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I wonder about this. I've never bought a car from a used car yard or new car dealership, so I can't talk from experience. In Australia, residential real estat

I wonder about this. I've never bought a car from a used car yard or new car dealership, so I can't talk from experience. In Australia, residential real estate sales contract have a mandatory 28 day minimum cooling off period. I don't know anything about commercial real estate, so can't comment on that. In a way it makes some sense that the other large purchase(s) in life should have a somewhat protracted sales experience. If you could walk in to a car sales yard and just buy a car chip and pin style, I suspect things could go downhill quite rapidly. I haven't really thought this through very much, so I'm wide open to head different perspectives.

mikeash 8y ago
I ordered my last two cars online. The more recent one was delivered to my house. I spent a few minutes signing paperwork and we were done. There’s no reason the experience has to be anything more than that.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  That's fair. I'm just wondering whether there's scope for a cooling off period for vehicle purchases? I have at least one friend who might have benefited from such a thing.
  - ianai 8y ago
    That’s not really the nature of the problem with purchasing a car.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    That seems like a separate issue. Even with hours at a dealer, at the end you make a decision, sign, and that’s it. (Unless the dealer is kind enough to have a refund policy, anyway.) Ordering online, I had a period where I could cancel the order with no penalty.
- chdaniel 8y ago
  let me guess, a Tesla?
  - mikeash 8y ago
    Good guess. I’m not sure if anyone else does home deliveries.
    - chdaniel 8y ago
      enjoy it. car's a beast (all 3 models)
      - mikeash 8y ago
        Oh yes, they’re great. The home delivery was a 3, and the one before that was an S. To quote Mr. Bueller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
    - 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
      I've heard that a lot of dealerships are willing to do it if they think that you won't actually buy it in person (i.e. deliver the car or lose the sale). I'm not sure there's a set formula for convincing them of that, though.
ianai 8y ago
The car purchase I referred is deeply confrontational. They want to force you to buy a car at the worst possible terms.

mikeash 8y ago

I ordered my last two cars online. The more recent one was delivered to my house. I spent a few minutes signing paperwork and we were done. There’s no reason the experience has to be anything more than that.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
That's fair. I'm just wondering whether there's scope for a cooling off period for vehicle purchases? I have at least one friend who might have benefited from such a thing.
- ianai 8y ago
  That’s not really the nature of the problem with purchasing a car.
- mikeash 8y ago
  That seems like a separate issue. Even with hours at a dealer, at the end you make a decision, sign, and that’s it. (Unless the dealer is kind enough to have a refund policy, anyway.) Ordering online, I had a period where I could cancel the order with no penalty.
chdaniel 8y ago
let me guess, a Tesla?
- mikeash 8y ago
  Good guess. I’m not sure if anyone else does home deliveries.
  - chdaniel 8y ago
    enjoy it. car's a beast (all 3 models)
    - mikeash 8y ago
      Oh yes, they’re great. The home delivery was a 3, and the one before that was an S. To quote Mr. Bueller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
  - 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
    I've heard that a lot of dealerships are willing to do it if they think that you won't actually buy it in person (i.e. deliver the car or lose the sale). I'm not sure there's a set formula for convincing them of that, though.

ianai 8y ago

The car purchase I referred is deeply confrontational. They want to force you to buy a car at the worst possible terms.