How would you rate your overall experience with car dealer sales?

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Well?

[kaisen]

Make it a poll!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I did; keep your pants on!

[McLovin]

I've never had a bad experience.

But I know exactly what I'm dealing with, and have no illusions otherwise. So, no car salesman has ever failed to meet my expectations.

[Joe Bob]

Like prison rape....

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I didn't want to get into what the meaning of "good" is, but McLovin brought us there...

I don't think "I was sufficiently well-prepared to prevent them from screwing me, even though they really tried" is indicative of a good experience. But that's just me.

[GH85Carrera]

Personally I have not delt with a car dealer in 20 years. I don't really miss the experience.

I used to work across the street from a big new & used car dealership. The man that serviced our vending machines did the car dealership machines as well. He was one of the service people that the salesmen just ignored. He said the salesmen at the new car dealership were having a contest amongst themselves to see which salesman could get a customer the most upside down on a car. They were all laughing at how easy it was to screw the customer into stupid deals.

[masraum]

In days of yore, I bought a lot of cars that were <$2500 for cash from private sellers.

In more recent times I have purchased a few vehicles from dealers.

I bought a vehicle from Carmax many, many moons ago. That was an OK experience.

I helped my mother buy a vehicle from a dealer in FL earlier this year, that went without a hitch other than the paperwork taking 1-1.5 hours.

I bought a Jeep Liberty for my daughter from a dealer, that was pretty much the same as the deal with my mother, went well, just took a bit for the paperwork.

I bought my current car through a small independent "no haggle" dealer that also went well. I've purchased a couple of other cars through dealers as well, all went fine except for the time that the paperwork takes. Since that always seems to be the case, I'm going to say, it's not the fault of the dealers, it just is what it is.

All of the vehicles that I've purchased from dealers have been used and ran between $8k and $15k, IIRC.

I don't spend much time screwing around, give me a good price for a good car, or I'm gone.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

I didn't want to get into what the meaning of "good" is, but McLovin brought us there...

I don't think "I was sufficiently well-prepared to prevent them from screwing me, even though they really tried" is indicative of a good experience. But that's just me.

LOL, I guess there's some truth to that.

It does remind me of what happened once, that I guess would prove your point.

I special ordered a car, it was going to take something like 2 months to get here.

It finally gets here, salesman calls me to come get it.

I get there, and . . . it's an automatic. I ordered a manual transmission. That was kind of the whole point of the special order (98% of this specific car came with automatics).

What happened? The documents showed the salesman screwed up the order.

Also, it was pretty obvious to me that he realized it at some point in the process, but it was too late to do anything about it, and he called me over to the dealership to try to convince me that "an automatic is better anyways."

I didn't get bent out of shape, I suppose mostly because of my expectations. This is a car salesman, not a brain surgeon. So, hey, whatever.

[McLovin]

Part of my profession has involved car dealerships, for almost 20 years now.

So I have much experience with the business, including new and used car salesmen.

While I won't go as far as saying they are all the same, they all certainly share a lot of the same characteristics (at least those that have been able to do it for more than a year - a lot of disillusioned people come into the business and don't last. A lot.). It's just the nature of a car salesman.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Personally I have not delt with a car dealer in 20 years. I don't really miss the experience...
.

Same here, purchased 4 new vehicles between the age of 17-27 (last being a Supra Turbo)...never again .

[krystar]

when i was shopping for my car, i walked into an acura dealership and asked for test drive and price. test drove around, feels good. how much? "we can't give out prices until we sign some paperwork" walked out right there.

[HardDrive]

My experiences have all been relatively good, because the first time a dealer does anything remotely shady or attempts to 'sell' me a car, I'm out the door. Straight talking guys that say, "Tell me what you want" are the ones I deal with.

[Christien]

A lot of you guys know I work in the industry - mostly financing, but I'm also a registered dealer. I tried a partnership over the last 2 years in a full retail dealership, and spent a fair amount of time there (3-4 days/week) helping run the place, which also included doing retail sales.

Here's how I found things: the vast majority of retail customers are completely unrealistic when it comes to buying a used car. They want a car that looks pristine, with no accident history, and that will be guaranteed to run without any maintenance for several years. But they want to pay 50-60% of what the car cost new. So, in order to move any more than 1 or 2 units a month, the salesman has to be at least somewhat deceptive - not necessarily outright lying, but concealing, steering conversation away from certain things, etc.

Seriously, if I was honest with people, they'd see the car for what it truly was, and go buy a similar car elsewhere, where the car wasn't fully and openly represented. So in short, most people prefer to be lied to.

I couldn't stand it - I hate being deceptive, and I can't stand dealing with unreasonable expectations. So I severed the partnership and got out of the retail end. There were other reasons for ending the partnership, of course, but dealing with the retail public was a huge part of it.

So yes, most salespeople at dealerships are slimy. But most customers on the other end of the deal are no better.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Although I've never successfully been ripped off, I've had a couple try which only underscores my joy in discovering "no haggle" dealerships. I bought my last car at one, we're looking at getting my wife a new car at one and my own next car (another couple of years) will undoubtedly be at one too. Cutting out the sales games makes the experience much more enjoyable - do all your research online ahead of time, go in for what you want, check it out, bing-bang and you're on your way home with the new car in about an hour.

My only complaint is that I tend to prefer slightly older vehicles (8-10 years) and this is beyond what most of these dealers will get into. If I could find a no-haggle dealer that dealt in, say, 10-20 year old P-cars, I'd be in heaven with my life-long fix satisfied.

Having the price up front and on the windshield - no haggling and no sales B.S. - alleviates a lot of the hassle and makes the entire experience (IMHO) a whole lot more enjoyable and efficient.

[Christien]

Really? You prefer the no-haggle approach? You're basically saying 'ok, I'll pay whatever you're asking'. Why would you not want to try to negotiate $500 or $1000 in savings? It can be just as simple - you know what you want, find it, price is $10k, you say $9k and we have a deal. 9 times out of 10 that will work.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by Christien

Really? You prefer the no-haggle approach? You're basically saying 'ok, I'll pay whatever you're asking'. Why would you not want to try to negotiate $500 or $1000 in savings? It can be just as simple - you know what you want, find it, price is $10k, you say $9k and we have a deal. 9 times out of 10 that will work.

If you ran a dealership that 'averaged' $1200 a car through negotiating, why wouldn't you be okay with averaging $1200 a car no-haggle? What's the difference? You'll lose some sales from people who think they can beat the system. You'll gain some sales from people who hate the games. In the end, everyone is happier.

[Laneco]

A few years ago, I bought a new car. This was a BIG deal for me because I've never had a new car. I did alot of research and picked out what I wanted, a Mazda6 sport wagon.

Went to the local dealership, got ignored, finally a salesman scraped the sandwich droppings off his cheap tie over his white short-sleeve shirt and offered to help me. I told him what I was looking for and he showed me a few cars. None of them were the sport wagons, all of them were strippies. I wanted a loaded sport wagon. He asked me if my husband was going to come down to the dealership and help me out with my decision-making and because hubby would need to sign for the financing. Not with my credit score he doesn't...

I left. Went to another dealer about 45 minutes away. Complete opposite approach. Friendly, courteous, and very knowledgeable. He demo'd the car to me, I test drove it, and had them do a dealer locate for the exact color combination I wanted. I think I spent maybe an hour in there including the financing. Very quick negotiation, I knew what I wanted to pay and they accommodated me (it's oK to let the dealer make a few hundred bucks). It well under sticker and I declind all the extra silly "dealer stuff" like under-coating, etc. Car was delivered a few days later.

If you have a bad experience at one dealer, go to another one. Vote with your feet and your pocketbook.

angela

[LeeH]

Varies from dealer to dealer. My last experience (Chapman Mazda off Bell Rd) was pretty amazing. Granted, it was a repaired hail damaged vehicle, but the first number they put on paper was so low that I said, "I assume that's plus tax, tag, and title." The answer was, "No, that's the out-the-door price."

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Laneco

I told him what I was looking for and he showed me a few cars. None of them were the sport wagons, all of them were strippies. I wanted a loaded sport wagon.

Antarctic Blue with the CB and optional Rally Fun Pack?