As someone who just purchased a car at a dealer: it really is.
I'm majorly hoping that Tesla paves the way to change that. Once prices come down to the ~$30k range and a larger percentage of consumers have the option of buying through Tesla, I think we'll be seeing a dramatic paradigm shift away from the horrible dealer experience.
Although there's still a long way to go, I'm excited for Tesla.
The last car I bought was a surprisingly pleasant experience. But I was deciding between two cars at different dealers. And I bought the one from the dealer that was the best experience. I probably would have been happy with either car, but the buying experience doesn't have to suck.
As someone who just purchased a car at a dealer: it really wasn't. The only part that wasn't awesome was due to the fact that I wanted a very specific configuration the dealer could only find one of, there was some extra wait and hassle. But that is just the price I pay for being picky.
By the time you get to the dealer, you have already guaranteed yourself a bad experience (unless your goal for the day is just a test drive). The key is to contact multiple dealers with the same fairly specific request. You'll be passed on to the most desperate salesperson on duty, because no one wants to be in a competition. The desperate salesperson at each dealership, however, will know he's in a competition, and he'll act like it. If you're especially brutal with the poor bastard he'll throw in free delivery, and you'll never actually have to go to the dealership.
EDIT: I see lots of CarMax recommendations. Maybe they've just automated the process I've described.
And target the end of month where sales is looking to meet quota.
I called a few places near the end of the month asking for quotes on an exact make/model, ended up walking into both, walking out of both, and striking a decent deal with one. The only thing that really ticked me is that upon careful inspection of papers there was a random $1000 tagged along that shouldn't be. Always, always, always take your time, read everything, and bring a calculator if you have to!!!
Whatever, having purchased six cars in the last ten years I never remembered a bad experience. Bad cars at times but on a whole if the system was so bad then how would you explain sales?
they cannot all be bad. Perhaps people confuse used car sales from no name dealers with new car sales or big dealers?
I am quite sure I can point at any industry and say the experience sucks when dealing with them if I look in the right places.
Even as I wrote this I was at a loss trying to think of even anyone I know who had a bad time.
"Bad cars at times but on a whole if the system was so bad then how would you explain sales?"
People consider cars to be necessities. There is significant legislation already in place that protects the dealer model. Thus, if you want to buy a car, you have few options other than dealerships.
You do understand that the dealer model came about to allow the manufactures to maintain production without having to directly deal with changing of sales patterns throughout the year don't you?
The Faustian bargain if you will was dealerships were given certain deals by the manufacturers to protect their ability to profit. States got involved later, where there was money to license such as well as to keep manufacturers from stepping into a solid market to brush aside the dealers who forged it.
It was a solution fit for its time and still is in many cases. When Tesla's support falters who you going to yell at? Fellow disgruntled owners on a message board? Not saying it will, but you who goes to bat for you when sales are direct?
We can have distributors without having them protected by extensive federal and state law, though in such a case distributors would be fewer. Protections originated in the 1920s, when dealers invested in the manufacturers and could be yanked by carmakers into buying cars they couldn't sell. Dealers began lobbying governments to maintain and increase protective laws, and have done so successfully ever since even though carmakers have long stopped seeking investment from their dealers.
> However, theory and evidence suggest that the protection that automobile dealers have obtained from local legislatures has been to the detriment not only of manufacturers, but also of consumers, resulting in higher cost of retailing and higher prices for cars, inflexibility of the dealer network, and a lack of innovation in car distribution.
"You do understand that the dealer model came about to allow the manufactures to maintain production without having to directly deal with changing of sales patterns throughout the year don't you?"
I do, and it is entirely irrelevant to my point. You asked for an explanation of how sales can be good, even when the dealership experience is bad. I provided an explanation that depended on the existence of legislation to protect dealers. I wasn't debating the merits of the legislation to protect dealers, just noting that it exists.
> Bad cars at times but on a whole if the system was so bad then how would you explain sales?
How else does one get around the US than with a car? The car manufacturers made sure light rail sucks in the US and instead we have massive funding for highways. How would I buy a car without going through a dealer?
> Even as I wrote this I was at a loss trying to think of even anyone I know who had a bad time.
You are the first person I've ever heard that didn't have a bad experience. Hordes of comedians have made jokes about the car dealership experience that it isn't even funny any more. Every sitcom usually has an episode about it at some point when material is running out. For example: Bill Cosby wearing ragged clothing to buy a car for Theo before a friend calls him "Doctor" in front of the sales guy.
Thanks for the recommendations of Costco and fleet sales departments. Those are what I would use for my next car.
I tried Carwoo for my parents buying a new car. Since it was an all cash deal, and they were shopping for a new car, the cars and quotes were directly comparable. After visiting a couple dealerships from Carwoo, we had the same shitty experience as we would have without Carwoo. Salesmanship, adding several thousand dollars of "extra but very necessary fees not included in the Carwoo quote", exploding contract price, etc. I was embarrassed that my parent's car buying experience was that bad in 2012, and it cost them a couple weekends on the phone, driving out there, hearing that somehow the quote was not the final quote, etc.
In the end we just ended up at CarMax for a fair price and a decent buying experience.
The best thing I've ever seen were the BMW (and presumably other manufacturer) military/diplomatic sales deals out of Germany. 10-30% below US prices for some models, and 50+% below the local market prices in some countries. You email them, they send you a selector PDF, you reply with what you want and the price, and they take a deposit.
You have to be deployed military (although not necessarily to Europe), a contractor on specific orders, etc. to use the program, but it's pretty awesome if you can.
I have to wonder at what point these repetitive ads diminish in value. How many times do you need to see a truck hauling a heavy load, slogging through mud to a husky voice over?
Your descriptions sound like manufacturer commercials; Dealer commercials are the ones with jingles and usually the owner of the dealership yelling things at you for 30 seconds straight.
Although they may not make the commercials directly, in print there is often "co-op" money available to dealers when certain criteria is meet by said ad... I imagine there is a similar system for television adverts.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-... http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/19/172402376/why-buyi...