The buying process is rough when money matters

[Donstar]

This week I went with my niece to buy a new vehicle.  She asked me to join her to watch that she doesn't "do anything stupid'.  She is an independent, intelligent, hard working adult who was smart enough to ask for a trusted objective observer. The most valuable lesson I learned from this experience is that I will have someone else with me when I buy a new truck!  If you've ever sat shotgun during an entire negotiation process you know what I'm talking about!  Negotiating the price of the vehicle is secondary to the pressure to buy the "extras"!  The polite instilling of fear and guilt if you don't buy the add-ons is intense.  By the time you as a buyer reach this stage, you are excited, tired and vulnerable.  I didn't recognize just how well orchestrated this whole buying process was until I watched it from beginning to end.  My inability to bite my tongue made for a significantly recognizable difference in my niece's out the door cost for her new SUV.

[Black02Silverado]

Yes, the buying process can be intimidating to say the least.  The thrill of getting a new ride makes one jump at options without thinking and realizing the extra cost.  It is great that you went with her. 

[Sierra Dan]

Dealers never stop when it comes to pressure tactics regarding

extra accessories, extended warranties, gap insurance, protecto-paint products and interior protection treatments.

 

[aseibel]

You nailed it. The buying experience is full of emotions from good to bad. Making big $$$ decisions is never easy when you are under pressure. I wish I had someone like you observing me as well!

 

Did the salesman get frustrated with your presence at all? Can you share what "add-ons" your neice would have paid for if you weren't there failing to bite your tongue?

[Nick The Great]

I hate dealers.  I wish you could just buy a vehicle like everything else in the world.  When I go buy a new shirt I don't have to go back and forth and argue with 3 different people.  

[Loco-diablo]

Agreed. They have it down to a science. When I bought my truck, I got out of my chair THREE times and headed toward the door during the negotiation process. The price of the new truck was set as it was a GM incentive of 18% off sticker. It was all about my trade. A 2008 Tacoma with a KBB/NADA trade value of $8-9k. Their first number was $3K! That's when things got ugly! LOL! 

When all was said and done I got what I thought was fair, $8200, but I gotta say, it was exhausting. I've been around the block more than once and wasn't going to be taken advantage of. The last thing I did after we settled the trade price was demand a set of $700 OEM running boards just because of the aggravation they put me through. I actually told them I want running boards thrown in because of the BS they just put me through. At that point I would have walked out over the $700 boards and they knew it. They agreed and gave me the boards.

When I left, I felt good but it made me think of how many people get screwed when buying a new vehicle. The whole process sucks IMO.

[DougFL]

I think the Key is to know what you want before you visit the Dealer.  Also, if you have a trade-in you need to have a good estimate what your trade-in is worth.  In addition, there are a number of buying Services that have pre- negotiated prices on new cars. (e.g. True Car, AAA, COSTCO, Sams Club, etc.)  When my Daughter got her 1st car we went through COSTCO.  She was assigned a Dealer Rep, got the car she wanted at Dealer Invoice and COSTCO included $250 worth of all-weather mats at no additional  charge!  She still had to decline all the additional: Extended Warranty, Tire Coverage, Paint and Interior protection and Anti theft add-on garbage!  Other than that it was pretty painless.

[O_J_Simpson]

Are you stuck in the 90's? Stop sitting down with dealers to negotiate pricing. Why not buy the truck online with no extras, show up and hand them a check? Drive off within 20 minutes with no games. Never failed me yet and I have the option to walk out with my check at any time things do go as I planned. Laura and Everett for the win!

[Donstar]

1 hour ago, aseibel said:

You nailed it. The buying experience is full of emotions from good to bad. Making big $$$ decisions is never easy when you are under pressure. I wish I had someone like you observing me as well!

 

Did the salesman get frustrated with your presence at all? Can you share what "add-ons" your neice would have paid for if you weren't there failing to bite your tongue?

 

The salesman did get frustrated with me being there.  My niece played the role of being respectful to his sales strategies and I took on the role as a self proclaimed a**hole.  The most memorable was when he thought he had her on a final price.  I knew at this point he was not including dealer fees in the discussion and I brought this to their attention before they shook hands.   He said these are not negotiable.  I said I was disappointed that he would say this to my niece and suggested he go to his "manager" and see what could be done.  The salesman came back and said he was right and could not negotiate fees but his manager was able to add more to the value of her trade-in. 

One of the hard sells was the extended warranty. (This option has been debated on this forum)    In this particular scenario it would be an additional $2100 for items other than those covered by power-train in years 4 & 5 of ownership.  She had already been sold on a vehicle that was at the top end of her budget and this added cost would be a hardship.  I explained to her that the extended warranty could pay for itself but odds are in the dealer's favour.  She took the risk to not add $2100 to her debt at this time. She was made to feel crappy for turning down the added coverage.  I even got a jab from the finance person, "You'd better be right for your sake." 

[aseibel]

That was exactly my experience when I bought my current truck. Was this a supposed "no negotiation" dealer?

 

They really push hard on the extended warranty. I love your description and hope people new to the buying process can learn from this before they make a mistake.

[duquephart]

Make it clear up front that you are there to buy a vehicle and nothing else, that any shenanigans will result in you taking your business elsewhere. In my experience they figure out very quickly that you are not there for any nonsense and conduct themselves accordingly. The closest anyone has gotten with me is mentioning, very briefly, that warranties and service plans are available. I usually don't have a problem with the accessories hustler since I'm always looking for a couple of things.

[KARNUT]

The easiest ways to avoid this is not to be set on a brand or dealer. Usually leftovers are the best deals. I researched 4 brands of cars when I bought my last one. I did the same when I brought my last SUV and truck. Most of my work is done at my computer with a printer. Some at dealers. It usually ends up with the sales person competing with each other. I live in a large town with all brands represented in close proximity, maybe that’s the difference. I don’t buy unless I can save 10-15 K off sticker. That’s where buying last years model comes in. My 17 Camry cost me 17.5, there’s no way I could get one for that now. I thought I was going to buy an Honda starting out. It was close to 30K in comparison. You just have to be flexible and not afraid to walk.


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[Grumpy Bear]

Five hours took to buy Pepper. Packed a lunch and drinks. At the end the sales manager asked we never come back. The manager was getting reamed by the finance manager and the salesman was in a corner laughing to himself line an idiot. The sales manager was so rattled it took another hour to correct the paperwork mistakes...like my name spelling. I bought nothing but the truck at just over auction price (about $200), got full trade value and bought nothing...absolutely nothing. Been the best vehicle I've ever owned...so far. Wife says she's never going car shopping with me again.   Then asked me to deal for her Terrain 

 

There is a reason I've only ever bought a few new cars in my life. This experience of the OP and others is why.....

[DougFL]

37 minutes ago, Donstar said:

 

The salesman did get frustrated with me being there.  My niece played the role of being respectful to his sales strategies and I took on the role as a self proclaimed a**hole.  The most memorable was when he thought he had her on a final price.  I knew at this point he was not including dealer fees in the discussion and I brought this to their attention before they shook hands.   He said these are not negotiable.  I said I was disappointed that he would say this to my niece and suggested he go to his "manager" and see what could be done.  The salesman came back and said he was right and could not negotiate fees but his manager was able to add more to the value of her trade-in. 

One of the hard sells was the extended warranty. (This option has been debated on this forum)    In this particular scenario it would be an additional $2100 for items other than those covered by power-train in years 4 & 5 of ownership.  She had already been sold on a vehicle that was at the top end of her budget and this added cost would be a hardship.  I explained to her that the extended warranty could pay for itself but odds are in the dealer's favour.  She took the risk to not add $2100 to her debt at this time. She was made to feel crappy for turning down the added coverage.  I even got a jab from the finance person, "You'd better be right for your sake." 

For extended Warranty get a quote from here: https://www.jamesblackcadillac.com/Protection-Pricing

I saved over $1K on an actual GM 100K mile protection plan!

[garagerog]

18 minutes ago, Donstar said:

 

The salesman did get frustrated with me being there.  My niece played the role of being respectful to his sales strategies and I took on the role as a self proclaimed a**hole.  The most memorable was when he thought he had her on a final price.  I knew at this point he was not including dealer fees in the discussion and I brought this to their attention before they shook hands.   He said these are not negotiable.  I said I was disappointed that he would say this to my niece and suggested he go to his "manager" and see what could be done.  The salesman came back and said he was right and could not negotiate fees but his manager was able to add more to the value of her trade-in. 

One of the hard sells was the extended warranty. (This option has been debated on this forum)    In this particular scenario it would be an additional $2100 for items other than those covered by power-train in years 4 & 5 of ownership.  She had already been sold on a vehicle that was at the top end of her budget and this added cost would be a hardship.  I explained to her that the extended warranty could pay for itself but odds are in the dealer's favour.  She took the risk to not add $2100 to her debt at this time. She was made to feel crappy for turning down the added coverage.  I even got a jab from the finance person, "You'd better be right for your sake." 

Good job Donstar!  It's time that the dealer salespeople had the good cop/bad cop routine reversed on them! Sadly young people, especially young women when car shopping on their own get taken advantage of. Back in 2007 I was helping my daughter shop for a car, she wasn't set on a new one, but we found her a new base Cobalt for what a lot of the little nicer used cars were going for. She qualified for the Costco discount so we were sent to fleet sales where it was pretty much non-hassle. Her less than pristine credit rating worked in her favor somewhat as she barely qualified for the base car without any add-ons so were easily able to say, it is what it is, take it or we're gone. They finally made it work, but still it was an all day ordeal and one of the most stressful days of my life. By contrast in 2017 when I went with my wife to buy her new Equinox, we found a small town, high volume dealer that had $89 over invoice pricing, non-haggle and no high pressure on the add-ons. They had a 17 Nox LT with $4250 GM rebate, got another $500 from GM for being a Farm Bureau insurance customer and I had about $2700 in GM card earnings and my wife works for a credit union so she had financing in hand, no hassle from the dealer to finance thru them, so in about 2 hours we were done with the process and she got a pretty sweet deal. Easiest car shopping experience of my life.