There are precious few people who enjoy buying a new car. I'm not one of them. I hate the tactics used to extract money from my picket and out it in their till. But then, we are a capitalist society, and the automobile market is not a transparent one. Without having access to as much information as the car dealer, the consumer is bound to make a less than optimal deal.
In my case, I did some research, and was willing to settle on one of the two cars I wanted, but not in the color I wanted. I can learn to live with a sub optimal color, but not a sub optimal deal. And I had to send the following message to the dealer to get its attention:
I went to your dealership last Saturday, and asked for internet sales as you directed. However, the man who came to assist us had no idea that I was coming, nor did he initially want to sell the car at the price you and I talked about before some spirited haggling. (This should not have happened - they should have been aware I would be there at mid afternoon, and ready to sell the car at the price you and I discussed. This almost made me walk away to make a deal elsewhere - at another dealership I found who could/would sell the Elantra at MSRP.)
After the haggling and discussion over dinner, I thought we had the basics of a deal laid out. However, after a short email exchange with John J on Monday, I haven't heard anything back from him, and it is information I need to proceed any further with any deal.
- When do they expect the car to be delivered to the dealership?
- What interest rate is to be used for your financing? Is there a 36 month option available?
- What paperwork will I need to pick up the car? (e.g: insurance cards, certified/bank check, etc.)
- For my trade, I have the original title and the release of lien. Is that enough for you to work with?
- Specifically what are the doc fees and non tax fees? (I'm pretty sure of what the doc fees should be, but what are the non tax fees?)
Most important, the line item called "<dealer-name> Complete" seems to be padding to add to your firm's bottom line, as there are no details on what this is. I need more information, as I wanted a car at MSRP, and not $977 more than the price should be. (Asking for almost $1000 extra without a good and acceptable explanation of what this covers would be a deal breaker for me.)
Can you help get me the information I need?
Now, I am not in love with this car, and it's a good thing I don't have to have this car, and can easily do without it. Additionally, there is another dealer closer to me that says it's willing to do a deal at MSRP. Part of me wants for my current deal to fall through. But I am willing to go through with it if my concerns are adequately addressed.
Keep your fingers crossed.
