DH and I do a lot of research and know what we will pay and not a cent more. I don't give a rat's hiney about cars and they don't equate to status to me. So we tend to make car buying fast and simple. We find out if they have (or can get) what we want and if they will sell it for what we're willing to pay, we buy it. If they jack around with us, we walk. No back and forth. They hate that. Last time we bought a car, 3 dealerships got into a bidding war and they went BELOW the already quite low price we were offering AND the winner bumped us up a level on the car.
My favorite story was when we needed a car after mine was totalled. I knew what I wanted and because DH gets a good price via work (as a starting point) we knew we'd pay no MORE than that and actually had set our minds on a figure less than that. We went to one dealership and knew we could spend up to 30 minutes or so there, but we'd have to leave then if we were going to make it to a movie. (Back then, our town didn't have a theatre and it was a long drive, so we wanted to see a movie while we were in the area.)
We were met by a salesman and soon told him what we wanted and what we were willing to pay. He took us into his office and went over options, which we declined. We repeated the price and the car choice, deadpan style. He saw our little file of research and pretty much cringed.
Then he pulled the, "I've got to go to the back and run this by my manager. I don't know if he'll go for it, but I'll do my best for you folks."
I told him to hold on a minute. Then I told him we all knew that what he was REALLY going to do was go back there and have a Coke or a donut and just mess around while we sat there and waited. That he already KNEW exactly what he could and could not accept for that car. I told him to go ahead and take his little 5 minute break back there, but that when he came back, he'd better come back with a "yes" to our price or we'd leave because I had a movie to see. I told him he could have ONE TRIP to the back, but that was the limit. No more. Off he went. DH was
In a bit, he came back and said his manager couldn't accept our price, but he had a counteroffer. I picked up my purse and DH gathered his papers and we walked right out. He chased after us.
Begged us to come back. I told him I had a movie to go to and that was more important to me than wasting time with him. We kept walking and went to the movie.
That evening, I called another dealership and they agreed to the price over the phone. (We did buy it there at the price we agreed to.) The next morning, the first salesman who had chased after us called and said he had gone to bat for us with his manager and had gotten him to agree to our price. I told him that was too bad because we were buying it elsewhere with someone who didn't jerk us around. Then I told him he should have believed me when I said he had ONE TRIP to the back and that was it. I told him a few more things and hung up.
We still laugh about that guy chasing us through the parking lot with me telling him, "I
told you we would leave. You should have listened to me."
