Car dealers/saleman suck

Yep that they do ..more in the never ending quest to move from truck to car!!

I found a sweet 2006 mustang pony at a dealer not far from me. After some internet negotiating I got the sticker from $22,005 down to $20,658. Edmonds.com says the invoice on this car is $20,341. This would meant that I would be paying the dealer $317 over the invoice. Obviously this precludes any hidden incentive they get from Ford.

Before I ever walked onto the lot this seemed to be a fair and acceptable price for me to pay for the mustang. My next step was to ask many dealers what they use as a price guide for determining trade values on used vehicles.. The answer was NADA or Kelley's

My truck is a 2004 4 door supercab Ranger edge edition. in only has 15,000 miles on it as we speak (or as you read) ..BTW dead mint.. NADA says trade in value is $14,500 and Kelley's Blue states $13,500.. So off to the dealer I go ..

I always love when the salesman starts the pitch with "what do I have to do to put you in the car today" routine don't you? After the test drive that is EXACTLY where we started and I slid a manilla folder across the table with the quoted price and the name of my contact at the dealership.... His eyes dropped and smile dropped ..

Next up was to deal on my trade and asked what I needed to drive the mustang out today. I opened my folder and slid a paper across the table with a highlighted number from NADA that showed the $14,500 and off to his manager he went to as he put it get me a great deal!!

Ever notice they are always your friends? The offer came back at $11,900 and my only responce was it aint happenin.. Now he explains to me that my trade is only realistically worth wholesale value and not true trade. Not bad consideirng he can throw my truck on his lot with no reconditioning, 1/2 a warrantee left for between $16k and $17k huh?

To shorten the story a bit when the manager finally comes down to "reel" me in because his inept salman couldn't do the job I had a great laugh as they waddled towards my wife an I.

I often beleive car salesman are people who never mad ein in theatre because they are really bad actors. As Daryn and his GM wandered towards me I could see him waving his arms and saying very loudly "I know boss I tried to explain it to them and they just don't get it, maybe you could help them Boss"

All I can tell you is I had flashbacks to Bugs bunny cartoons and the 2 dogs... One is bouncing around the other as he walks asking "Duh .. Whaddya wan't me to do now Boss? "

The manager explained to me exactly how it works..see because I got them to discount their car to their "sticker" price they aren't making any money off the purchase so I need to be flexable on my trade in. Note I said their sticker price.... Yeah they would quote me a price at their cost to make a sale ... no profit my ass...

What they were trying to do to me was inevidibly steal my trade in.

From the bad acting to the belittling that salesman do to emarass you into doing something stupid it shows the mentality of the old time grifters. They will act like your friends while they are trying to phish the money out of your pocket and not feel bad about putting you into a bad situation .. as long as they get their cash ...

In the end the final offer on my truck was $12,300 and I owe $12,900 so I explained that there was no way I was going upsidown on my loan. The sales approach to that was hillarious.. just put more money down and you wont be upside down. Yeah so that solves it all, I either eat it up front or in the ass.....

I made a comment about working with the dealer that I purchased the truck from and assured them I could get what I wanted from them. After all if they can try and play me I might as well play the game back right.

The sales dude pitched back to me about if he had a nickle ever time he heard someone was going to get something from another dealership.. . I replied with if I had a nickle for everytime a salesman treated my like he was my friend and working for me I'd be rich...

In the end I shook the guys hand and left after all it's just business and not personal right?

If ya want to learn more about the tactics car dealers use read this article...it is about a jounalist who went under cover to work as a car salesman to learn all the scumbag tricks. It helped me in identifying EXACTLY what was going on and what would happen next... even my wife had a good laugh as it unfolded before her eyes ...


http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html


Hopefully the more people that read this the more educated we all become about shady tactics! BTW .. Car dealers do not like educated buyers ..they are harder to grift...