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Comment by tanjtanjtanj | Hacker News Reader

Just as an anecdote - When I was buying my last car I went in and asked for just the base model with nothing added onto it, ie not even the "eXtra Special" designations, and the dealership said they probably won't have any for a long time and if I'd like to pay 50% more for one with some features added on.

I declined and kept looking at the inventory of the 4-5 dealerships nearest to me. For six months they never had a single base model.

I started looking at another maker and they seemed to have base models that just wouldn't sell, stuck on lots for that same time period.

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> and the dealership said they probably won't have any for a long time

In my case, I told the dealerships I was okay with waiting up to two years to get the exact trim I wanted. I told them whichever dealership could get me an allocation first got the sale. Then I literally stood up to leave.

And like magic, they went to the computer and found the exact trim I wanted and got my allocation a month out. I was extremely picky on color and options, though. If I had been flexible on color it would have been sooner.

The sales people at dealerships will pressure you into upsells. They’re not going to turn down an easy sale if you demonstrate that you know what you’re doing. They were trying to upsell you.

>> When I was buying my last car I went in and asked

> In my case, I told

Exactly.

When you’re paying, you don’t ask, you tell.

This is what I want, and this is what I’ll pay.

Don’t get me started on fucking real estate agents either. Parasites. Real estate sells itself. Conveyancers / Solicitors do all the real work, and typically charge a set fee. Real estate agents typically charge a percentage and they literally don’t do anything.

The sales folk at a car dealership aren’t there to help you.

There is literally no situation bad enough that a car sales agent or real estate agent can’t make worse. Incapacitated pilot? Fucking useless. Need a dental cavity filled? Fucking useless. Got a problem with your Goggomobil? fucking useless.

Packing peanuts are more effective at their claimed benefits than car sales agents and real estate agents are at theirs.

Sometimes real estate agents do a lot. Anecdote of course, but my real estate agent spent a few hours basically every weekend with us for like 2-3 months as we toured 25 houses, went over ~10 inspection reports, and made 3-4 offers. And he and his team got roughly 20k. In a better housing market I think they do a lot less, but I know ours did a lot of work.

That seems unlikely as I literally left and did not buy a car with more options and stayed in contact afterwards but I have seen that technique before where they suddenly "find" one in inventory after they realize you aren't going to take the option that gives them more comission.

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