Most People Now Prefer Shopping Online For Cars Than Shopping In-Person (autoblog.com) 130
According to a survey of 501 people conducted by insurance company Progressive, most people prefer the process of buying a car online than at dealerships. Autoblog reports: Based on the 251 people who completed a transaction entirely online or through a dealer web site, and the 250 who did solely face-to-face business, there are two big takeaways. The first is that online shopping, still a small percentage of overall car sales, is growing rapidly in acceptance and actual transactions. [...] The second takeaway is that millennials are a major part of the online sales growth.
Overall, though, online shoppers expressed more joy with the process than showroom floor shoppers. Compared to 78% of buyers highly satisfied with buying a car online, only 58% of in-person shoppers registered the same pleasure. That carried through to trade-ins and financing as well. Eighty percent of online shoppers were highly satisfied with the trade-in process, versus 57% of dealership visitors; 70% of online shoppers gave the highest marks to the financing process as opposed to 53% of guests asked to "Step into the office" and wait while the salesperson conferred with the finance manager.
Overall, though, online shoppers expressed more joy with the process than showroom floor shoppers. Compared to 78% of buyers highly satisfied with buying a car online, only 58% of in-person shoppers registered the same pleasure. That carried through to trade-ins and financing as well. Eighty percent of online shoppers were highly satisfied with the trade-in process, versus 57% of dealership visitors; 70% of online shoppers gave the highest marks to the financing process as opposed to 53% of guests asked to "Step into the office" and wait while the salesperson conferred with the finance manager.
Wow, this is surprising (Score:2)
I expected that everyone loved wasting hours while overweight white dudes in shitty suits "conferred" about what type of pricing we could get, while sitting in an upholstered desk chair at an industrial desk.
Very unexpected that dealerships are a garbage industry that only exists because of lobbying.
new vs used? (Score:5, Insightful)
I could buy a brand new car on-line but for a used car, I sure would have problems doing so before at least an in person visual inspection. Pictures may look much better than the real thing.
I am kind of surprised that TFS doesn't seem to make the distinction.
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I could buy a brand new car on-line but for a used car, I sure would have problems doing so before at least an in person visual inspection.
What's needed is laws requiring no-quibble returns if you get home and find they've ripped you off.
"Caveat emptor" is easy to say but cars are complex beasts and the list of dealer tricks is endless.
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Anecdotical evidence: I bought a car online back in 1999. I drove that car for more than 100,000 miles. So my experiences with buying cars online (exactly one event) are 100% positive.
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The used car dealers in the USA that I have dealt with also let you do "buyer's check" with your own mechanic, but that is normally "pre-sale" meaning you haven't committed to the purchase yet. These are not 'on-line', but I would think that 'on-line' sales (at least with a semi reputable dealer) would be similar. The trick is to only deal with reputable dealers, and read what you are committing to.
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I could buy a brand new car on-line but for a used car, I sure would have problems doing so before at least an in person visual inspection. Pictures may look much better than the real thing.
I am kind of surprised that TFS doesn't seem to make the distinction.
The thing is, if I were to buy a sports car there is no way I'd do so without test driving. However most people treat their car as if it were another white good, so I'm not suppressed that the person who buys an econobox or overweight econobox (SUV) has zero interest in the car they're driving, ergo zero interest in how they buy it. They get a mass produced car in Recession White (occasionally "lets pretend I'm not boring black") and don't care what it is as long as the monthly payments are not sending the
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I could buy a brand new car on-line but for a used car, I sure would have problems doing so before at least an in person visual inspection. Pictures may look much better than the real thing.
I am kind of surprised that TFS doesn't seem to make the distinction.
People buying used cars on-line are not relying on their own (possibly questionable) skills at evaluating vehicles. The vehicles have been evaluated by a company that does that as their business, provides an assessment of issues, a history of accidents or major repairs (if any), what it regards as a fair price - a service that comes some sort of guarantee of accuracy - and there is invariably a one-year warranty or similar involved with the sale.
Also, almost everyone goes to look at the actual car before co
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Pictures may look much better than the real thing.
Also the smell. Some used cars can be quite funky, and I've smelled more than a few vehicles while used car shopping that reeked of cigarette smoke and/or some Fabreeze-type product intended to cover up a worse malodor (and usually not with complete success).
I'm guessing, with all the references to Teslas in this discussion, that most of ya'll probably aren't looking at vehicles in a price range where this could be a potential problem.
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The actually relevant part is missing as usual (Score:5, Informative)
There were three key takeaways, not two. And none of the "key takeaways" in the OP are the same as key takeaways in the survey.
Here are the actual key takeaways in the survey article linked in the OP:
Online car buyers reported higher satisfaction overall than in-person buyers.
Cost and time savings were leading reasons for buying a car online, while in-person buyers valued the ability to test drive a car.
Most online buyers (62%) had previously purchased a car online, and only 3% said they were unlikely to purchase a vehicle online again.
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while in-person buyers valued the ability to test drive a car.
Simple fix: Require all car dealers to give you a seven day, no-quibble return period for any used vehicle. That way they can't rip you off so easily.
(with limits on mileage, damage, etc., obviously)
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I'm not sure how it goes in the US, but around here, car loses approximately 20% of it's value when it's driven off the dealer lot by the new owner. I.e. your suggestion would not work without massive raise in prices to compensate.
Re:The actually relevant part is missing as usual (Score:5, Informative)
I think you are confusing used cars and new cars. You are correct vis-à-vis new cars... a car with 10 km on the odometer is much more valuable than a car with 100 km on the odometer.
But a used car is different. If a car is taken from a dealer with 10000 km and returned with 10100 km it doesn't lose 20% of its value and the dealer can still market it for the same price to some other sucker.
For used cars the grandparent's suggestion is excellent as long as there is some 'fee' attached to the return to prevent people from abusing it. Examples: arrive in a city go to a dealer and 'buy' a car and return it after a week's stay. Or alternatively, I go and 'buy' a used Ferrari and then do a 'no quibble' return after a week of fun.
This type of law probably has other unintended consequences which will ultimately make used cars more expensive if the laws are abused.
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I'm not sure how it goes in the US, but around here, car loses approximately 20% of it's value when it's driven off the dealer lot by the new owner.
A new car, sure. Not a used car.
New cars have warranties and lemon laws. Used cars are where the dealer can really rip you off.
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A new car, sure. Not a used car.
New cars have warranties and lemon laws. Used cars are where the dealer can really rip you off.
Used cars in on-line purchases come with warranties against undisclosed and undiscovered defects for the period of year. Third party car inspectors from businesses that have reputations to protect provide the assessments and stand behind them. The protections the buyer has no doubt vary with state law, with some states supporting predatory merchants. I have had no problem with buying used vehicles on-line in California.
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I'm not sure how it goes in the US, but around here, car loses approximately 20% of it's value when it's driven off the dealer lot by the new owner.
Don't know where "around here" is. But in the US this is an old canard that simply isn't true.
To the extent that it was ever true, it only applied to vehicles in abundant supply, and probably only to vehicles of American manufacture from 40 years or more ago when the quality of even new cars was suspect. Competition from Japanese quality-focused manufacturers who provided standard packages of options ended that '20% depreciation as soon as it leaves the lot stuff' (assuming it was ever really true).
As a qu [carsdirect.com]
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That's for new cars. For a used car the price is usually already rock bottom, the local dealer is just adding onto that. If the car is 5 years old, and someone else sits in it for a week, the price isn't going to change. If it does cause some hasles to the dealers though, then they need to be better prepared to stand by their offerings and make sure they're not selling something that is instantly regretted.
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while in-person buyers valued the ability to test drive a car.
Simple fix: Require all car dealers to give you a seven day, no-quibble return period for any used vehicle. That way they can't rip you off so easily.
(with limits on mileage, damage, etc., obviously)
I would so much rather do the US version where you look at the used car, take it for a test drive, and allow your mechanic to inspect it, then go through all the purchasing paperwork + a 3 day "buyer's remorse" period to possibly having to repeat that several times on a sight unseen used car purchase until you find one that suits your wishes.
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There were three key takeaways, not two. And none of the "key takeaways" in the OP are the same as key takeaways in the survey.
Here are the actual key takeaways in the survey article linked in the OP:
Online car buyers reported higher satisfaction overall than in-person buyers.
Cost and time savings were leading reasons for buying a car online, while in-person buyers valued the ability to test drive a car.
Most online buyers (62%) had previously purchased a car online, and only 3% said they were unlikely to purchase a vehicle online again.
I bought a car online, and found the process so much better than the stereotyped but factual standard process of high pressure ripoff artist dopey "let me check with the manager" style SOP type car purchase process. I'm a bit shocked that 58 percent were "highly satisfied" with in person purchases.
Now it is possible that some dealers have adapted. My most recent purchase was a new car for my wife, she had her vehicle in for work and fell in love with a new one. That purchase process was pretty painless
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I recently bought a new car. I found it online at a dealer a short drive away. I emailed we went back and forth on pictures and pricing. We agreed on everything, I drove there, took it for a test drive, let them confirm my trade, signed the paperwork, and drove it home.
I can't imagine going to the dealer before I've worked out the cost.
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I mean you can go to the dealer knowing the invoice price and then work with them from there.
My wife and I used to do this thing where she didn't say much while I asked all the questions about the vehicle. We would then sit down with the sales person and my wife did *all* the negotiating while I stopped talking.
It was great fun because the sales droid would not quite know what to think. One guy even kept trying to talk to me individually and my wife yelled at him, "Look at me, does my husband look like hi
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I mean you can go to the dealer knowing the invoice price and then work with them from there.
My wife and I used to do this thing where she didn't say much while I asked all the questions about the vehicle. We would then sit down with the sales person and my wife did *all* the negotiating while I stopped talking.
It was great fun because the sales droid would not quite know what to think. One guy even kept trying to talk to me individually and my wife yelled at him, "Look at me, does my husband look like his negotiating this purchase with you?" She purposefully was loud to get attention from others.
The one thing you still have to do is sit with the fuckwit from the business office and decline all their last minute offers of paint protection, bad warranties, and other high priced add ons.
Many salesmen have trouble with women offering a direct approach. Many are used to talking women into things they might not need, or even intimidating them. My wife also takes over once we start talking piasters. I'm good with money, but she's that much better.
Re:The actually relevant part is missing as usual (Score:5, Informative)
That's the real reason why.
Dealerships suck. It's basically a huge scam - I mean, despite places have laws about it, dealerships rarely sell a price as advertised. You see an ad for a car for a price? Try buying it for that price and you'll find it almost impossible to walk out with a car for that price. There's almost always tons of fees, addons, packages, and other things you are forced to buy.
Oh sure, it's great if you want to haggle and such, but for most people, buying a car should be like buying anything else - you see it price, you walk in, pay that money, walk out with a car. Not turn it into an all-day affair of haggling and negotiating to save a couple thousand bucks (which the dealership would recoup in other ways).
Why shouldn't buying a car be like buying anything else on Amazon? You look up the model you want, maybe with some options, and then up pops a list of sellers and their price for it. You pick one, it gets delivered, you check it out and decide.
Basically, the pandemic also created a new way to do things - and "no touch" test drives became a thing where you get a car dropped off in your driveway, it gets wiped clean, you go test drive it, and then 48 hours later it gets picked up and you decide.
The problem is a people problem - people hate dealerships because they're full of car dealers who are pushy people trying to make you spend as much money as possible by wasting your time and putting pressure on you. In other words, customers want sales people to help and get out of the way, and when it comes to buying it, they want to pay the price on the tag and be out of there a few minutes later, not a few hours later.
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Well, I checked online once in the past, and the prices were a steep increase over going in person. Plus there's soooo much paperwork involved, dozens of signatures, I can't see how this is done online. I think people hate the hard pressure sales, I do, but the rest of it isn't so bad.
But I avoid online commerce when I can. It's dangerous, insecure, and you don't have a paper trail to protect yourself legally. However I have seen early set ups for this where you shop and buy online but then complete the s
Tesla (Score:3)
Tesla did it right from the beginning - online shopping and showrooms for the test drive and technical questions.
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The difference with Tesla is that you can only buy direct from the manufacturer, and they never offer any discounts.
When you buy other cars online, dealers submit offers for you to review. Because there is competition you get a better price.
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There used to be a way to get discounted Teslas. You could get a list of cars already built or in the process that were sometimes at a much lower price. I believe these were cars destined for showrooms and cancelled orders. When we ordered our Model 3 there wasn't anything comparable to what we were looking for but I saw some great prices on cars with all/most of the options.
Plenty of people never go to more than one dealership. The reasons vary but it happens. One example, there is one local Toyota de
Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Agreed. Perhaps people are test driving in-person, but then ordering online? That's the only way this makes sense to me.
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Agreed. Perhaps people are test driving in-person, but then ordering online? That's the only way this makes sense to me.
It works out doing it the reverse way as well. Granted, I bought a new vehicle on the lot. If I were to special order options it would be different.
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Agreed. Perhaps people are test driving in-person, but then ordering online? That's the only way this makes sense to me.
Generally people do go for a test drive before completing the purchase, but the research and the dealer selection, and the actual offer-price was decided on-line. Getting in the car (even if you do not actually drive it) is important to get a feeling for its suitability for the buyer's preference.
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I have bought my previous 3 cars without test driving.
I tend to buy "used but not too old" cars in the 3-5 year old range and use them 5-7 years.
Experiences:
first: No problems whatsoever, ran reliably for the bit less than 6 years we had it, but then at 10 year old and all the major service items were getting close decided to change to newer.
second: Wife's car: Had an issue where the latest service was missing despite being claimed to have been done. But as I live in a country with actual consumer protectio
Re:Really? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's unlikely it'll feel like torture to sit in the seat.
I can tell you're not tall.
(or short)
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or even human.
Its a robot. (Its the Internet, stupid!)
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Not a purchase, but I rented a Mini-Cooper once (not on purpose, it was all that was available). I'm only 5'10", but still, driving it was very uncomfortable. If I had bought one without a test drive, I would have had to return it.
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FTFY
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I would at least want to sit in one before buying it. I found that some cars are quite awkward for me. Tends to be the very low down ones, I prefer taller cars where you more or less step in sideways.
I'm not particularly tall but I found that the Tesla Model 3 was too small. Just couldn't get in without my knees hitting the wheel, even with the seat all the way back and down and the wheel all the way back and up.
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I would at least want to sit in one before buying it. I found that some cars are quite awkward for me. Tends to be the very low down ones, I prefer taller cars where you more or less step in sideways.
I'm not particularly tall but I found that the Tesla Model 3 was too small. Just couldn't get in without my knees hitting the wheel, even with the seat all the way back and down and the wheel all the way back and up.
Have you found at all that in modern cars you tend to hit your head getting in? I've found that the safety feature of wrapping the vehicle around the passengers causes me to have to bend almost double when getting in. And I'm just 6 foot tall.
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It's older cars I have trouble with, they tended to be quite low. Newer ones are taller, often the "crossover" shape as they call it.
Tesla Model 3 is exceptionally low, the driving position is also recumbent.
Re: Really? (Score:2)
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I required two things: cruise control, and air conditioning.
Presumably you also require the car to not be a barely functional piece of shit.
I rented a car last year. It had cruise control and air conditioning. The pedals were so needlessly close together that I had to drive with my shoes off to avoid clipping the wrong pedal. I've never had this even wearing big boots in a car before, never mind a normal pair of trainers. Also it had an electric handbrake that didn't reliably disengage.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Insightful)
I required two things: cruise control, and air conditioning.
Presumably you also require the car to not be a barely functional piece of shit.
I rented a car last year. It had cruise control and air conditioning. The pedals were so needlessly close together that I had to drive with my shoes off to avoid clipping the wrong pedal. I've never had this even wearing big boots in a car before, never mind a normal pair of trainers. Also it had an electric handbrake that didn't reliably disengage.
This touches on something I've done. The rental as a test drive. I've been interested in certain cars in the past, but wanted an extended drive period to be sure it was going to be comfortable. So I rented one for a week.
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Re: Really? (Score:2)
I think test drives are misleading or useless...
Every car I've ever rented, borrowed or bought has come to feel completely natural to me after a couple of days. Jeep, 1988 bmw convertible, 1970s 2cv, 2016 Honda Odyssey, Tacoma, mini, minivan, fiat, ... (even though they handle and feel way different at first)
All a test drive would ever do is tell me whether the new car is similar to what I'm most recently used to, not whether it will feel good long term.
Caveat: I'm sure that someone who races their vehicle
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I think test drives are misleading or useless...
Every car I've ever rented, borrowed or bought has come to feel completely natural to me after a couple of days. Jeep, 1988 bmw convertible, 1970s 2cv, 2016 Honda Odyssey, Tacoma, mini, minivan, fiat, ... (even though they handle and feel way different at first)
All a test drive would ever do is tell me whether the new car is similar to what I'm most recently used to, not whether it will feel good long term.
Caveat: I'm sure that someone who races their vehicle would be different. I'm talking only about regular road and city driving.
I suppose, if feeling comfy behind the wheel was your only metric. There's also acceleration, braking, cornering and quirks. For example, I'd heard all kinds of crap about CVT transmissions, so really wanted to try one first before committing. Turns out that CVT sucks if you expect it to act like old school automatics. Drive it like it's meant to be driven, and it's fine. I'd feel weird going back to old school now
But some people don't want to alter their driving style, so it's not for them, and you can't
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researching cars to buy, absolutely. But I would never buy a car online prior to actually going and seeing it/test driving it.
I bought my Renegade exactly that way. Found the car/color/features/price I wanted online. Told the dealership I was going to be down to drive it and buy it if I liked it, did that, and drove it home. stress free, including for the sales people
Dealerships are horrible (Score:3)
The last time I went to a dealership, I was looking at a truck I didn't want anything fancy just Bluetooth and electronic locks. The the dealership was highly recommended by a few people what I found out though was it's really the sales rep that matters. The rep got horrible look on his face when I started to calculate out the price of the truck, and the price was not good at all. The coworker at a dealership said that they just made at least five or $7,000 on that truck, and it should be able to come down on it. So I asked for electronic locks and the rep said what we can go half in on that which was a $400 cost. Turned around and walked out.
Also heard horror stories of people going in and their reps won't let them leave.
This is probably the reason why people don't want to buy cars from a dealership.
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Re:Dealerships are horrible (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Dealerships are horrible (Score:2)
Also heard horror stories of people going in and their reps won't let them leave.
Car salesmen have their own special level of hell. The devil went down to Georgia to borrow a shovel so he could dig it special.
First the high pressure sales pitches.
Then the lies.
Then the "negotiation". They already know what they're going to sell it for. They're just hoping you buy into the lies and don't talk them down too far from the sticker price.
The the after sales ming moles trying to sell useless, warranty destroying paint "protection".
Then more lies and more paint protection scams.
Then the inevita
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The last time I went to a dealership, I was looking at a truck I didn't want anything fancy just Bluetooth and electronic locks. The the dealership was highly recommended by a few people what I found out though was it's really the sales rep that matters. The rep got horrible look on his face when I started to calculate out the price of the truck, and the price was not good at all. The coworker at a dealership said that they just made at least five or $7,000 on that truck, and it should be able to come down on it. So I asked for electronic locks and the rep said what we can go half in on that which was a $400 cost. Turned around and walked out.
Also heard horror stories of people going in and their reps won't let them leave.
This is probably the reason why people don't want to buy cars from a dealership.
I'd be surprised if that's all the profit they make on trucks. Most people wanting trucks brag about how much they cost, and the dealer is most happy to oblige.
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Glad I'm not the only one
Just bought a Tesla and Honda... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Do you not have car buying comparison websites in the US?
In the UK you can go to a site like CarWow, specify exactly what you want and wait for dealers to bid on it. The price they quote is the price you pay to have it delivered and ready to go. Cuts out all the negotiation and upselling.
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Not exactly the same system, but there are websites, and some work really well. That's the whole point of the article. Online shopping for cars is blooming in the US, especially since in-person shopping for a car is the most dreadful experience there. And it's common knowledge. And yet car sellers don't seem inclined to change their practices even though they're slowly digging their grave. I had the same horrible experience in any dealership I went to.
Re: Just bought a Tesla and Honda... (Score:3)
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Do you not have car buying comparison websites in the US?
In the UK you can go to a site like CarWow, specify exactly what you want and wait for dealers to bid on it. The price they quote is the price you pay to have it delivered and ready to go. Cuts out all the negotiation and upselling.
Wha? Hell we just got indoor outhouses and plumbing last week. The missus is be makin' the neighbors in yonder hollow jealous with our new contraptions.
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yeah it's insane how easy Tesla has made the entire carbuying experience. Bought and configured the car through the website. Arranging the financing was integrated and painless.
I spent literally 10 minutes at the dealership, total. On the scheduled day at the scheduled time for delivery, I showed up. The Tesla App walked me to where my car was. It unlocked when I approached. There was a card on the dashboard with my name and the keys. There was a folder with exactly two pieces of paper I had to sign:
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They consumed our entire day, it was exhausting and infuriating. Tesla wasted NONE of my time with that kind of BS.
Yeah, and how much is your time worth? People claim that Teslas are so expensive, but adding my burn rate to the typical time wasting fun at the car dealerships amounts to something. Now the last Jeep we bought was through a dealership was because the wife fell in love with a new one while she was there for some recall work on her old one, and it was better, but still not as easy as it could be.
Re:Just bought a Tesla and Honda... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yeah, and how much is your time worth?
Judging by what "gig economy" work pays - not much, actually. There's a reason why it's called "free time".
Mine is worth quite a lot.
The problem with no haggle dealings is that it really can mean no savings.
I'm pretty straightforward. Assuming I'm at a dealership, I explain I'm not going to haggle, but I'm not going to buy if it isn't at a good price. Simpleazdat. Takes about 30 seconds on my part. And I've walked before. My wife and I walked over a 25 cent difference in monthly payment back when we financed cars. And she tells them that. And when I stand up and say goodbye, there is no return. As well, I'm don't brag about how "little" I pay, I'm just cutting out the bullshit.
The dealer has a price they won't go below, and at that price they are still making money. As well, there are several scams they run. We always joke about the "I'll have to talk to my manager" hilarity, but there are others. After the 25 cent walk, I checked out some of the scams. Another is the cute girl, student selling her first car. If you try to bargain too far and threaten to not buy the vehicle, she'll being on the tears, maybe she'll lose her job, maybe have to drop out of school, might even pull the single mom thing, maybe the sales manager will come out. I had a cutie try that one on me.
I have a friend who claims to be a real boss at negotiating and bending the dealership to his will. And I had to hear his story several times while telling to different people. I didn't want to burst his bubble, but everything he was bragging about was actually one of their scams. Took him a couple days to get something similar to what I manage in my no haggle approach.
Now - if you are a haggler nonpareil, who regularly gets the dealer to sell to you at their loss, by all means. exercise your talent. But it's all a game, and just like gambling, the house always wins. Perhaps not in your case - I've met dozens of people who brag about their ability to make the dealer lose money.
Now for online, it was fairly easy to compare prices. I had several lookups, followed by email offers. Took about 15 minutes to find what I wanted. And other than my wife falling in love with a car at a dealership so we bought it, I'll take online any day at this point.
Not a normal market. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure once inventories start to get back to a historic normal, blind purchases will not maintain any newfound appeal they may seem to have.
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I'm pretty sure once inventories start to get back to a historic normal, blind purchases will not maintain any newfound appeal they may seem to have.
I agree that blind purchases do sound brave
However, going forwards it might be that people do their 'shopping around' and negotiations online, and then do an in-person test drive etc.
The balance of power swings quite powerfully towards the consumer (IMHO)
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I'm pretty sure once inventories start to get back to a historic normal, blind purchases will not maintain any newfound appeal they may seem to have.
I agree that blind purchases do sound brave
However, going forwards it might be that people do their 'shopping around' and negotiations online, and then do an in-person test drive etc.
The balance of power swings quite powerfully towards the consumer (IMHO)
I was reading an article about this phenomenon, and it claimed - and it makes sense - that online buying has been driven in large part by women. The reasons being, most women really hate the dealership experience, which is 100% understandable. High pressure/haggling/even intimidation and emotional manipulation. One dealership tried the emotional manipulation on my SO - to their sorrow. But she's an exception. So the femisphere issues a writ of "Screw that crap, I'm buying online.
Then after we all started
Balance? (Score:2)
I said, "I'll take a the next i3 you can deliver. I don't care which features or color. If I'm not signing the documents in 10 minutes, I'm leaving"
It took 12 minutes, I got a good price, fully loaded, and picked it up in a week.
When I picked up the car, there was a bottle of champaign in it which kinda pissed me off. I'd have preferred not paying for a bottle of bubbly someone else chose.
My next car will be bought online if I don't swi
Re: Balance? (Score:2)
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Well, you definitely don't live in the midwest, lol.
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Then why use a car at all, if you dislike them so much? Why not take the bike everywhere? Maybe rent one the few times per year you may really need one. It will save you thousands of dollars/euros/binglemebobs.
It's Piasters, you insensitive clod!
Carmax (Score:2)
We bought our most recent car from Carmax. Picked out a couple online that were in the price range we wanted, prescheduled the a test drive and went to their lot for that.
I'm never buying from a dealership again.
There's still some waiting around involved, and you still have to be prepared to say "no" to some of their optional add-ons; but it was way, WAY better than any of my previous car-buying experiences.
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I'd go to Carmax as well if I had to buy a car again. Their experience was so much better than any other dealership, both to buy and sell a vehicle. They're not perfect but they're not clowns like other dealers. Their prices are seriously studied in both buy and sell situations. There isn't much to argue or negotiate about.
It's the salespeople. (Score:3)
I cringe whenever I feel like I have to take my older car to the dealer for work because I know I'll be receiving phone calls from their salespeople pestering me to trade it in.
Re: It's the salespeople. (Score:2)
Old car? I get that for my ostensibly new car. Every damned service I get reminded that my car is getting old and needs to be replaced.
It's fucking 3 years old and this has been going on since the second service.
Mind you, it's not actually the stealership, it's the manufacturer hounding me. Marketing idiots, just like Internet marketing they'll spend a boatload convincing you that you need something you already brought and they never advertise anything relevant otherwise.
Re: It's the salespeople. (Score:3)
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Old car? I get that for my ostensibly new car. Every damned service I get reminded that my car is getting old and needs to be replaced.
It's fucking 3 years old and this has been going on since the second service.
Mind you, it's not actually the stealership, it's the manufacturer hounding me. Marketing idiots, just like Internet marketing they'll spend a boatload convincing you that you need something you already brought and they never advertise anything relevant otherwise.
Wife got one for her 2 week old new car. To be sure, it was kind of an accident, but dealers are desperate for used cars these days.
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That is how you can vote with your wallet.
Give money to a garage that treats you properly, and let the shitty garages go bankrupt.
Free market giving US car dealers a wedgie (Score:2)
Everything I have heard about buying a car in the USA makes it sound like an irritating, deceptive, and exploitive process. That's from online anecdotes, friends in the USA, news reports, and every other source. Online car buying has some obvious deficiencies such as being unable to check exactly how a car feels or how you fit into it, but it is clear that these are far less than the deficiencies of the in-person car buying process.
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Everything I have heard about buying a car in the USA makes it sound like an irritating, deceptive, and exploitive process.
All of those things you have heard are correct.
There are exceptions, but most dealerships are plain awful.
But.. test drive? (Score:2)
Whether you fit inside,
whether it is comfortable,
whether the dashboard functions well,
whether the position of the pedals works well for your feet, etc.?
This is just like shopping shoes online, making decision without essential information.
Is anyone surprised? (Score:5, Funny)
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Actually my root canal wasn't half bad. I was knocked out for all of it and when I came to, my jaw pain was gone
Highly recommended!
Long overdue, for women (Score:2)
Small wonder (Score:2)
Nowadays the sales-people don't even read the flyers anymore, the clients know more than them.
So they just concentrate on selling them extra guarantees on everything.
Who needs that?
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So they just concentrate on selling them extra guarantees on everything.
I love to counter this with “So it’s a piece of shit that’s going to fall apart immediately and I shouldn’t buy it, that’s what you’re saying?” It always created an awkward, uncomfortable pause of several seconds. Not sure it got through the spiel any faster but it sure did make me feel better.
All the extra guarantees are a scam, if they saved the average customer money they wouldn’t be sold in the first place.
Good (Score:2)
I know it's impossible to hope, but MAYBE car dealerships will try to make the process less odious and unpleasant.
Last new car I bought was a Hyundai, and
- constantly trying to upsell me with shit like under body rust proofing (seriously, in 2021...)
- an oops in the documents that if I hadn't caught it would have cost me more ever month (oopsie!)
- flat out lying about their free oil changes (it's only for standard-frequency oil changes; per their own definition, DRIVING UP OR DOWN HILLS counts as "difficult
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not to mention this was a sale in mn, which is entirely classified due to weather as "difficult")
In frozen Minnesota, our roads off you!
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flat out lying about their free oil changes
Did anyone else notice that when car companies started offering "free maintenance" that fluid change intervals suddenly extended to rival geological epochs? My BMW has "lifetime" fluids in the trans and diffs; the oil change interval is 15k - yeah, right.
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For commercial they want repeat business. They want to sell as fast as you can buy them.
For Joe and Jane Blow walking in... there's a sucker who will buy the extended warranty born every minute... they could give a shit if they come back ever again.
Can anyone blame them? (Score:2)
Surprised (Score:2)
I'm surprised. People always loved shopping for cars in person.
What's old is new (Score:2)
"Buying" means many things (Score:2)
Some aspects of buying are best done online, and some are best done in-person. I hate haggling and the constant attempts to tack on unwanted features and buying options during an in-store experience. I would love to avoid that and perform the paperwork and money transfer online. However, online test drives are horrendous. There's no substitute for getting behind the wheel and driving the car around.
Sort of like how many people go to Best Buy to see and handle products and then go to Amazon to make the a