Getting a new car: lease vs. own

[LUVourMarriotts]

May I ask how you uncovered Dealer #1 deception?

Sure. It started at the dealership, and I picked up on it a bit, but really figured it all out when I got home and started researching. Here's what happened.

When we got to the point of doing a deal, the salesman asks, what deal do you want? I say, the best one you have. He says, that's not how we work. You tell me the price you want and I fight to get it for you. So, I played along to see how it would go. I used my phone to use Edmunds app to find their "Market Value" cost for the vehicle configured the way I wanted it. So I said I wanted that price, then give me the $1500 promotion on top of that. And, for trade in, the app said my car was worth just over $2k, so I said I wanted $4k.

He walks off and about 2 minutes later, the sales manager comes back and says, we did everything you asked for, here's the numbers. He shows me a piece of paper with 1 number on it. First thing was, I didn't even have my trade vehicle, because it was an unexpected visit. Second, I asked for him to write down all of the numbers, from the top to show me exactly what they did. He refused and said that would all be part of the papers when I sign them, but he gave me exactly what I asked for. He also said, "we are giving you an unbelievable deal here".

When I got home, I did the reverse math on the single number he showed me, and realized they used the $1500 promotion to get me down to my asking number instead of taking $1500 off my asking number. I also quickly found that the next closest dealer had a starting price of $700 below theirs.

The next day, during all of the back and forth negotiations, the 1st dealer finally resorted to the "yes or no right now, or the deal is gone". So, whether their deal was better or not, which it was at that point, I was not doing business with them.

 

[Beefnot]

I wouldn't worry about it. Some on here like to display how insecure they are by hiding behind an anonymous login on a public forum attacking others. I think we all know who I'm talking about.

Would that be you?

 

[pwrshift]

An expensive used Ford ...

A wealthy friend of mine recently bought a used 2005 Ford and loves it. He bought it as an investment...and it only had less than 100 miles on it.

Here's some info on his Ford.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT

 

[ScoopKona]

There are great and poor sales staff at most organizations. I'm sure we all have similar stories. If only the auto industry had higher standards and less price negotiations needed, I think most consumers would be more pleased with the car buying experience, which I think most of us would admit is a laborious chore that we try to avoid whenever possible. This is why I thought using carwoo.com was a great help for me last year (it directly saved me ~$1200 over the course of my current lease as it proved to the dealership that I could buy the same car elsewhere for less, and they matched the offer and I was able to buy from my local dealership, which I wanted to do). We shouldn't need these services, and it should be a more up front and honest transaction, but it simply isn't.

This, in a nutshell.

The entire industry is designed to take advantage of buyers who haven't done their homework. There are a lot of ways for a dealership to make extra money -- lowballing trades, high-interest financing, optional equipment, and so on.

Even the most honest car salesman in America isn't going to tell the customer, "Hey, you can probably get this car for less if you call the Internet Sales Dept." Or, "You should sell your car privately instead of trading it in. You'll likely get more." Or even, "Look, here's the absolute rock-bottom price. We won't go any less than this."

(Actually, I've heard that last statement plenty of times. But it's never been true. Can you imagine a car salesman who said, "No, your offer is too high. Lower it by $8,450, and you'll still be able to buy the car." He or she would be fired on the spot.)

That would be like a timeshare salesman who tells people about the resale market. "Why buy from me when you can buy the same thing for $99 on eBay?"

It is contrary to the salesman's interests and his company's interests. Of course, people in the industry will say, "Well, duhhh. That's how the game is played."

But I'm not interested in playing games. If I wanted to play games at a car dealership, I'd bring a cribbage board.

The entire industry -- both timeshares and cars -- is set up to get as much money possible for the product. Even if it is financially a bad decision for the customer. That isn't the salesman's problem. The salesman is paid to sell. And preferably to sell as high priced as possible. And people apparently don't think about the marketing costs of either industry. Newspaper ads, radio spots, and all those ads on TV cost a LOT of money. And who's paying for it? The buyer, of course. That's why the car depreciates so much when it's driven off the lot. The instant depreciation is the cost of all that marketing. It's the same with timeshares -- except in that case it's OPCs and gifts.

The auto industry has turned me off to buying cars to the extent that I don't bother with them anymore. If others want to continue doing business with dealerships, that's fine. But it's not for me.

 

[Mosca]

I wouldn't worry about it. Some on here like to display how insecure they are by hiding behind an anonymous login on a public forum attacking others. I think we all know who I'm talking about.

Scoop and I are not anonymous to each other. We've never been at odds before, and I don't think our current disagreement will cause us to be at odds for long. As far as I'm concerned, we've both had our say and it ends now. He gets the last word, and I'm OK with that.