No Dealer Markup Dealerships in general

[Jklotz]

I got my GT2 yesterday. I've got a bit of a rant here, but I'm not going to call out the dealership. I tend to change cars a lot and I've experienced this in a bunch of them. Most I've experienced do this and I hate it.

I did my research. I walked in and told them my offer. I'll pay xyz for the car, I need xyz for my trade in, and I need financing at 4% or less and we have a deal. I was fine if they said no. But they didn't. The came back with a counter offer that was nowhere close. Long story short, they eventually accepted my offer, after wasting most of my day going back and forth. I got up to leave 3 times, but they kept coming back with "ok, we'll do it", but then the paper work came back and they didn't. So we'd start again. At the end of the day, I got my car for what I originally offered, a reasonable trade in and financing I could live with.

Buying a new car should be a fun experience. Why must they ruin it trying to bilk the obviously educated consumer out of what they have already stated won't work? I was very straight forward. I gave them a take it or leave it offer. I got that deal in the end. I was perfectly fine walking away. It just seems so shady. What a shame to take something as great as a new car day and spoil it by making the customer feel like they had to go into a war they had no interest in fighting just to accept the offer they were presented 4 hours ago?

Next time, I'm going to put an offer in writing with my phone number and leave it with the salesperson. Call me with a yes or no or leave me alone.

Ok, end of rant. Thanks for reading.

 

[namja]

Yep. They're so good at breaking down people's mental state, they should be psychologists or something.

They're also trying to milk every last penny that they can out of most people, and I'm sure most people give in. Kudos and grats to you for staying strong.

I'm getting different results, however. I wonder if it's because I'm working out deals exclusively online.

 

[me&stinger]

@Jklotz Despite the dance and stress, great job on getting your car at the terms you wanted!

I'm getting different results, however. I wonder if it's because I'm working out deals exclusively online.

I've noticed more and more people are opting to shop cars online. How's the experience for you been so far?

 

[namja]

I've noticed more and more people are opting to shop cars online. How's the experience for you been so far?

99% Terrible. 1% suspicious. Suspicion is always warranted given the fact that nothing is set in stone and everything I've worked on so far could be bait and switch.

 

[me&stinger]

99% Terrible. 1% suspicious. Suspicion is always warranted given the fact that nothing is set in stone and everything I've worked on so far could be bait and switch.

That sucks.

It could be, or maybe they just want to sell the car. You can never 100% know for sure. What makes you think that 99% could be bait and switch?

 

[namja]

That sucks.

It could be, or maybe they just want to sell the car. You can never 100% know for sure. What makes you think that 99% could be bait and switch?

Actually, it's 99% terrible: Meaning their quotes are terribly high
1% suspicion because it could be bait & switch

 

[me&stinger]

Actually, it's 99% terrible: Meaning their quotes are terribly high
1% suspicion because it could be bait & switch

Oh, I misread, my bad!

I hope things start turning around for you. Good luck!

 

[Jklotz]

The bait and switch part was the segregation of the deal. My deal had 3 moving parts; 1) sale price, 2) trade in value and 3) interest rate. I gave them all of that up front. Take it or leave it. They spent 2 hours of my time going back and forth about the 1st item. Once that was ironed out, I thought we were done. Then the paperwork shows up and the last 2 are nowhere close. Thousands off. So the whole thing started over again. I tried to walk out 3 times, but each time they said "no, you can have the deal". Even to the extent the salesperson recommended I drive down the street to carmax to sell my trade in and he would pick me up afterwards. But the next time the paperwork showed up, it was nowhere even close. 7 hours after walking in, we finalized the deal. Then the car appears from the back. It's got 3100 miles on it and a nail in the tire! They replace the tire and offer me 10 cents a mile discount for the accumulated miles. At this point I had been at the dealership 9 hours. It's dark outside and my wife is calling me asking where I am. At that point I was exhausted. I took the deal.

It wasn't until the next morning, in the daylight, I really saw the scars in the leather, scuffs in the floor boards and other evidence of 3100 miles of wear, including one of the keys coated in chocolate. At least I hope it was chocolate. All the radio stations were preset to hiphop stations. For all practical purposes, I bought a used car for a new car price.

At the end of the day I got the car I wanted in the color I wanted fairly close to what I walked in expecting to pay. I love the car, but I hate car dealerships.

 

[namja]

The bait and switch part was the segregation of the deal. My deal had 3 moving parts; 1) sale price, 2) trade in value and 3) interest rate. I gave them all of that up front. Take it or leave it. They spent 2 hours of my time going back and forth about the 1st item. Once that was ironed out, I thought we were done. Then the paperwork shows up and the last 2 are nowhere close. Thousands off. So the whole thing started over again. I tried to walk out 3 times, but each time they said "no, you can have the deal". Even to the extent the salesperson recommended I drive down the street to carmax to sell my car and he would pick me up afterwards. But the next time the paperwork showed up, it was nowhere even close. 7 hours after walking in, we finalized the deal. Then the car appears from the back. It's got 3100 miles on it and a nail in the tire! They replace the tire and offer me 10 cents a mile discount for the accumulated miles. At this point I had been at the dealership 9 hours. It's dark outside and my wife is calling me asking where I am. At that point I was exhausted. I took the deal.

It wasn't until the next morning, in the daylight, I really saw the scars in the leather, scuffs in the floor boards and other evidence of 3100 miles of wear, including one of the keys coated in chocolate. At least I hope it was chocolate. All the radio stations were preset to hiphop stations. For all practical purposes, I bought a used car for a new car price.

At the end of the day I got the car I wanted in the color I wanted fairly close to what I walked in expecting to pay. I love the car, but I hate car dealerships.

All this almost sounds like a tactic similarly used by the police in the interrogation room whereby the police make the person arrested wait in a small room for hours to get them to tire out! Sadly it seemed like it worked. Hopefully the leather, floor board, and key damage wasn't too extensive...but at least they discounted the price based on 3100 miles.

This is why I'm definitely going to examine the car as if it's used, because who knows who drove it, and where. In some cases, some dealers allow people test drive the car by taking it home for the day. In some other cases, cars get purchased then returned for whatever reason and the stock number has a "U" next to it - industry term "Unwind".

 

[me&stinger]

I'd hire a mechanic to check the used car out. Unless you know mechanic stuff.

I want to know the history of the car and things like how hard the car was driven (although not always known), and how well it was maintained (if on schedule or neglected).

 

[namja]

I'd hire a mechanic to check the used car out. Unless you know mechanic stuff.

I want to know the history of the car and things like how hard the car was driven (although not always known), and how well it was maintained (if on schedule or neglected).

If you're talking to me, then no I'm not that great at car stuff lol. But extensive examination of interior and exterior quality, test drive for squeaks and rattles, etc would be what I do.

 

[Ed B]

I too spent an inordinate amount of time at the dealer, waiting for the salesman to "chat with his manager and see what he could do". When he came back, he said they accepted my offer (which really surprised me, because we never talked about price; just "how much I wanted to pay") and extended his hand for me to "shake on it". Then after a little chit-chat he says, "Oh yeah, you had a trade-in didn't you? We'll have to evaluate that." They had my trade-in for 4 hours! I wanted to leave right then and there, but my wife and I had put in a couple of month's work deciding on the car and we then spent a full day locating one we wanted.

Long story short, we decided the car was worth the extra $50 a month. To be fair, we knew going in that we were about $4000 underwater on the trade-in (you can't give a Lancer away now that Mitsu is out of the car business -- and no, SUVs are not cars) and we did get all the bells and whistles excepting dealer installed optional fog lights and remote start (go USA on the remote start craap), including the ultra special paint protector (I KNOW it's a scam, should have checked the internet beforehand, never heard anything like it from Mitsu dealers though and I was a loyal customer for 15 years). We love the car, didn't love them having drinks or selling to others while we waited. I think next time I'll just go the "here's my offer, call me if you agree" route. Luckily, I got a $100 per month raise 2 months later, so we don't have to sell the kids (to be fair, we're kinda fond of them also).

All in all, I can't report that I had a good experience, but I really can't warn people off of them either. Just go in with a better plan than I did. Also the Kia service department has been pretty good (if busy), but don't use the Express oil change lines -- the kid was working his first job and didn't seem to know shat from shinola.

They're Dealin' in Columbus (you know the tag line) if you're curious, nice folks with very sharp knives -- I don't fault them making a dollar, just the pound of flesh.