New car buying

Bought a new car lately? Why, why, why is it still so horrible? In 2012, every dealer must know that most consumers do their homework on the interwebs regarding prices, options, and trade-ins. And they still pull the, "I need to check with my manager routine." I made it very clear what price I would pay, and that I was not going to play the back and forth negotiation game, so they better make sure they give me their last and best offer right out of the gate.

Of course, they came back way higher than I was going to pay, though to their credit they did try to obfuscate it by monkeying with the trade-in value. I asked if this was the last and best offer and was told it was. So I left, and planned to go to a different dealer.

I had a message waiting for me before I even made it back to the office. By golly, they were willing to knock $500 off their last and best offer. Nope, still too much.

Sooo, then "The Manager" calls. "What can we do to put you in this car today?" Charge me what everyone else is paying for this model. "Weeeelllllll......"

Sure, I know they are just trying to stick it to us consumers, just like in the good old days. But it sure left a sour taste in my mouth with regard to this dealer, and this brand. Seriously, does all this dinking around really work on people? Are they just bored and have nothing better to do than to try to squeeze a few extra bucks from people while destroying any goodwill those customers may have had? Are they simply evil?

When I go to Target I am not forced to play games like this. So, notice to all car dealers: Figure out what your overhead is, and how many cars you sell, and price them accordingly. I would have purchased a new car years ago if I was not procrastinating, knowing what horrors awaited me at the dealership. Make it pleasant, charge a fair price, and you will sell more cars. Simple.

And another thing: Do NOT give them your email address. I have been inundated with "Congratulations on your new Honda, please buy this or complete this survey or get a great deal on male enhancement drugs for your driving pleasure." Ok, maybe I made that last one up, but in any event, I set my spam filter to block anything with the word "Honda" in it, so who knows?

Maybe by the time I am ready for my next car, I can just get it on Amazon.