It certainly is true horror experience and why everyone hates the dealer BS experience. However it was even more painful prior to the carmax of the worlds, where the consumer was in the complete dark about prices all together.

Atleast with the carmax and other fixed price dealers , you know what the worst possible deal is and can typically save 2.5K to 4K by going to a normal dealer. You just have to be willing to play the stupid games with them.