Mother Teresa Didn't Have Any Kids

Who thought buying a car was easy?

It's easy as long as you let the seller dictate the price, the terms, and the other little slick things they throw in the loan during closing. Including higher interest rates.

So it was, I have backed out of the third deal this month and I cancelled a flight because of it. After all of that, I finally have the deal on the car I wanted but I have to wait a month to take delivery. Big deal.

I am in absolute awe at how ridiculously priced car dealers price their inventory. Car dealers are piranhas.

So what I thought I'd do is show you a run of the mill used 2011 GLS Hyundai Elantra priced at what I believe is an absolutely insane price. This car invoiced new at 15,500. Here it is used. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=309775282&dealer_id=624435&car_year=2011&end_year=2011&model=ELANTR&distance=25&address=83705&start_year=2011&LNX=PNADAUSEDVALTEASER&search_type=used&make=HYUND&cardist=14&standard=false&rdpage=thumb

What would be an appropriate price for a one year old used car that invoiced for 15,500? I know this- not 19,999. That price is so ridiculous that I can't even approach the dealer. I looked at that car last night.

Here is a brand new Elantra with a manual trans. Add 1000 for an auto trans and you get a brand new Elantra GLS for 3700.00 dollars cheaper than our used car above. http://www.truecar.com/prices-new/hyundai/elantra-pricing/ How can that be?

Today, I finally put a deposit down on the Elantra I wanted. This after a month of dickering, wasted time, wasted phone calls, cursing at finance managers, unraveling mysterious charges for items that I don't want and don't need. Today I paid 15,800 out the door for a manual trans. The dealer will make 1000 on the sale, 500 on the manufacturer's hold back, and money on the loan financing. This Elantra is new and delivered in Jan. That's 4 grand cheaper than that used one here locally. Was it worth it?

Barely. The truth is, I hate dealing with car salesmen and dealerships. I simply have never had a good experience with these piranhas as they try to separate you from your money. Buying a car is a huge personal commitment. It takes an emotional toll on you. You can't just walk away and get your money back after a year or two. That's why you absolutely cannot over pay for a car on the front end. You are committed to a big payment or a big payoff. An upside down car loan or a voluntary repo is just not something most of us want.

So don't feel sorry about playing hardball with car dealerships. They will do everything imaginable to steal your money- your job is to try and prevent that. So yea, I suck to deal with but I'm not going to apologize. I've never received an apology from a dealership.

Comments

rawmuse said…
I bought one new car in my whole life, paid cash for it. I still have it, 11 years later. Don't know if I would do it again, but seeing as how I have driven this one so many years without a lot of extra expense, it was a decent decision.
Brian said…
Wow. Yea, this is my first new car RM. Since banks have stolen our capacity to make interest on any kind of savings- I think it pays to just take your money and pay cash. Save yourself 5%. Five percent is hard to come by. Except in gold and silver.

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