The Joy of Mountain Biking

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Our dealing with Toyota of Morristown was all done through email and the negotiation went smoothly, but they are still shady. They did give us the best price on our Highlander by far, but then the finance guy tried to get another $2500 out of us at signing. Told the guy f that and started to leave. Magically, the $2500 was taken off.

A neighbor of mine ended up getting the exact same Highlander from that dealer, except it was a demo with 3k miles. They leased it for $100 more a month than us, PLUS put down some $. I didn't have the heart to tell them what we're paying. The pricing with most dealers is all over the place. I've never gotten a 'no haggle" price that I couldn't beat somewhere else.

I did check out reviews for you know where, and they were mostly really good so I'm not really sure why I was treated the way I was. Probably just the luck of the draw when it comes to sales people.

When I finally got to Fred Beans and was dealing with Brian, I had all the numbers and knew what I wanted to pay, what was on Edmunds and all that. I think I made it sound like I just jumped at what he presented to us, but it was right on target.

I do wonder if a lot of people just don't do their homework with the pricing and wind up paying way more than they should. I also wonder if there's different sales approaches that work with men but not women and vice versa. Luckily, this time around I could walk away at any time because I didn't NEED to buy a car. Last time around I was in a car accident and my car was totaled.
 

Carson

Sport Bacon
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Our dealing with Toyota of Morristown was all done through email and the negotiation went smoothly, but they are still shady. They did give us the best price on our Highlander by far, but then the finance guy tried to get another $2500 out of us at signing. Told the guy f that and started to leave. Magically, the $2500 was taken off.

A neighbor of mine ended up getting the exact same Highlander from that dealer, except it was a demo with 3k miles. They leased it for $100 more a month than us, PLUS put down some $. I didn't have the heart to tell them what we're paying. The pricing with most dealers is all over the place. I've never gotten a 'no haggle" price that I couldn't beat somewhere else.

Yeah but when Joy says, "This is what I'm f-ing paying and don't you f*cks try f-ing with me or I'll F you in the A on DealerRater.com", they tend to listen.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I have been saying that part of the reason why shopping for cars sucks is not so much the dealers & salespeople, but the idiot purchasers who built this system.

I'm 100% sure the reason why you can walk into a dealer and they try to sell you a 96 month payment and undercarriage protection bullshit is there's a good percentage of people that do it and that's where the profit is.

There's a lot of people that walk in, get flustered, think they're getting a deal when all the #s are flying around and the dealership will do what they can to not let you leave.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Luckily, this time around I could walk away at any time because I didn't NEED to buy a car. Last time around I was in a car accident and my car was totaled.
^this, it doesn't workout this way all the time, but not having to buy a car when you really need to takes the emotion out of the wheeling and dealing. Many don't do their homework, which is silly in this day and age of data accessibility. I've paid cash for almost every car I've purchased unless there's a ridiculous financing deal. The trade-in part is where I lack experience, I've donated just about all my cars, since I pretty much drive them to the ground. How do you determine a fair trade-in value?
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
How do you determine a fair trade-in value?

i entered the car info into kelly blue book so i knew at best what i would get thru trade in and private party seller. i went to the dealership and saw what they offered knowing it would be low balled... then kind of put the two together and knew what i was comfy with (which was somewhere in the middle of their offer and KBB). i think i could have gotten a little more if Ford hadn't fucked up my wheels. that was the biggest ding in what i could get (and the most obvious to anyone looking at the car)
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
i entered the car info into kelly blue book so i knew at best what i would get thru trade in and private party seller. i went to the dealership and saw what they offered knowing it would be low balled... then kind of put the two together and knew what i was comfy with (which was somewhere in the middle of their offer and KBB). i think i could have gotten a little more if Ford hadn't fucked up my wheels. that was the biggest ding in what i could get (and the most obvious to anyone looking at the car)
so you don't go to the used car guy first to get a price before doing the deal for the new car?
That's what I've heard you should do first, but logistically seems like a Pita to first negotiate the sale of the old without knowing whether you'll get the price on the new
 

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
When I finally got to Fred Beans ...

You had a better experience at Fred Beans?!?! Here in PA, I don't think statement that would ever cross someone's lips. I used to have a Nissan Xterra I bought at Thompson Nissan in Doylestown. About three years into my purchase, they sold the Nissan dealership to Fred Beans (who already had several other dealerships down the road) and the service basically went down the tubes, which was kind of striking because the service at Thompson wasn't great either. At Thompson, we shared a service department with their BMW dealership and they really made Nissan owners feel like the red-headed step children. They used to put out donuts in the waiting area that specifically said, "For our Thompson BMW friends and family". (I was there for a service once and took a donut anyway because that's how I roll.) So the fact that I noticed the service at Fred Beans was much worse really says something, and I know a few other people who had the same opinion.

I do think you have to give car salespeople a break, though. All the stuff you went through is right out of their psychology of selling manual. They need to sell cars or they make nothing. And they're usually not sophisticated enough to understand that the studies that tell them things like "for every half hour you are on the lot, your probability of buying increase by X%" are national studies with huge variability around things like geography, income, age, and almost any other demographic slicing. They're treating everyone the same way for the most part. If buying a car were painting and you were the canvas, you want them to paint you as the most detailed Mona Lisa but they're treating you like you're an old barn and pulling out the roller and that can be infuriating. But if you kind of look at it from their perspective, they're still annoying but at least you understand why and it can actually start to be kind of amusing to deal with them.
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@qclabrat this was my first time trading in a car... previous cars were: totaled by my sister, given to my dad who ran it into the ground, totaled by a ford explorer on rt 22 and then trading in the mustang. i did the best i could. i think i got a decent price... and the last thing i wanted was to add another car salesman into the mix. every time i've bought a car i learned something new.... so maybe next time try the used car dealer route if i have to.

@1speed i do think it's weird how the experiences can be so varied at different dealerships. i think i was extremely annoyed that the folks at the place that shall not be named but is just down the street from me in morristown just weren't listening to me. i told them EXACTLY what i wanted and they proceeded to try to sell me on different things. it's like ordering a pizza and having a sub sandwich delivered because that's what they think you want. Brian at Fred Beans actually listened to me and realized I had already done all the work for him so he had an easy sale. as far as getting the car serviced, i almost never take it to a dealership to get work done unless it's a recall or warrantied.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
so you don't go to the used car guy first to get a price before doing the deal for the new car?
That's what I've heard you should do first, but logistically seems like a Pita to first negotiate the sale of the old without knowing whether you'll get the price on the new

1) I don't think the cost difference was worth the hassle. Plus the inspection was due two days after trading it in. Plus, the car was kind of a POS that I was nervous about even getting to the dealer to trade in. Never again Ford. Never again.
2) There is actually a few bucks to be saved trading in vs selling. You don't pay the sales tax on the difference (which adds up) and don't need to pay for new license plates.

As for not NEEDING to buy a car right away. 100%. Out of being completely broke in the past, I've learned to always be ready for the next car purchase. Cash and readily knowing what to go get. I'm always constantly keeping an eye out for what my next car would be if mine blew up tomorrow.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
1) I don't think the cost difference was worth the hassle. Plus the inspection was due two days after trading it in. Plus, the car was kind of a POS that I was nervous about even getting to the dealer to trade in. Never again Ford. Never again.
2) There is actually a few bucks to be saved trading in vs selling. You don't pay the sales tax on the difference (which adds up) and don't need to pay for new license plates.

As for not NEEDING to buy a car right away. 100%. Out of being completely broke in the past, I've learned to always be ready for the next car purchase. Cash and readily knowing what to go get. I'm always constantly keeping an eye out for what my next car would be if mine blew up tomorrow.
Hmm, so what would you get if the Mazda or Subaru imploded? Think you have one of these.
 

Dingo

Well-Known Member
So glad I am not involved with the sales side of a new car dealership.

I get the service department crap. UGH!
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Hmm, so what would you get if the Mazda or Subaru imploded? Think you have one of these.

I currently have a 2015 Honda Fit. If I woke up tomorrow and a tree destroyed it, I'd go buy another one. After car shopping for @MissJR I realized it's still the only car that meets my needs.

Kind of like how the only two cars that made sense for Joy were the Rav4 & CRV. Well, and the Honda Odyssey but she won't admit that.
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@fidodie mounts aren't in yet. This was just to get an idea of where to put everything


IMG_20180608_174442334.jpg
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Toyotas have 1000x better auto trans than Hondas, good choice unless it's manual?
Kuats make great gifts, got a hitch yet?
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Toyotas have 1000x better auto trans than Hondas, good choice unless it's manual?
Kuats make great gifts, got a hitch yet?
Auto trans. Everyone makes fun of me because I can't drive manual. :/
And yes... Hitch and (saris) bike rack already on there. That was done like the next day! ;)
 

pxs231

Active Member
Next time give truecar a try. You will get an idea of what the going rate for the car you are looking for is and if you chose to lock in the dealer offers (at which point your phone will literally explode) you walk in with 80% of the BS already over. Both my wife and I bought cars this past year using it and I must say it went much more like your flemington experience. Also, if you have the flexibilty wait till September time when the models change over and they have to move the last years cars off the lot.
 
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