Very true. The best way to buy a car right now is to figure out what the cheapest is that you can get for it. Particularly if it is a new car you can generally get down to somewhere around invoice pricing. Email a handful of dealers in your area saying "I'm shopping around and I'd like this car at x price with x features, can you do it? Yes or no?" and if they say yes, print it out and take it with you to the dealer. Carwoo seems to be very helpful with this process but at the time I was purchasing my car Carwoo didn't even have an option for 2012 vehicles.
After that it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open as they can sometimes try to change the price on you or some other cheap shot. The internet managers at dealers generally seem a bit easier to work with but beware of their managers that start pulling out all the tricks. I've even had a dealer finalize a price, hand me the papers to sign and they conveniently added a $2,500 fee that "they add to all purchases"
When you go from working with internet companies all day to old-fashioned car dealers suddenly the convenience of straight forward "honest prices, no surprises", zappos customer service and a generally painless sales process is gone.
Maybe I'm spoiled from buying too many things too easily on Amazon all day with 1 click purchasing at fair prices but even if I am, why can't car sales be this way? It even seems like less hassle for the dealership and the ethical thing to do.
After that it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open as they can sometimes try to change the price on you or some other cheap shot. The internet managers at dealers generally seem a bit easier to work with but beware of their managers that start pulling out all the tricks. I've even had a dealer finalize a price, hand me the papers to sign and they conveniently added a $2,500 fee that "they add to all purchases"
When you go from working with internet companies all day to old-fashioned car dealers suddenly the convenience of straight forward "honest prices, no surprises", zappos customer service and a generally painless sales process is gone.
Maybe I'm spoiled from buying too many things too easily on Amazon all day with 1 click purchasing at fair prices but even if I am, why can't car sales be this way? It even seems like less hassle for the dealership and the ethical thing to do.