Hmm, I'm interested in a Subaru. (I search Subaru) 500 listings of the same BMW x5 come up.
Nevermind, let's see what Hondas are on the market. 500 listings of the same BMW x5 come up.
I throw my computer out the window.
>For example, they'll list the monthly payment instead of the price, which makes wading through 'sort by increasing price' a PITA.
Every conference I've been to about the auto industry the experts say that, especially for low-income individuals, the monthly payment is what customers tend to be the most concerned about. In fact, many prefer to pay more total money over a longer term if it means a lower monthly payment.
I'm price sensitive about this - but for things I can't purchase as a one-off purchase I don't mind paying more money if it means I can pay a smaller amount monthly. To a point.
I imagine people who are more strapped for cash than I have less concern for just how much more they will be willing to pay over time if it means they have less worry from paycheck to paycheck. e.g. The difference between $250/mo and $375/mo could be their entire food budget for a month. So they could literally starve for 2 years and pay $375/mo payments or they could actually eat food and pay $250/mo for 4 years. Even if, without interest, they will be paying $3,000 more. ($12,000 vs $9,000).
This is one of the struggles of being poor: you can't afford to save money.
They don't care about how much money they will have paid in total 3 years from now, but how much money they'll have for food/heat/rent this month. And in America, unfortunately, a car is usually a necessity to make any money, so they accept the high interest, long term notes because they have no other choice.
The latest trend that's popping up are services that work together with dealerships to file income taxes on behalf of the customer. Tax season has always been the busy season for these dealerships since that's when refunds come in. Now the dealers are trying to streamline the process. Bring your W2 to the dealership, we'll file your taxes for you for free[0], and you get to drive off the lot with this vehicle weeks before the refund is actually processed.
[0] Hard to call it free when the contract is charging 20%+ APR.