I'm coming close to inking a deal on a car. Some dealerships have given me prices, and others keep steering me towards haggling with their sales people. Of course, I will not play their game the way they want it played. Instead, I may go with the salesman I liked most, only because I felt that he was giving me an honest, but high price.
Lately, I've been watching videos from the people who started caredge.com, Ray and Zach Shefska. I'm hoping that these guys are able to develop their business in a way that forces car dealerships to get real, and to stop depending on haggling. I may even use their service soon. Who knows?
At the very beginning of the pandemic shutdown, dealerships were making good offers to get rid of inventory, as many wanted to stem the loss from floor plan financing. During the rest of the pandemic and through the recovery, car prices shot through the roof due to supply chain issues. Now, we're seeing signs that dealerships are choking on both new car and used car inventories, especially at Stellantis (Dodge, Chrysler, Ram and Jeep brands) dealerships.
If my car were 2-3 years younger, I'd hold out for another 2 years before buying a car. The last thing I want to have happen to me is to have my car die while I'm presenting as Marian. There are many risks for me that I want to eliminate, and predictable mechanical failures of a car's old age are those I can eliminate by buying a new car. By buying a car with modern safety features, I also reduce the risks of me getting into an accident. It's worth the money to eliminate risk from my life.
But back to deals....
Out of the 10 dealerships I've visited, only 1 or 2 have given me the information I wanted. I figure that a single car buyer may not be enough to affect major change. But if enough of us start using my tactics, we can force big changes, a little bit at a time.
