The Car-buying thread on Reddit
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@klaus said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
There's no reason why buying a car has to be more complicated than ordering a USB cable on Amazon.
Indeed. The last time I bought a car it was non-negotiable on either side. The only thing we negotiated was the value of my trade-ins.
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Oh, the car dealers hate me. Always willing to walk out the door.
When we bought Karla’s Ford Fusion in 2012, I dropped her off to pick up the car and sign the paperwork. They were going to have me e-sign the docs…
As soon as I got to work, I got a call from Karla that the numbers were somewhere between $1000 and $1500 higher than what we had agreed to over the phone (I can’t remember at this point). I told her to stay there and I was on my way to pick her up. The dealer tried engaging me three times over the phone on my way to the dealership to explain. I interrupted each time with a calm “We have nothing to discuss”. I showed up, put her in the car, and the manager came out and talked to me through the driver’s window of my car. Not only did we get the original deal, but we got two years of oil changes out of the deal.
Karla hates going car shopping with me.
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I decide exactly what I want and email 4-5 dealers Internet sales departments for the best price. I can do that because I pay cash and don’t give them a trade in. Also helps to be in a place that has 4-5 dealers of each major brand within an hour drive.
In my experience one or two refuse to play and just insist you come in. A couple take it seriously and give you decent prices. I always do it in the last days of the month, too.
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Carmax. Fuck it.
Please love yourself.
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@aqua-letifer said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
Carmax. Fuck it.
Agreed. When I went to my dealer to get rid of my A6 ("We'll buy your car!"), they undercut the Carmax offer by $4000. I showed them the Carmax offer and said they couldn't match it.
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Yes @aqua-letifer said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
Carmax. Fuck it. Yes
is it a2020 Accord EXL $33K with 12,000 miles. https://www.carmax.com/car/21385349
CarMax warranty service sucks, and they finance on average at 5-6%.
New Honda Accord EXL MSRP $32,305, new manufacturer warranty, 0% APR for 36 months, 0.9% for 60… https://www.arlingtonhonda.com/new/Honda/2021-Honda-Accord-796640020a0e09a80ee3a75718efe19b.htm
Fuck CarMax…
Me/rry/Christmas
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@lufins-dad said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
CarMax warranty service sucks, and they finance on average at 5-6%.
You don't have to finance through them. I never have.
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Unless you're going for a specific, scarce model / trim, I do the same thing others here have mentioned.
Get quotes from 5 dealers through the internet. Do a merry go round with the lowest offer through the other dealers. Should get reasonably close to a minimum margin.
It's also a pretty low effort sale if you show up ready to sign the papers.
I'd also gladly pay a few hundred extra dollars than doing the half-day dance between the sales guy and his manager's office.
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@klaus said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
I bought a few new cars, but I bought them online, with no negotiations about anything. They offer a prize X for a specified car and I pay X or don't buy the car. Very simple and transparent. That's how I want to conduct business. There's no reason why buying a car has to be more complicated than ordering a USB cable on Amazon.
Klaus, I love this. Bookmarking it for when I'm ready to go that route.
I take it various extras are offered for X extra, so you can build your package? Yes on heater, no on AC and so on?
Do any of these places make used cars available this way? (I understand you could get rooked, but I'm still curious.)
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I generally decide on what is a fair price for the vehicle I want, then shop. I offer a check for that amount + tax and that's it. Not a dollar more. The dealer has two possibilities, yes or no. If it is anything other than yes I walk.
Last time when I bought my Murano it was a little different because I went to look at a used model. I liked it OK but it was the end of the month and he offered me a smoking deal on a new one. I could not resist - it was the model I really wanted, the Platinum edition.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@xenon said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
Get quotes from 5 dealers through the internet. Do a merry go round with the lowest offer through the other dealers. Should get reasonably close to a minimum margin.
I don't shop the lowest offer back to the group. I tell them upfront I won't do that so they'll give me their best price and not hold back.
When you shake someone's deep sense of self-worth, leaving a scar in their ego, they will persistently try to diminish you through petty arguments & obsessive captious criticism of your actions, just to soothe the wound.
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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@jon-nyc said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
I don't shop the lowest offer back to the group. I tell them upfront I won't do that so they'll give me their best price and not hold back.
Actually a good strategy (but, you're the money guy, right?).
"Not gonna make you compete, so what's your best offer?"
Right?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@george-k said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
@jon-nyc said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
I don't shop the lowest offer back to the group. I tell them upfront I won't do that so they'll give me their best price and not hold back.
Actually a good strategy (but, you're the money guy, right?).
"Not gonna make you compete, so what's your best offer?"
Right?
I want to encourage them to make their best offer and also let them know they won't have a second chance.
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@george-k said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
@mik said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
I generally decide on what is a fair price for the vehicle I want
On what do you base your opinion of what's a "fair price?"
Research. KBB, other sites.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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@catseye3 said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
@klaus said in The Car-buying thread on Reddit:
I bought a few new cars, but I bought them online, with no negotiations about anything. They offer a prize X for a specified car and I pay X or don't buy the car. Very simple and transparent. That's how I want to conduct business. There's no reason why buying a car has to be more complicated than ordering a USB cable on Amazon.
Klaus, I love this. Bookmarking it for when I'm ready to go that route.
I take it various extras are offered for X extra, so you can build your package? Yes on heater, no on AC and so on?
Yes. Germans are quite obsessive when it comes to configuring their cars. I understand that in the US one mostly selects an engine and a color and maybe has a selection of three extra features and that's it. Over here, people want to configure basically every screw. For instance, I read recently that of the millions of E class Mercedes that were sold in Germany, they have never sold the same configuration twice (except for a few mass orders from companies).
One peculiar aspect of car buying here is the "EU reimport". It turns out that it is often cheaper to buy a car in another EU country and reimport them (because for reasons I don't understand every country has different prices). I've already bought two "EU reimports" (there are dealers who specialize in these kinds of transactions and it will all be online).
