Most car dealers don't care about establishing a long-term relationship so their level of "give a shit" varies dramatically with the state of the market. I bou

Most car dealers don't care about establishing a long-term relationship so their level of "give a shit" varies dramatically with the state of the market. I bought a new car at a low point of the 200x financial crisis in the worst month for new car sales (population adjusted) in decades. The sales manager tried the "go to another room to run numbers and come back" strategy but while he was gone the sales guy told me to stand firm and they'd meet my price. I bought a really hot vehicle for $7k off MSRP, something completely impossible 6-12 months prior to that - the best you could hope for at that time was $2k over MSRP. The discount was so good I wasn't even underwater on the loan when I drove it off the lot. By contrast you see what dealers are doing right now with low used and new car inventory. The best strategy is not to be in a position where you must get a vehicle. If you can afford to downsize (eg 2 -> 1) then do that while used car prices are high. If you can avoid buying a new vehicle do so. Inventory will recover and dealers will eventually get desperate to make sales again.