Comment by drzaiusapelord | Hacker News Reader

Comment by drzaiusapelord | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

>People often forget that dealerships often abuse their power and take advantage of consumers.

Don't worry we're reminded everytime we interact with them. Nothing says captive monopoly like an auto dealership. I'm buying a new car soon and am dreading the experience. I'm leaning towards a used car that's still on warranty because of how bad the dealership experience is and the various ways they try to scam you (hidden costs, poor financing, insulting your credit score to hike interest, trade-in scams, MSRP games, overpriced dealer add-ons, etc).

I watched as a salesman did a "pull the keys" at a Jeep dealership. It was so obviously fake. Another salesman just walked up, took the keys from my salesman, and said, "We have others interested in this game" to pressure me. I saw that guy through the glass walls. He didn't have a customer. He just pocketed them and looked at once once in a while in anticipation.

Not to mention how they treat women like shit. The things my wife puts up at the dealership is inexcusable. They tried to get her to pay, out of pocket, a engine rebuild for a car on warranty. I pretty much had to yell at them to honor it and call my lawyer.

I'm pretty critical of Tesla, but I do think their no-haggle Saturn-like policy is excellent. If Tesla survives long enough to sell an affordable electric with great range, its a no-brainer buy for me.

>I'm buying a new car soon and am dreading the experience

I've bought multiple cars in my life. I don't understand this in the slightest. Every experience I've had has been only slightly more involved than purchasing anything else, as it should be for the cost.

The dealership world is hyper-competitive. Know the value of the car you want, and what you're willing to pay. Let them know that. If they can't do it, go elsewhere. Don't pay for anything you didn't ask for.

Like practically every other consumer experience, the buyer has all the power. You're the one signing the cheque. They want your business.

>poor financing

Most companies offer 0% financing. Where else can you get that?

A few more tips:

Like anything else, have alternative financing lined up before you start that conversation. This reduces the financing issue to one question: "Can you beat this rate?"

Secondly, I'd highly recommend going through internet/fleet sales at any dealership. Typically, these people are paid primarily in total-volume and less in sales-price-over-invoice, which gives them a great incentive to do the deal on your terms (as long as you don't abuse their time). The added bonus is these people also tend to be just fine negotiating the preliminaries over more convenient email. In contrast, every dollar you negotiate the lot salesman down is generally a dollar out of his pocket.

The problem is that the process is so opaque that it's hard to get rid of the nagging question of, "Am I being screwed somehow?"

You say you should know the value of the car and what you're willing to pay. How can you be sure that what you're willing to pay is reasonable? What if what you're willing to pay is a thousand dollars too high because you screwed something up? You can mitigate this with more research, but it's a lot of work compared to buying most things.

You're right that the buyer ultimately has the power (as long as the buyer doesn't need a car right now and has a reasonable choice of dealers in his area), but you have to wield it. This is not true in most areas. I don't need to do research and look up tips for getting the best deal out of my local Safeway. I just go buy stuff (after getting a loyalty card). My power works invisibly to ensure I get a reasonably good deal on almost everything. To the extent that there are tricks, it's simple stuff like "when there are two identical items from different brands, buy the cheaper one." When buying a car, you still have the power, but you have to go out of your way to wield it, or else you'll get screwed.

People want an experience where they just go in, pay, and walk out with a good deal. You can get a good deal from car dealers if you put in the work, but it's that very fact that you have to put in the work that people don't like.

There is no such thing as 0% financing. The cost of the interest is buried in the product somewhere.

Used car dealerships run scams, too. I've bought a lot of cars, though, and never from a dealer. Some folks act as if they're OBLIGATED to buy a new car every couple of years, and obligated to put up with these people.

dealerships are the reason I've only ever owned 3 cars in over 20 years of driving. My last car was a mitsubishi bought from a Chevy dealership, I think I got reamed on that one. My current car is a Toyota from a no-haggle dealership. Went there, they brought up Edmunds.com "true car value," we walked through it together, and they knocked $1000 off that price. I walked away happy. And that Toyota has been going on 6 years now. The only major service it's needed was to clean out a nest that some pack rats created in the engine bay (before chewing some spark plug wires and electrocuting themselves)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com