Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
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It sounds like mister autohunter believes that a good deal is determined by the profit made by the seller and whatever some third-party books say.
Let's say a used car manager takes 2 identical car in on trade. The first one comes in for autohunter's "correct" book value of $10,000. The 2nd one involved a guy buying an old stock new vehicle so they had to put $11,000 into the trade to get the new car deal.
Now these two identical used cars both get sold for $13,000 - also the "correct" figure from autohunter's book. Did one buyer get ripped off because the dealer made $1000 more on his deal?
With that said, I also do not think cost alone defines a good deal. The deal was easy for me. And the salesman helped me understand the car's features, and determine which car was right for me. I got a good deal. Period.
But if you must know, the car sold for $200 under invoice in the DC area. It is a Toyota Camry LE with Auto. I am sure if I took Cliffy's number, and brought it to another dealer, they would have beat the price by $50 or $100 dollars...but it would have been 4 more hours of my time. Four horus of my time is worth more than $100 dollars!
Please don't make derogatory comments about people you don't know.
Back in 1996, I was fresh out of college and wanted a car to replace my college beater. I went in and bought a Cavalier at MSRP minus the cash back minus a $1000 mercy allowance for my trade. In hind sight, I got beaten like a red headed step child. To me at the time, I got a good deal. The salesperson was friendly, F&I person helped a lot with getting me financing, and I had an overall good feeling when I left the dealership.
Last year when I bought a vehicle, I had been doing research on Edmunds for months. I knew what invoice pricing was and knew the market conditions for the vehicle. I bought at $200 over invoice. The salesman was friendly, the process took about an hour, and I left with the same good feeling about the deal.
To me, I got a good deal in both of these situations. I don't care what others paid for their deal as long as I feel good about mine.
On a side note, I am very much against fixed pricing from dealerships. Why should someone who has done their research and knows current market conditions be forced to pay the same price as Joe Public who blindly walks into a dealership and buys a car without being prepared?
That act has been present in the majority of your posts - and you call someone else for it?
You've been very, very negative about anyone in the car business. Please don't think you won't get some return fire - you started it.
Or, he could be jeffmusts evil twin brother.
So, how is the weather today, Zues? Mack? Cliffy?
Ed
Be sure to let us know how that business goes.
"Let's say I own a Ford dealership and I have 1 Taurus loaded with options and my price is $25,251. If Joe comes in, that's what he pays. If mary comes in, that's what she pays. If Larry comes in, that's what he pays. Larry may say, "I can get a Taurus with all the same options at Joe Schmoes for $24,900." Then you say, "Please go to Joe Schmoes and buy it then."
"It amazes me how few salesmen actually know how to run a successful business. Some can't even understand a simple model of a good business. Well, maybe they just refused to try to understand. People often discount quickly that which they can't understand"
&nbs- p; &n- bsp; : )
&nbs- p; &n- bsp; Mackabee
You spent FOUR MONTHS looking for the car you wanted at a price you wanted to pay.
For most people, their time is far more valuable than that. If they pay a bit more than what you think is "FAIR", they really don't care. These people have jobs, families and hobbies.
You talk about "private party" pricing and how nobody should pay a dealer any more than that and preferably less.
Well, I don't know what "private party" pricing really is. The books we use don't have a catagory for that. Most of the private sellers I run into seem to think that the Kelly or NADA retail is pretty close to what their car is worth.
A private party seller has very little responsibility when selling a used car unlike a dealer. For all the buyer knows, the brake pads and rotors need to be replaced, the timing belt is overdue for replacement, and there is low compression on one cylinder.
Heck...the seller probably doesn't even know this!
It's not uncommon for a dealership to spend 1500.00 or more in reconditioning surprises!
As an "auto broker" you should already be aware of this!
c) any warranty you get, unless it's backed by the manufacturer, is a disservice to your client.
They do need to tread lightly. Word travels quickly...
&nbs- p; &n- bsp; : )
&nbs- p; &n- bsp; Mackabee
If I knew it would hold up, I'd be tempted if it were indeed a 0% loan once the payments kicked in after a year. I didn't even think about the insurance though...totalling one of those things after one year and not having made a payment sounds scary indeed!
The other car guys will be happy to back me up on this one. A "broker" needs to be an asset to both sides.
I don't see what autohunter does as advertising. I have already bought my car and just wanted to know if using a broker would have saved me money so that I can consider that in the future. That is not personal advertising for him but for his profession.
If what I am saying is not true, why do these kinds of sources exist:
http://beatthecarsalesman.com/secrets.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/19/1040174345151.html
http://www.stp.uh.edu/vol62/29/OpEd/op2/op2.html
As the second link states, the survey found that car salesmen were the least trustworthy profession in the nation. This was just published last month. Like I said before, I have a perception that seems to be shared by the nation. Do you have sources that say its not true?
Ed
Edmunds has a great article here
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html
Wasn't Edmunds created to inform consumers so that they don't get taken advantage of by dishonest car salesmen like the excerpt below suggests.
"Since the advent of the Internet, and the tremendous effect it has had on the way people buy and sell vehicles, we've been hearing much about how the retail side of our industry has been utterly transformed. The way spokespeople from the National Automobile Dealer's Association (NADA) tell it, dealers are kinder and gentler, treating people with respect and intelligence, because they know more consumers than ever are conducting research online, educating themselves so that they can make a good deal on a new or used car."
They indicate that honesty has increased and maybe it has. Why did this have to happen so get them to be more honest? Are they now among the most honest professionals, I don't know. I guess time will tell.
The customer has to feel like he/she was treated fairly and got a "bargain" (define using your own terms) on the new or used vehicle. The dealer has to make a fair profit, higher on some vehicles and lower on others and more than anything, a relationship has to result.
The new owner wants a place that will repair any problems that crop up, treat them with respect, etc, and the salesperson is hoping the customer is pleased enough with the deal where he'll send in referral business, a source the salesperson relies on.
If a car deal ends with either side or both raising cane about the deal, with bad feelings as a result, then the cheapest price on the new car and the best trade-in value possible won't make anyone feel better.
needing a vehicle upon arrival, i immediately purchased publications about "smart car-buying," with all, including consumer watchdog "consumer reports," recommending strategies and techniques to get as near to invoice as possible but conceding a few hundred for dealer profit.
question is, is "getting the best deal" a consumer reaction to hideous (it seems) over-pricing practices by car dealers in the past ?
even if it is now consumer over-reaction, wouldn't all a dealer/salesman has to do is decline an unreasonable customer counter-offer instead of claiming something short of "customer brutality" during negotiations ?
lastly, out of 10 customers, how many are so prepared that they can drive prices down against a "helpless" dealer ?
appreciate your comments. thanks.
(what the buyer believes the car is worth to him/her) then that's a good deal for both sides in the perspective of those attached to the car selling retail industry.
understandable.
but me being unattached ...
before i belly up to the trough, i'm going to put some effort in trying to buy at the least some dealer out of a pool of dealers is willing to sell - irrespective of what i think it's worth.
and probably most others unattached to this industry that read this board are going to do the same.
and a good deal to me is doing it.
You know. . . I think he got a good deal. He thinks he got a good deal. Others might disagree. . .(What am I talking about "might???" Someone is bound to preach about how I ripped him off.) But considering how many of the 50th editions did roll out at a premium, he did fine.