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>Most people don't want to drive around to all the dealers in a 300-mile radius. You're spending $20,000+ and you don't want to drive around to a few dealers?

>Most people don't want to drive around to all the dealers in a 300-mile radius. You're spending $20,000+ and you don't want to drive around to a few dealers? Spending a day or two to make the best decision is too much for you? That's why you get pushed around.

mikeash 10y ago
And we would much rather be able to do all of our comparison shopping from the comfort of our homes, like civilized 21st-century humans, which is why dealerships are so hated.
Arizhel 10y ago
"Drive around to a few dealers"? It would take me a week to drive around to all the dealers in 5 different states. Do you really have that much spare time? A much better strategy is to figure out which car you want, then go online and contact all the dealerships within an 8-hour drive asking them for their best price on it.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >"Drive around to a few dealers"? First of all, I didn't mention "driving around" all over the map; you did, along with what a problem it is. Now you're coming up with some ridiculous scenario about driving around to 5 states? Complete strawman. In every metro area I've lived there are larger suburban areas filled with dealerships of all brands. If 8 hours is too much time to spend helping form a decision on such a large purchase, than by all means go get "pushed around" by the scary car dealer.
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    I don't want "all brands", I want just one. Maybe you're not set on a particular brand and model, but when I buy a car I am, because a single, somewhat lackluster dealership buying experience is far preferable to having a POS car that breaks down a lot or that I'm not very happy with for some reason. There are not dozens of different dealers for the same brand in the same metro area. So that leaves me driving around to a bunch of different states to cover all the dealers.
randomdata 10y ago
I, for one, very much look forward to the day that I can take a day or two to actually make the best decision about my purchase instead of spending several days playing some weird song and dance with multiple people who want to take a cut of the purchase. Sadly, outside of perhaps a of brand or two that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of tens of thousands, that doesn't seem to be a particularly viable option today.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >"I, for one, very much look forward to the day that I can take a day or two to actually make the best decision about my purchase instead of spending several days playing some weird song and dance with multiple people who want to take a cut of the purchase." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that half the people complaining here have never actually bought a car. This isn't 1988. All the information is out there. Arm yourself with the price you are willing to pay for the car and make it known. Don't pay more. There is no need for any game, and I've never been forced to play any, having purchased 10-15 cars in my lifetime.
  - randomdata 10y ago
    You have purchased 10-15 brand new cars without having to deal with a middleman who is only there to take his cut? If so, I'm guessing you are not from a region of the world where dealerships are given special protections against competition and actively prevent the sale of vehicles the way the consumer wants to buy them.
ghurtado 10y ago
How much driving around would you do when shopping for a mortgage? How many lenders would you actively talk to? If we estimate the purchase price of a home to be roughly 10 times higher than a car - and following your logic - is sounds like you would be willing to spend 10-20 days driving around shopping for mortgages and would talk to 20-30 different lenders at minimum. Is that a fair assumption?
acchow 10y ago
If you have a demanding job and are raising kids, your rare, few hours off are very precious - you'd hardly want to spend them driving back and forth between dealerships and haggling. And you're just too tired to put in that effort.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >If you have a demanding job and are raising kids, your rare, few hours off are very precious Then you'll pay slightly more for your vehicle. Just like you'll pay more for a shorter commute or nicer school. No big deal. Life is about trade-offs.

mikeash 10y ago

And we would much rather be able to do all of our comparison shopping from the comfort of our homes, like civilized 21st-century humans, which is why dealerships are so hated.

Arizhel 10y ago

"Drive around to a few dealers"? It would take me a week to drive around to all the dealers in 5 different states. Do you really have that much spare time? A much better strategy is to figure out which car you want, then go online and contact all the dealerships within an 8-hour drive asking them for their best price on it.

forgetsusername 10y ago
>"Drive around to a few dealers"? First of all, I didn't mention "driving around" all over the map; you did, along with what a problem it is. Now you're coming up with some ridiculous scenario about driving around to 5 states? Complete strawman. In every metro area I've lived there are larger suburban areas filled with dealerships of all brands. If 8 hours is too much time to spend helping form a decision on such a large purchase, than by all means go get "pushed around" by the scary car dealer.
- Arizhel 10y ago
  I don't want "all brands", I want just one. Maybe you're not set on a particular brand and model, but when I buy a car I am, because a single, somewhat lackluster dealership buying experience is far preferable to having a POS car that breaks down a lot or that I'm not very happy with for some reason. There are not dozens of different dealers for the same brand in the same metro area. So that leaves me driving around to a bunch of different states to cover all the dealers.

randomdata 10y ago

I, for one, very much look forward to the day that I can take a day or two to actually make the best decision about my purchase instead of spending several days playing some weird song and dance with multiple people who want to take a cut of the purchase. Sadly, outside of perhaps a of brand or two that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of tens of thousands, that doesn't seem to be a particularly viable option today.

forgetsusername 10y ago
>"I, for one, very much look forward to the day that I can take a day or two to actually make the best decision about my purchase instead of spending several days playing some weird song and dance with multiple people who want to take a cut of the purchase." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that half the people complaining here have never actually bought a car. This isn't 1988. All the information is out there. Arm yourself with the price you are willing to pay for the car and make it known. Don't pay more. There is no need for any game, and I've never been forced to play any, having purchased 10-15 cars in my lifetime.
- randomdata 10y ago
  You have purchased 10-15 brand new cars without having to deal with a middleman who is only there to take his cut? If so, I'm guessing you are not from a region of the world where dealerships are given special protections against competition and actively prevent the sale of vehicles the way the consumer wants to buy them.

ghurtado 10y ago

How much driving around would you do when shopping for a mortgage? How many lenders would you actively talk to? If we estimate the purchase price of a home to be roughly 10 times higher than a car - and following your logic - is sounds like you would be willing to spend 10-20 days driving around shopping for mortgages and would talk to 20-30 different lenders at minimum. Is that a fair assumption?

acchow 10y ago

If you have a demanding job and are raising kids, your rare, few hours off are very precious - you'd hardly want to spend them driving back and forth between dealerships and haggling. And you're just too tired to put in that effort.

forgetsusername 10y ago
>If you have a demanding job and are raising kids, your rare, few hours off are very precious Then you'll pay slightly more for your vehicle. Just like you'll pay more for a shorter commute or nicer school. No big deal. Life is about trade-offs.