Your experience in buying cars - one root canal job

Greetings! How will you compare your experience of your car buying
with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse than that. My
experience in buying twenty cars over many years will be - worse
than going to dentist for root canal job. With thanks in advance.

On 31 Oct 2003 09:14:44 -0800, [email protected] (zxcvar)
wrote:

>Greetings! How will you compare your experience of your car buying
>with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse than that. My
>experience in buying twenty cars over many years will be - worse
>than going to dentist for root canal job. With thanks in advance.


I've found it to be VERY dependant on the sales person. Some places
have been a nightmare and others have been pleasant - the bottom line
winds up the same either way or I don't buy. If it looks like it's
going to be a nightmare I just leave. There are lots of other
dealers....

> How will you compare your experience of your car buying
> with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse
> than that. My experience in buying twenty cars over many
> years will be - worse than going to dentist for root
> canal job.

Well, I've not had a root canal yet, so I can't comment directly.......

But I bought my current vehicle at a local used truck dealership. It's
a 2001 Chevy Silverado 2500HD extended cab short box 4X4. It has the
Duramax diesel/Alison automatic and is loaded. Original sticker price
$42,900.... I ended up buying it used in Dec 2001 (it went on the GM books
in September) with 6000 miles on it for $31000. I can not complain one
bit... =)

Mike

zxcvar wrote:

> Greetings! How will you compare your experience of your car buying
> with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse than that. My
> experience in buying twenty cars over many years will be - worse
> than going to dentist for root canal job. With thanks in advance.

No experience with root canals, but I hate buying cars, especially used.
No, come to think of it, I also really hate buying new cars too. New
car dealers play sooo many games with your head. I dread the prospect
of buying cars.

This time around I had to buy a used car. I used CARFAX to verify the
car's history. Some cars advertised at dealers as being a one-owner car
proved false according to CARFAX. Some cars were leased vehicles then
sold and resold. Other cars were apparently lemons and repurchased by
the manufacturer. A bunch of cars were bought and sold at auctions a
number of times. Makes you wonder why.

Never buy a car from a stranger unless you first verified the car's
history with CARFAX. Why pay for someone elses troubles?

> No, come to think of it, I also really hate buying new cars
> too. New car dealers play sooo many games with your
> head. I dread the prospect of buying cars.

Reminds me of my fathers last lease of a new vehicle...

Went to the dealer and picked out the truck he wanted. The sales guy
rattled off the rebates (loyalty, employee discount, Chevy rebate, etc).
Went to the "sales manager" and came back with a price.
At that point, my father said "That's not what I want to pay. You've
given me all the standard discounts that I could get at any Chevy
dealership. What are you going to do to make me buy the vehicle here??"
The sales guy asked my father what he was looking for. My father gave
him his offer. After getting the approval of the sales manager it was a
done deal......

Mike

Guest wrote:
> zxcvar wrote:
>
>> Greetings! How will you compare your experience of your car buying
>> with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse than that. My
>> experience in buying twenty cars over many years will be - worse
>> than going to dentist for root canal job. With thanks in advance.
>
>
> No experience with root canals, but I hate buying cars, especially used.
> No, come to think of it, I also really hate buying new cars too. New
> car dealers play sooo many games with your head. I dread the prospect
> of buying cars.
>
> This time around I had to buy a used car. I used CARFAX to verify the
> car's history. Some cars advertised at dealers as being a one-owner car
> proved false according to CARFAX. Some cars were leased vehicles then
> sold and resold. Other cars were apparently lemons and repurchased by
> the manufacturer. A bunch of cars were bought and sold at auctions a
> number of times. Makes you wonder why.
>
> Never buy a car from a stranger unless you first verified the car's
> history with CARFAX. Why pay for someone elses troubles?
>

Correction with my post where I said "some cars were leased". I meant
they were RENTAL cars. Big difference.

Vehicle purchasing is not difficult. There is more information available on
new cars than any other consumer product and anyone who goes into a
dealership blind is just asking for it. It's simply a matter of researching
the product and being able to make a reasonable offer that is a decent deal
for the dealership. Most places will find it hard to let you go if they can
still make a few bucks. I've frustrated a lot of salesman by being hard
headed but I've only been refused a new car deal once and I simply went to a
competitor who gladly took it for the same vehicle.

There are now dealerships that have non-commissioned salesmen and no haggle
pricing policies. Salesmen get bonuses based on customer satisfaction and
sales volume. I researched a new 2000 Chevy Z71 and the sticker price at a
local dealership was $300.00 less than what I was going to offer. I drove
the truck away in less than an hour.

Financing is another way to make or break a deal. I wanted a new 1998 Toyota
Avalon and we weren't getting anywhere on the deal. Finally to make it work
the dealership gave me a lower finance rate which brought the payments into
line with my offer and still gave them the price that they were looking for.
I made all of the payments and in the end they won all around. Conversely,
they may give you a great deal on the price and then sock it to you with a
10% - 14% financing deal.

Know what you want and how much you are willing to pay. Know the pricing and
incentives available and be prepared to walk away if your offer is not met.
When researching your vehicle keep in kind that there won't be any deals on
special orders and that most cars on the lot will more than likely be loaded
with options. Check out the lot the day before and see what the standing
inventory is like. You can then research it and pinpoint the cost.

Don't try to spout off facts and figures that you have no understanding or
cannot discuss. Once a salesman spots a weakness they'll prey on it and
you'll have a difficult time convincing them that you know anything.

If root canals are a problem then I would suggest getting another dentist.
I've had six with three dentists and none of them hurt or were anything more
than mildly uncomfortable.

Bob Walker


"zxcvar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Greetings! How will you compare your experience of your car buying
> with [a] Going to dentist for a root canal job Worse than that. My
> experience in buying twenty cars over many years will be - worse
> than going to dentist for root canal job. With thanks in advance.