So tired of the dealership buying experience

[m1keaveli]

alot of people thing no haggle automatically means a good buying experience. sales will butter you up any way possible. dealerships are there to take your money regardless. they will play the chummy game, make you feel like youre the VIP of the day, but ultimately theyll pull whatever they can you get you to sign in their favor.

do your research, know whats reasonable and whats not (end of the day, its a business transaction, everybody gotta eat), and have the numbers in hand to back anything up. common tactic sales use is to try and get you to physically come in, and theyll show you the car up close, this messes with you psychologically to make rational decisions .

the real hustle happens in the finance room, not on the floor. meticulously look over the docs, decline all the additional addon crap they try to throw at you (extended 3rd party warranty that overlaps into the factory warranties, gap coverage, wheel/tire warranty, etc)..theyll try to sell you this HARD, even mention that theyre doing you a favor by offering it at a loss. manipulation is the game, theyll say its only X more bucks a month on your payment, but think about X times how many months youre financed in for.

most importantly, be prepared to walk if necessary, its not the last vehicle left in the world

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[Ron]

You have to be careful with those online ratings.
We have a despicable (Dodge) dealership in town but their online ratings are tainted because they give $50 to anyone that can prove they left a 5 star review. I left a review but did not collect $50

When i read reviews, i ignore the 5 star ones - too many shenanigans.

 

[Nor Cal Taco Off Road]

Well, vote with your wallet dude. Why did you buy a truck from these idiots? You're a part of the problem.

I love the internet. Sick burn.

 

[LincolnSixAlpha]

What was your buying experience like?

You dont strike me as a young man, with that said I can understand your pain and frustration. When I was much younger, I would easily sit in a dealer and argue with them. Think my max was about 8 hours in a dealer haggling with them. Got a good deal that day.

Now I'm an old man and I no wish to deal with anyone's shit. Including all the dirty dick car sales tactics. I can tell you when I bought my truck, I'm sure they made their money on me -- but was June of '24, and all the dealers in the Phoenix valley have been tacking on all of these BS upgrades.
I've owned a bunch of vehicles, and I can tell you I never paid for any of that garbage they want to tack on. I was actually interested in a new Canyon/Colorado, and had no desire to own a Toyota. I went in one Saturday, half sick not feeling the greatest figuring I'd just look at the Toyota just to be sure. I was actually quite impressed with the vehicle.

Anyhow, initially I almost was on my way walking off the lot because I saw this stupid little sticker add/on with almost 7K worth of garbage I would never pay for. I told the sales guy I'm not paying for this garbage and was heading to my truck to leave. He was actually pleading for me to come back saying I wouldn't have to pay it. I guess I was also a bit mad lashing out at hime for the gall to actually tack on that much money. I was just beside myself with the balls this dealer had to want to charge people and additional 7K of nonsense.

Including a pic of that garbage. I owned a lot of BMW's back in the day when I lived back east I worked with one particular dealer, and one particular sales guy because every damn time he his first offer to me was always fair, and I never felt cheated. Every other buying experience I feel like I'm getting raped. Maybe bought 5 cars from him completely hassle free. Wish every purchase could be like that.

 

[maxx075]

You dont strike me as a young man, with that said I can understand your pain and frustration. When I was much younger, I would easily sit in a dealer and argue with them. Think my max was about 8 hours in a dealer haggling with them. Got a good deal that day.

Now I'm an old man and I no wish to deal with anyone's shit. Including all the dirty dick car sales tactics. I can tell you when I bought my truck, I'm sure they made their money on me -- but was June of '24, and all the dealers in the Phoenix valley have been tacking on all of these BS upgrades.
I've owned a bunch of vehicles, and I can tell you I never paid for any of that garbage they want to tack on. I was actually interested in a new Canyon/Colorado, and had no desire to own a Toyota. I went in one Saturday, half sick not feeling the greatest figuring I'd just look at the Toyota just to be sure. I was actually quite impressed with the vehicle.

Anyhow, initially I almost was on my way walking off the lot because I saw this stupid little sticker add/on with almost 7K worth of garbage I would never pay for. I told the sales guy I'm not paying for this garbage and was heading to my truck to leave. He was actually pleading for me to come back saying I wouldn't have to pay it. I guess I was also a bit mad lashing out at hime for the gall to actually tack on that much money. I was just beside myself with the balls this dealer had to want to charge people and additional 7K of nonsense.

Including a pic of that garbage. I owned a lot of BMW's back in the day when I lived back east I worked with one particular dealer, and one particular sales guy because every damn time he his first offer to me was always fair, and I never felt cheated. Every other buying experience I feel like I'm getting raped. Maybe bought 5 cars from him completely hassle free. Wish every purchase could be like that.

Ahh, camelback. I basically had to do an entire search of the west coast when I bought mine in May of last year. I remember seeing that dealers astronomical prices. Would not want to step foot on their lot.

 

[Cold_Taco]

You dont strike me as a young man, with that said I can understand your pain and frustration. When I was much younger, I would easily sit in a dealer and argue with them. Think my max was about 8 hours in a dealer haggling with them. Got a good deal that day.

Now I'm an old man and I no wish to deal with anyone's shit. Including all the dirty dick car sales tactics. I can tell you when I bought my truck, I'm sure they made their money on me -- but was June of '24, and all the dealers in the Phoenix valley have been tacking on all of these BS upgrades.
I've owned a bunch of vehicles, and I can tell you I never paid for any of that garbage they want to tack on. I was actually interested in a new Canyon/Colorado, and had no desire to own a Toyota. I went in one Saturday, half sick not feeling the greatest figuring I'd just look at the Toyota just to be sure. I was actually quite impressed with the vehicle.

Anyhow, initially I almost was on my way walking off the lot because I saw this stupid little sticker add/on with almost 7K worth of garbage I would never pay for. I told the sales guy I'm not paying for this garbage and was heading to my truck to leave. He was actually pleading for me to come back saying I wouldn't have to pay it. I guess I was also a bit mad lashing out at hime for the gall to actually tack on that much money. I was just beside myself with the balls this dealer had to want to charge people and additional 7K of nonsense.

Including a pic of that garbage. I owned a lot of BMW's back in the day when I lived back east I worked with one particular dealer, and one particular sales guy because every damn time he his first offer to me was always fair, and I never felt cheated. Every other buying experience I feel like I'm getting raped. Maybe bought 5 cars from him completely hassle free. Wish every purchase could be like that.

Wow that is insane. Yeah I'm not young anymore. One day I'm racing BMX bikes with my buddies and the next I have 3 grown kids a mortgage and graying hair.

Back in '95 I became interested in an Isuzu Rodeo (remember them?). I went to the dealer, took it for a ride, but they were not willing to come down at all or give me the right number for my trade. So I left. They called me to come back I thought to finally come down in price. But no it was to run the numbers for leasing instead of buying. Plus in the 2 days that passed they put more stuff on it to jack up the price even more.

 

[bitflogger]

What was your buying experience like?

Overall excellent but I know how you have to play it. None of the dealers got to start with a finance game. I asked for their cash price for same thing and packages. I asked for the possible trade value against that bottom line price.

The excellent for service "president's award" dealer near home was just not going to budge. A dealer about 45 miles away offered a discount from sticker and $1800 more for trade. It was being paid well for the time. Their whole niche was no nonsense capturing sales from the larger metro area. In the finance office they said I'm sure this is what you want but did let us know their prices for warranties, paint protection etc....

My feeling is debt and emotion contribute to a lot of poor buying experiences. These things are machines that wear out and not something that should impact ego or be part of our identities. If you must or plan to finance still do it from how I learn and set the deal based on a cash price.

 

[Appalachian Taco]

I don't know if this is the right place but is anyone else sick of the games and tactics some dealerships still play when all you want to do is buy a new vehicle at a fair price? I bought my SR5 from a Toyota dealership stuck in a 70s or 80s time warp. I came in with a price for the exact same truck that I had seen online from a different dealership that just advertises their bottom price. It was exactly 6% off MSRP so I figured that was a fair deal and would save haggling. The first thing my salesman said was we paid more than that for the truck. I told him I saw that price on a competitor's website and felt it was a fair price. This began about 6 trips back and forth from his desk to the sales manager's office. Each time pleading with me to meet them a little higher then trying to confuse matters by including fees in the negotiation. He finally came back with a number $100 higher than mine. I actually said "Really?" out loud. He said can we get this done? So I countered with $50 more just to be a dick so he had to go back to the manager's office one more time. Then from the door of the office he shouts "Are you getting financing?" and I stupidly admitted yeah for half. So he comes back with a purchase and sales agreement. I look at the bottom number for which I am getting financing for and realize it is $500 higher than I expected. So I look at the numbers and it shows we agreed on a sales price $500 higher than we had agreed on. I called it out and he shows me that is because of the $500 Toyota financing rebate. They basically took that rebate i was expecting and added it to the purchase price and hoped I wouldn't notice. At this point I was livid and raising my voice saying we negotiated a price without any talk about financing. He tried to diffuse it by saying we both just had a different understanding of what the price negotiation included. But that was total BS. They were trying to basically rob me of $500. He went back to the sales manager's office and came back with the correct numbers. But while he was gone I thought about just leaving. I should have. But in the end I got my truck for $50 more than I intended. Still had to fight off more add ons from the finance guy. He actually tried to convince me that Toyotas have gone down in quality to sell me an extended warranty. I just had to laugh by that point. Im glad to be in my truck but I left there feeling like I had been in a brawl. It kind of soured the whole experience for what should have been a happy occasion. I think I am done with old school haggling dealerships. The funny thing is that sales guy gets glowing reviews online because he has been there 30+ years.

What was your buying experience like?

I live in UT. Found the ‘24 ORP with electronic swaybar disconnect I wanted scheduled to be delivered to a dealer in Idaho. Went to my local dealer said they could get it no problem. Arrived, charged an extra 2k than Idaho dealer. Grabbed my ankles and said thank you for my Taco as I had been waiting over 2 months. I hate dealerships. Their service departments are staffed with chimps also.

 

[Cold_Taco]

Overall excellent but I know how you have to play it. None of the dealers got to start with a finance game. I asked for their cash price for same thing and packages. I asked for the possible trade value against that bottom line price.

The excellent for service "president's award" dealer near home was just not going to budge. A dealer about 45 miles away offered a discount from sticker and $1800 more for trade. It was being paid well for the time. Their whole niche was no nonsense capturing sales from the larger metro area. In the finance office they said I'm sure this is what you want but did let us know their prices for warranties, paint protection etc....

My feeling is debt and emotion contribute to a lot of poor buying experiences. These things are machines that wear out and not something that should impact ego or be part of our identities. If you must or plan to finance still do it from how I learn and set the deal based on a cash price.

I would have felt better about it if it was only the back and forth haggling. Not coming down to my offer. Sure, part of the game. It really was when they tried to take away the $500 financing rebate and added it to the negotiated price that it became sleazy. I was paying attention how many people aren't? I use my veterans discount at Home Depot and Lowe's. Imagine if they showed the 10% savings on the screen but still charged you full price. That feels like the same thing to me.

 

[MT-Taco]

alot of people thing no haggle automatically means a good buying experience. sales will butter you up any way possible. dealerships are there to take your money regardless. they will play the chummy game, make you feel like youre the VIP of the day, but ultimately theyll pull whatever they can you get you to sign in their favor.

do your research, know whats reasonable and whats not (end of the day, its a business transaction, everybody gotta eat), and have the numbers in hand to back anything up. common tactic sales use is to try and get you to physically come in, and theyll show you the car up close, this messes with you psychologically to make rational decisions .

the real hustle happens in the finance room, not on the floor. meticulously look over the docs, decline all the additional addon crap they try to throw at you (extended 3rd party warranty that overlaps into the factory warranties, gap coverage, wheel/tire warranty, etc)..theyll try to sell you this HARD, even mention that theyre doing you a favor by offering it at a loss. manipulation is the game, theyll say its only X more bucks a month on your payment, but think about X times how many months youre financed in for.

most importantly, be prepared to walk if necessary, its not the last vehicle left in the world

Bought mine from Jim. Hands down the easiest experience! ( Almost too easy) Other than I flew cross country for the build I wanted and drove it home! Could have shipped it, but had the time, and really not willing to trust a shipper?

https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/threads/2-3k-under-invoice-2024-tacomas-💵-purchase-leasing.2039/

 

[Cold_Taco]

Bought mine from Jim. Hands down the easiest experience! ( Almost too easy) Other than I flew cross country for the build I wanted and drove it home! Could have shipped it, but had the time, and really not willing to trust a shipper?

https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/threads/2-3k-under-invoice-2024-tacomas--purchase-leasing.2039/

Interesting. Wonder what my truck would have cost. $43,300 MSRP. Got it for $40,750 before tax and doc fee.

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