Thanks for posting as I am in the market for a new ride and HATE the process! I am with you and love some of the answers above. Buying a vehicle really is not fun. The one major purchase where you feel like you are getting scre*** in every direction. I despise the pricess and the reason I drive cars until they fall apart as you mentioned above.... Gotta be a better way!
Venting. Not a softball thread
- Thread starter #7sDad
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
Thanks for posting as I am in the market for a new ride and HATE the process! I am with you and love some of the answers above. Buying a vehicle really is not fun. The one major purchase where you feel like you are getting scre*** in every direction. I despise the pricess and the reason I drive cars until they fall apart as you mentioned above.... Gotta be a better way!
My wife, DS & DD, drive newer and better cars than me and I'm the one with the job.
I am in your camp! I have the job and drive the clunker. Wife and DD have the "nice" vehicles and I keep my fingers crossed I will make it to work everyday.....
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
DH's car for his drive to work is a 98 Camry with over 300,000 miles. He feels your pain! However, mine is only slightly newer, a 2002 Sienna with 220k. It really is nicer though. lol
I know that feeling. I drive an 05 Tundra and love it. Looks decent and runs well. Wife will give up her 07 H3 for DD in January since it is a tank and still only has 140,000 on it. I am dreading the whole car shopping thing and having a payment in a few months.
In defense of the car lot. How many times do you think people have yelled at them because they had no idea that someone else was looking at a car. As in, do you still have the 2012 Ford Escape. Yes we do. Next day, I'd like to test drive the 2012 Ford Escape. Sorry sir that car was sold last night.
And then the buyer goes off on the sales man for bait and switch, and yesterday they promised me to hold it until I could drive it, and on and on... Its easier to just say, yep and someone else is looking at it. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Forces you to act with urgency and lets you know it might not be there when you come to look at it.
And then the buyer goes off on the sales man for bait and switch, and yesterday they promised me to hold it until I could drive it, and on and on... Its easier to just say, yep and someone else is looking at it. Kills 2 birds with one stone. Forces you to act with urgency and lets you know it might not be there when you come to look at it.
- Dec 11, 2010
- 4,725
- 113
An old farmer told me when I was about 16 that whenever you are buying anything that the price is negotiable, “find things to worry about. And worry just loud enough that the guy selling it can hear you”. He was dumb like a fox. If he couldn’t worry out loud about something real he would make something up to worry about. “I don’t know about the color, I don’t need a fancy radio, I heard that transmission isn’t as good as the last one” whatever. He was hilarious. He was usually the smartest guy in the room but he always played the poor, dumb farmer. He’d pretend he couldn’t afford it but paid cash for new vehicles more than once. His style works to this day. It’s a human behavior type deal and human behavior doesn’t change much over the years.
I say never wait until you HAVE to buy a new vehicle. Dabble in it when you feel like it. That way you can truly walk away at any time. And always give sales people the impression you aren’t in a hurry, (because you aren’t). Be nice! Don’t be afraid to pretend you can’t afford it and slowly worry and wander the other way. See if the seller will chase you. It’s fun.
The last two vehicles I have bought new from dealerships were done mostly online. I told them I wanted to do most of it by email. I filled out trade in inquiries online. I wouldn’t take their calls, just replied by email once I had a sales person contact me. Just take your time, don’t be in a hurry. If you take your time you will figure out how to shop dealers against each other or the original dealer will see a good opportunity to make a quick easy sale at a time when they just need to sell a particular car they have in stock. Just wing it. And worry and wander until they chase you.
I say never wait until you HAVE to buy a new vehicle. Dabble in it when you feel like it. That way you can truly walk away at any time. And always give sales people the impression you aren’t in a hurry, (because you aren’t). Be nice! Don’t be afraid to pretend you can’t afford it and slowly worry and wander the other way. See if the seller will chase you. It’s fun.
The last two vehicles I have bought new from dealerships were done mostly online. I told them I wanted to do most of it by email. I filled out trade in inquiries online. I wouldn’t take their calls, just replied by email once I had a sales person contact me. Just take your time, don’t be in a hurry. If you take your time you will figure out how to shop dealers against each other or the original dealer will see a good opportunity to make a quick easy sale at a time when they just need to sell a particular car they have in stock. Just wing it. And worry and wander until they chase you.
Last edited:
Any more I just go to Hertz car sales... have bought 2 cars from there, may be a little higher mileage than normal, but overall cheap prices. Got a '16 Nissan Versa with 39,000 for less than 10,000...
Took my DD there she got a 2016 Nissan Altima with 37,000 for less than 12,000
Took my DD there she got a 2016 Nissan Altima with 37,000 for less than 12,000
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
My dad gave me similar advice before I bought my first car on my own at the ripe old age of 18. I'd qualified for a $5000 loan and had about $500 down. I still remember the dealership where I bought it and everything. It was listed for $8,000. I offered $5,000. They did their "let me go talk to my manager" thing and came back with a bunch of numbers on paper and something like $6600 circled at the bottom. I told them I wanted to hit some of the other dealers on the strip (there were a bunch even way back then), and that if I didn't find anything I liked better I'd stop back by and see if they could do $5,500 total after fees, taxes and everything. They didn't even let me leave and I got my price. I was very proud of myself. Obviously, I guess, since I remember all the details so closely and it was so long ago!
- Dec 11, 2010
- 4,725
- 113
That sounds like a great way to buy a car. We bought 3 lease trade in Honda’s in a row with about 36,000 miles. Similar deal.
That’s an awesome plan! I love negotiating. Sometimes it goes great sometimes not but convincing them that you are willing to walk away without shutting the door seems like part of each of my successful ones.
Sounds like my Dad. We'd go to flea markets and state fairs and he'd negotiate anything. I once wanted one of those giant plastic coke bottle coin banks, and he "negotiated" them down from 50 cents to a quarter. He didn't care how cheap something was, he'd see if they'd take less!
