I ended up ordering a new truck from the local small-town family-owned delership. It's pretty no-frills -- scratch the infotainment, vanity mirrors, even carpet. It does have a towing package and locking rear differential. The bill was $31K -- about the same as the Costco-affiliated dealer 50 miles away wanted for a year-old model. Of course, I waited five months for delivery, but I wasn't in a hurry.

So many dealerships have been absorbed into large auto groups. I feel uneasy going into those places because the staff is under pressure to sell, sell, sell. The service departments are the worst, but it shows on the sales floor too. I have found that the buying process can run into hiccups more often in that environment.

My small-town store has a sales staff that isn't going anywhere. After my original salesman retired, his nephew closed the deal -- which took about 45 minutes. No charades or unexpected delays. I'd buy from them again.

 

[Car-Guy]

Nobody else here thrives on the negotiating process? Kind of fun for me. Lots of laughs when they try the same tired old routines. Easy to get up and walk away after you've had enough entertainment for one day.

The negotiating process works well on emails too... Only in my experaince, it's much better and far less emotional on email.... It gives a person time to think about their offer and any counter offer... I negotiate a new car deal maybe once a year, they do it ten times day so I want that extra time... If we can't agree on a deal VIA email, I just quit responding. (Same as walking away) Actually that's a good tactic too. If I quit responding VIA email, I've had them come back with another email/offer in a day or so with a better deal... Rinse and repeat as necessary.