I get to talk to a lot of people who share their car buying stories with me. Sometimes by the time a person gets to me they are just tired of getting the run around. Someone recently asked me, "why does it take the salesperson so long to get pricing and communicate with his manager?" That seems to be the age old question. My immediate answer is that there is a lack of respect for a persons time. They also know that if you walk out of the dealership there is a very small chance that you will come back and buy the car. Especially if they know that they have decent "gross" in the deal! I do not know the exact percentages, but the numbers are not in their favor.
I also want to clarify that not all dealers are like this! There are many great dealers out there. But unfortunately this is the story that I hear more often!
A salesperson in a dealer may not know all the numbers behind the scene, so they have to go into their manger to work the deal to try to get to where the customer needs to be. This can take multiple tries depending on where they start in the quote. Here is what gets me. How does a dealership expect a mom or a dad to sit in a dealership for 5 hours with children waiting for a car? Just not realistic. But if it wears you down enough, your done! Sold! Because you cannot even imagine starting over again. So you buy the car/take the deal! Then its off to finance office. Here we go again....
Let start the negotiating all over again, because they are going to try and sell me stuff that I may or may not need and raise my payment.
I know a dealer that will "go off" on his sales people if people walk out the door with out buying a car! Buying a car is a huge decision for people. Especially if you are a first time buyer, maybe have some credit issues or just have a very specific budget. Everybody has expectations of what they want to see happen. That includes the dealer.
I tell people to follow your gut. If something does not feel right or your exhausted, then leave and go home. I believe in taking 24 hours to think it over unless you are totally for sure and everything fits together perfectly. Emotion can sometimes make bad financial decisions.
Here are a few pointers to help.
1) Allow yourself a certain amount of time that you know is acceptable to be in the dealership. If they do not respect your time, then why do you want to give them your business?
2) If you have small children, try to get a babysitter. Being a mom of 3 girls, I do not think I could have handled sitting in a dealership with all of them. I would have been so tired and emotionally cooked!
3) Stick to your budget. Do not let someone else set it for you. You may have to switch the car your looking at.
4) Gap insurance is usually less expensive through your insurance company if you feel you need to have it.
5) You do not need to buy extended warranty's on new cars. Don't double pay to warranty, you can buy one when it gets close to the manufacturer warranty expiring.
6) Do NOT shop by PAYMENT ! Shop by the price of the car. That is how you know your not leaving money on the table!!!
7) If you have credit challenges and the finance manager is quoting a very high rate, see if you can find a local company to get your credit cleaned up and then you can go back and save yourself a ton of money in interest!!
The last thing that I want to say is that :
If you are being treated poorly by a dealer or not happy with the service, DO NOT validate their behavior by giving them your money. Its your money and you as a consumer have choices! Find some one you like!!!