Preparing to buy a car is like preparing to go to war. That characterization rings true for me. I first read it in an article that a colleague from work shared with me. He has heard way too many of my pet-peave stories–he’s come to know me well. Car buying is high on my wacko-crazy list.
The article appears on American Prospect, a left-leaning website. I’m hesitant about source bias, but the article does a good job of laying out the unproductive and low-value-added services that car sales and dealerships provide (don’t provide).
It’s an uneven negotiation from the beginning. Customers don’t spend their every waking hour thinking about how to buy a car, but they’re up against an entire architecture that does—a small army of sales, F&I, and service staffers, and a tight network of managers and dealers.
Each time I consider buying a new car, I get anxious and furious. To spend so much money, one would hope that the process could be enjoyable. For me, it’s not. It’s not so much the price. I’m willing to pay a fair price. What I’m not willing to do is for someone to defraud me simply because they have a forked tongue and a slick manner.
Years ago, when we bought our minivan, we took advantage of internet-based pricing. At the time, such pricing was a huge advantage for the consumer because dealerships had not quite figured out online sales. Today, they have and are much more savvy. Back then, however, we actually had the upper hand—though I did not realize it.
I found a website that provided information on rebates and other incentives available to dealers and essentially showed us the dealer’s cost for a vehicle. Sadly, I am no longer able to find this site, but it was a gold mine.
Armed with our online knowledge, we were at one dealership here in Knoxville. As we discussed the price with the sales agent, he made the first offer, which was several thousand dollars over the dealer cost. I was genuinely shocked and responded, “Whoa! That’s pretty high. I don’t think we can come to a deal.”
As I got up to leave, he said, “Well, wait a minute. We might be able to deal. Tell me what you were thinking.” I said that I had gone to such-and-such website and found out the dealer pricing, and I was willing to pay a couple hundred dollars more than that as a fair price. Looking back, I’m not sure that was a great negotiating move on my part.
His response? “Really? What makes you think you are entitled to that money?”
Holy cow! I nearly blew a gasket! I was so furious. Without thinking, I yelled, “Because it’s my money, and I earned it!” I think I embarrassed Lisa. It was not one of my prouder moments, but I was truly appalled!
His question has lived with me for many years and has soured my taste for car dealerships.