- Joined:
- Aug 21, 2012
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I am at the point where my truck should be replaced.
I have been shopping for about 3 months.
I am looking for a particular truck that is not in production any more, I am very picky about color, mileage and options.
I keep running in to the same issues everywhere.
1- The vehicles are always waaaaay worse than the pictures portray them. sometimes laughably so.
2- The salesman ALWAYS quotes a price a couple thousand dollars more than the internet price... a game intending to make you feel like you are getting a deal right off the bat by them "bringing the price down".
3- They unleash their little mind games. I say right off the bat that I intend to waste as little time as possible. They always play the time investment game... drag the process out and try to get you to agree to a higher price because you have invested so much time.
My response is "if you guys are too busy to deal efficiently, figure out your best price and call me, and maybe I will come back".
4- The salesmen for the most part are incapable of deviating from their company composed sales script. Right off the bat I inform them "i have my financing, I do not care about monthly payment, I only care about out the door price"... yet they still circle back to "we can get your payment to X amount of dollars per month".
5- The trade in dog and pony show.
This is what really kills me- I had a very fortunate set of circumstances that shows exactly how badly dealers try to milk you for profit.
I arrive at a large, well known and respected dealership.
They have 2 trucks that caught my eye. They had the truck I want, and the truck I have.
The model I currently own is not priced on the internet, the one I wanted was.
I show up to the dealership in my car.
My lady is at the starbucks down the road with my truck.
I approach a salesman, and say "how much are you asking for the 06?"(the one I have)
He comes back and hands me a card with 15900 written on the back.
I ask if that is the best he can do, he leaves, comes back, and says "manager will only come down to 15300"
I send him back, asked him to get the keys and verify that is their best price.
He comes back with the keys and says "yep- that 06 has had people interested and a couple offers in on it".
We go to the truck, I look it over- Mine has leather in great condition, this one is worn cloth. Mine has no rust or dents, this one has surface rust and dents. Mine has a plow hitch, this one doesnt. Mine has 10k fewer miles. Mine has literally every option available, this one does not.
Mine also has never been in a wreck, not a dent on it.
I call my lady and tell her to come on down with the truck.
We go back inside. I have the guy get the manager. He comes in, he says "you are really interested in the 06? It is a great truck"
we work on the price, he hems and haws, and after extended negotiation, 14200 is the absolute best he can do... any less and he is taking a loss.
At that point I say "that is absolutely fantastic".
He says "do you want to buy it?"
I say "no- I am interested in the 2013 out on your lot- However, I have an 06 fully loaded, in far better shape than the one on your lot that I would like to trade in, and I needed to know what I can expect for a trade in, and that will give me an idea on what your markup is".
Bottom line, they looked over my superior truck, and pitched me 5500! They literally pointed to the plow hitch as the reason saying "nobody likes plow trucks because they work too hard". despite the fact I have every single service record from manufacture till now, all impeccable.
I said "if 10k is your standard markup, you can give me 5500 for mine and take 10k off the price of the 13".
I shit you not, The manager got pissed. He actually said "I really dont think it was very honest for you to waste our time on the 06 like that."!!
I wrote an e-mail about the story to the parent company- the truck I want is still on the lot, the parent company has come down 4500 on the price and gone up 3k on my trade in, and contacting me daily.
I am standing firm... and with the way they have been dropping week after week, I think I will get it.
That is my rant- Car shopping sucks ass, and if you do not want to get ripped off coming and going, do your homework and invest the time.
Waste their time. walk away, and make them chase you. Do not agree to a price just to get the process over with. Do not stay for multiple trips to "talk to the manager". Do not fall for "we can get your monthly payment down to x".
Do not fall in love with a car... there are always more out there. I have walked away from several perfect trucks and the emails keep coming and the prices keep dropping.
Follow these rules and it may take a while to find your car, but you will win. I took my time looking for a fully loaded Charger srt with far less than average miles, and picked it up for less than the cost of the same year base model, more than 10k under the average asking price.
I have been shopping for about 3 months.
I am looking for a particular truck that is not in production any more, I am very picky about color, mileage and options.
I keep running in to the same issues everywhere.
1- The vehicles are always waaaaay worse than the pictures portray them. sometimes laughably so.
2- The salesman ALWAYS quotes a price a couple thousand dollars more than the internet price... a game intending to make you feel like you are getting a deal right off the bat by them "bringing the price down".
3- They unleash their little mind games. I say right off the bat that I intend to waste as little time as possible. They always play the time investment game... drag the process out and try to get you to agree to a higher price because you have invested so much time.
My response is "if you guys are too busy to deal efficiently, figure out your best price and call me, and maybe I will come back".
4- The salesmen for the most part are incapable of deviating from their company composed sales script. Right off the bat I inform them "i have my financing, I do not care about monthly payment, I only care about out the door price"... yet they still circle back to "we can get your payment to X amount of dollars per month".
5- The trade in dog and pony show.
This is what really kills me- I had a very fortunate set of circumstances that shows exactly how badly dealers try to milk you for profit.
I arrive at a large, well known and respected dealership.
They have 2 trucks that caught my eye. They had the truck I want, and the truck I have.
The model I currently own is not priced on the internet, the one I wanted was.
I show up to the dealership in my car.
My lady is at the starbucks down the road with my truck.
I approach a salesman, and say "how much are you asking for the 06?"(the one I have)
He comes back and hands me a card with 15900 written on the back.
I ask if that is the best he can do, he leaves, comes back, and says "manager will only come down to 15300"
I send him back, asked him to get the keys and verify that is their best price.
He comes back with the keys and says "yep- that 06 has had people interested and a couple offers in on it".
We go to the truck, I look it over- Mine has leather in great condition, this one is worn cloth. Mine has no rust or dents, this one has surface rust and dents. Mine has a plow hitch, this one doesnt. Mine has 10k fewer miles. Mine has literally every option available, this one does not.
Mine also has never been in a wreck, not a dent on it.
I call my lady and tell her to come on down with the truck.
We go back inside. I have the guy get the manager. He comes in, he says "you are really interested in the 06? It is a great truck"
we work on the price, he hems and haws, and after extended negotiation, 14200 is the absolute best he can do... any less and he is taking a loss.
At that point I say "that is absolutely fantastic".
He says "do you want to buy it?"
I say "no- I am interested in the 2013 out on your lot- However, I have an 06 fully loaded, in far better shape than the one on your lot that I would like to trade in, and I needed to know what I can expect for a trade in, and that will give me an idea on what your markup is".
Bottom line, they looked over my superior truck, and pitched me 5500! They literally pointed to the plow hitch as the reason saying "nobody likes plow trucks because they work too hard". despite the fact I have every single service record from manufacture till now, all impeccable.
I said "if 10k is your standard markup, you can give me 5500 for mine and take 10k off the price of the 13".
I shit you not, The manager got pissed. He actually said "I really dont think it was very honest for you to waste our time on the 06 like that."!!
I wrote an e-mail about the story to the parent company- the truck I want is still on the lot, the parent company has come down 4500 on the price and gone up 3k on my trade in, and contacting me daily.
I am standing firm... and with the way they have been dropping week after week, I think I will get it.
That is my rant- Car shopping sucks ass, and if you do not want to get ripped off coming and going, do your homework and invest the time.
Waste their time. walk away, and make them chase you. Do not agree to a price just to get the process over with. Do not stay for multiple trips to "talk to the manager". Do not fall for "we can get your monthly payment down to x".
Do not fall in love with a car... there are always more out there. I have walked away from several perfect trucks and the emails keep coming and the prices keep dropping.
Follow these rules and it may take a while to find your car, but you will win. I took my time looking for a fully loaded Charger srt with far less than average miles, and picked it up for less than the cost of the same year base model, more than 10k under the average asking price.
