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Comment by mr_toad | Hacker News Reader

> I've found that my "buying questions" are never properly answered by those ads. The more commercial intent I display, the scummier the ads get.

It’s a lot like walking into a car dealership. They aren’t aiming to match you with the best car for you, they’re aiming to sell you the car that makes them the most money.

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Modern life is like being in a car dealership 24/7.

That is a sadly apt metaphor

I've never actually bought straight from a dealership so excuse my naivety here, but wouldn't they be better off trying to sell me the car that is best for me? Otherwise if it doesn't meet my needs, I won't be buying anything.

You probably can't tell which car is best for you, and salespeople aren't gonna help.

They just have to convince you it's good enough.

Even if they do pick a car largely based on your needs, they're never going to say it's anything but a perfect or near-perfect fit.

Car dealers may not be a frequent repeat customer like stores Word of mouth is diluted by type model needs, it’s not my friend was recommended dealer bar for their experience buying a Honda foo I’ll go and buy one

What is 'best' is highly subjective and emotive.

At almost any price point there is going to be some model or feature that is a bit more expensive that you may not strictly need but that may be better in one way or other.

They will sell you the car currently in their lot that most closely matches what you need. Not what you actually need. Just the closest they have.

Doubt. Yes, the one in their lot; no, on best match. They'll try and sell to you according to their need - highest commission, dump a lemon, etc. If you do choose a vehicle they'll try to give you a terrible finance deal, wiggle out of a warranty they were offering, and such.

I recommend talking to some people who know about car dealer sales strategies. For many people buying a car is highly emotional and car dealers are trying to manipulate those. Some examples, if you come in with a budget of say $5000 they will always try to sell you something which is above your budget ("this is what you really want/need"), so never give them your true budget. If it comes to closing a sales deal they will often work on you with 2 people, which is much harder to resist psychologically. So best is to go buy a car with at least 2 people as well (and make a strategy before so they don't play you against each other). They also use strategies, like installing a mirror at the place where you drop the car back after a test drive so you see yourself in the car, which causes an emotional response.

...and this is part of the success of Tesla.

Car dealers are literally driving traffic away from them. They are about as popular as taxi drivers before Uber.

Psychological tricks are a predatory social behavior, not only to the buyer, but also because people (especially introverts) detect them quickly and grow tired very fast. That leads people online (for Tesla) or online shopping (who enjoys being harassed by vendors in every clothes shop?), or online because at least the price negotiation doesn’t depend on your face or your mastery of social games. When your psychological tricks lead to entire industries sidestepping you and letting you die with popular support, you know something is wrong.

And yet Saturn failed even though that was how their cars were sold also.

All true. And thankfully avoidable in 2021. I just bought a new car, from a large chain dealer, 95% by SMS.

No thanks, delivery would eat all my data allowance.

Bought my last car this way - once I knew what make/model I want (which did require physically seeing a few), it was 100% email until it was ready on the parking lot to drive off and the papers were ready to sign. The dealers that asked to "come and talk", or "call and we'll discuss the options" just got "thanks but no thanks". Fortunately, in 21th century there are people that are willing to sell cars without bullshit, and they got the deal. And that was pre-lockdowns, now I imagine more people would be willing to work this way.

OTT but in line with your question In my part of Australia we have an established dealership who has been here since the 70's and I bought my 1st car from him in the mid 90's. each couple of years I would go back and ask what he could do for me as a trade and on what. every time, walking out with a good deal (he actually moved figures around to get the best price) larger part of my wifes family started going there and same outcome, come home with a car they like, met their expectations and got good trade-ins for their cars. recently I took mine and my wifes cars in to change over, we picked our cars, got fair to good trade ins on them, paid and then waited on them to be detailed so we could drive home. I asked the dealer principle which car would he have sold me if he wanted to make money. he said, plainly "they all make money, in differing amounts, no point trying for a high margin car that won't suit either of your needs" I asked what he could of pointed us at if he wanted more money out of us. his reply "I'd push you to a cheaper 2nd hand car or one of the LDV/MG/Import cars where I would make 3x as much as what I am getting from this sale" guy is in his 80's and doesn't mince words but is as honest as they come

It seems that it's common understanding in US that car dealer is BS. Is it cultural? because I don't see such common understanding outside US.

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