Buying a new car on the internet.

Any thoughts on this?
Good idea, or not?

 

Check the reputation of the dealer from which you're purchasing. If it's
far from your home, an unscrupulous dealer could refuse to do the deal for
the agreed price once you get there. I know there's been some talk about
this on the edmunds.com forums. You might check there. I recall seeing
some positive feedback regarding some of the dealers.

http://www.carspace.com/csGroups

 

The last two cars I bought I used the internet.

First car Azera Limited - went to the local dealer said here's what I
want, I can get it for this from a dealer on the internet, match the
price. After the obligatory trip to the sales manager came back within
$50 of internet price and we had a deal.

Second car Elantra Limited - went to the same dealer and he wasn't
willing/able (he said here's what Hyundai is giving us we can't special
order what you want)to check surrounding dealers for the color/model we
wanted so bought on the internet from a dealer 200 miles away. No
problems got a good deal and was satisfied. So far no service problems
at the local dealer.

If you know what you want, have tested one locally and are willing to
travel you can find a good deal on the internet. Most dealerships are
set up for internet sales and I've found it painless. I will give the
local dealer a chance to match in the future but also not hesitate to go
to the internet if it makes economic sense.

 

Used www.autotrader.com to purchase an off-lease Deville DHS with 11000
miles 92 miles from home.

Most of my dialog was carried out with the sales rep via email. The price
was negotiated down during this process. The sale wasn't completed over the
internet by design. Instead we agreed to the price contingent on our visit
to the dealers showroom. Ended up having them rebalance the tires and add a
luggage net and a duplicate set of floor mats at no charge.

One of the best purchase experiences I've ever had.

I also negotiated a price for my 2007 Sonata on-line but ended up buying it
locally using my on-line quote as reference. Think I paid $100 more but it
saved me a 400 mile round trip.

The internet will be a "tool" in any of my future purchase processes!

 

A KIA dealer in a nearby town had some new leftover 2007 KIA Optimas
(Sonta's first cousin). He had it advertised as a close out sale in
the newspaper for $10990. Altho, not particularly in the market for a
new car I thought this may be too good to pass up.

I emailed the fleet manager believing I could by- pass some of the
salesman hassle. I asked do you still have this car for $10990 net.
He assured me that he did and urged me to come on in saying that he
would give me the best price and top dollar on my trade if I had one.

I went to meet him at the dealer ship. After the obligatory test
drive we sat down at a table at the dealership. The first thing he
did was bring out the infamous four square worksheet. I told him
right there that we didn't need the four square worksheet but he
would not put it aside. That immediately raised my suspicions as I
had believed I could avoid some of a hassle by going to the fleet
manager. I told him that there would be no financing, that is would
be a cash deal. Then the first thing he did was add on an additional
amount in excess of three thousand dollars explaining that this was
for a dealer installed alarm system and fabric treatment. I told him
"No" I was not interested in those extras. He said that they were
already installed and I had to take them. I told him that they
installed the alarm and they could take it out. I told him that the
five year fabric treatment deal was simply a scam. He replied by
saying that they had to make money in order to stay in business. We
haggled back and forth. Then he pulled the next infamous dealer
tactic. He left and sent out another salesperson. I asked this guy
if he was the sales manager and he said "Yes". I then asked him if he
had final authority to agree to a price and he said "not exactly".
He was still trying to do trick me with the four square worksheet by
giving me a final price without itemizing it. Then I threw the
Trade-in offer at him. He offered me $1000 on a trade worth far more
KBB trade value than that. I was ready to walk out. But in the
meanwhile he had given bank my registration slip (he said he needed
it when I mentioned a trade) He told me that they would lose money if
they agreed to my offer. I told him that I would lose money if I
agreed to his counter offer. Finally after he made several more trips
back to the real sales manager, who I never saw, I was given back my
registration slip and left.

My last word to them before I left was that the so-called fleet
manager has lured me in with false promise in his email to me.

Old_Timer

 

I've used the internet twice, once for my 2006 Sonata and for my
daughters Civic. Living in a major metropolitan area gave me a choice
of several dealers to go to, so travel wasn't an issue. Overall, both
purchases were easy and straightforward with minimum hassle.
Naturally they tried for all the add on stuff at the end of the deal.
A word of caution though, do your homework up front as far as costs
and options. Several of the replies I received were incorrect as far
as the equipment I requested. Also a few of the dealers basically
replied saying come in, we have the car you are looking for but didn't
give a price. Reply back asking for the price before going in.

 

Good point, Mr. HyundaiTech.

I wish there were enough of us on this site to start posting where the
"good" dealers are. I have seen enough of both that I am getting a real
feel for it where I live. But I have little optimism that, where I live, my
dealerships could help hardly anyone else on this site, as I don't live near
a major metropolis.

But since others have found good dealerships - and bad - especially for
Hyundais, I would like to think that this could be good information to
share. I believe Hyundai to be THE best overall vehicle value in the US,
especially in 2008. One of the ways to forward this is to try to keep
people rolling into the good and reputable dealerships, whomever they may
be.

Thoughts anyone?

 

In most states, this is illegal. If they still have the advertised car,
they're required to sell it to you at the advertised price or lower. (Of
course, if *you* want to add things at additional expense, that's your
prerogative).

 

The dealer claimed he had himself covered for legality. When I
protested the Alarm and Fabric Treatment add-ons the dealers pointed
out the small print in his ad. In fine print it said Tax and license
additional. Also printed was - All dealer installed items will be
sold at retail price. His take on this was that they were already
installed so the add-ons were covered by the fine print. I have
doubts as to how well that would hold up in court but I am not the one
to take him to court.
His ad did read $10990 NET.

I have fond memories of the days when I negotiated directly with a
party that was authorized to agree on a price and close the deal.

Some years ago a friend of mine closed a deal on a car and the person
he was dealing with was the brother-in-law of the owner. It seems
that the brother-in-law agreed on a price and signed a contract that
the owner did not agree with, The dealer tried to squirm out of the
deal but my friend threatened to take him to court and did get the car
as agreed upon.

Old_Timer

 

The dealer claimed he had himself covered for legality. When I
protested the Alarm and Fabric Treatment add-ons the dealers pointed
out the small print in his ad. In fine print it said Tax and license
additional. Also printed was - All dealer installed items will be
sold at retail price. His take on this was that they were already
installed so the add-ons were covered by the fine print. I have
doubts as to how well that would hold up in court but I am not the one
to take him to court.
His ad did read $10990 NET.

I have fond memories of the days when I negotiated directly with a
party that was authorized to agree on a price and close the deal.

Some years ago a friend of mine closed a deal on a car and the person
he was dealing with was the brother-in-law of the owner. It seems
that the brother-in-law agreed on a price and signed a contract that
the owner did not agree with, The dealer tried to squirm out of the
deal but my friend threatened to take him to court and did get the car
as agreed upon.

Old_Timer

 

Ahh, yes. The old fine print. I haven't seen that one yet. The ones
making their way around here indicate something like "price includes trade
of $xxxx." In other words, you need to add $xxxx back on to the advertised
price to get the real price.

 

Whenever I buy a new car I am upfront telling them that I'm not paying for
the fabric and paint protection bullcrap, so I'm walking if they want me to
pay it. Then I tell them they have one trip to the manager. After that I
walk. Remember that it's your money and not theirs. Take it somewhere
else. You'll see the sales manager right away and go from there. Like they
said, do your homework and know the actual invoice price and know that they
can go below that because it's so darn padded with bull. If they don't,
walk. Don't waste too much time on them. Screw them. In the old days, the
base price had 12% profit built in and the options all had 15% built in.
Now they show much, much less but my philosophy is that it's still there
somewhere because they couldn't do business if their potential profits
dropped from 15% to 5%. I still assume the 12 and 15% profit in my
negotiations and give them 5% after taking out the 'assumed' 12 and 15%
profits. I give them my car at the KBB trade in value for an excellent
condition car (if it is). They take the deal almost 100% of the time. I've
walked one time in the last 15 new cars. Been doing it for many, many cars.
You just have to be a hard ass SOB and know that they are the scum of the
earth in your heart. Hard but true.


in message

 

In many dealerships you never see that person. My best experience was when
my daughter was buying her first car, a Ford Escort. She went to a dealer
on her own and was given a price $100 off sticker of $6300. I was going to
have the final say since I was making the downpayment as part of a
graduation gift. She wanted the car and wanted to pay that. I went back
with her to finalize a deal and was given the same BS. We walked. Daughter
was upset since she was going to make the payments, etc.

Half hour later I took her to another dealer in the area. Saleswoman
(owner's daughter) came out and asked if we wanted to test drive the car we
were looking at. I said no, just give me a price I'm comfortable with and
I'll buy it. Five minutes later we bought the car for $600 less than the
first dealer.

Daughter is now very capable of negotiating a decent price on her cars.

 

I'm not sure how valid it would be. The Hyundai dealership near where
i work changed hands in the past 2 years. They may be OK now, but I'd
hate to brand them with the sleaziness of their predecessors.

When I went in while buying my 03 Accent, they had rustproofing,
fabric protection and paint sealant for a total of $900 extra. I ended
up going through carsdirect.com and got a decent price. I'm not a very
good negotiator, or poker player, so that option worked best for me.

 

I just bought a new Santa Fe this week (The fourth Hyundai in my family).

I found that most dealerships that offer "Online" quotes really do not make such offers. First of all they require you to give your phone number for the online quote. Then they call and try to get you in the dealership for a test drive but they still will not give you a written quote.

The only dealer that actually emailed me a quote was my local dealer who I bought the other three Hyundai's from.

So he got my business again.

 

I purchased my Hyundai via the Internet Manager at Pugi Hyundai/Mazda/
VW in Downers Grove, IL. They will e-mail you a real price, and
adhere to it when you visit the store. I was very impressed with the
entire sales transaction - it was a truly seamless purchase. The F&I
Manager tried to sell me the Extended Warranty during the closing
process, but when I declined the offer, he went on with the business
of finishing the paperwork. Our local Hyundai dealer, which claims to
sell at "Employee Pricing" to a normal buyer, can't come close to the
pricing that Pugi offers. As a former new car salesperson, I know all
of the tricks, and Pugi is as straightforward as any dealer I've ever
dealt with in the past.

 

Yes, I have pretty much had the same experience with the Hyundai/Kia dealer
closest to me. Since I am in that community a LOT more than the one where
the Hyundai/Kia dealer is who has sold me four vehicles, I will always try
to give them "just one more chance."

The sales game, trade-in game, add-on game, whatever at this closer
dealership changes every time, but they always manage to remove my
light-hearted nature out of me, and get me upset. A couple of times,
salepeople and/or sales managers have actually wanted to get into a heated
argument with me over various things. I have walked out wondering how
anyone in that dealership eats.

Then I go to my dealership, and the feeling is so much different. I am
treated courteously and as a professional. And the deals they have gotten
me (every time) are deals this other dealership claims I must be smoking
something strange if I think I can have that vehicle for that price. And
the service people, parts people, transport people, support staff, everyone
is friendly and helpful.

Wow! What a concept.

 

Reply to message from Old_Timer (Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:14:37) about "Re:
Buying a new car on the internet.":


O> I went to meet him at the dealer ship. After the obligatory test drive
O> we sat down at a table at the dealership. The first thing he did was
O> bring out the infamous four square worksheet. I told him right there
O> that we didn't need the four square worksheet but he would not put it
O> aside.

You are indeed a far more patient man than I.

At the juncture above I would have asked him point blank if he was able to
sell me that car (pointing to the one you test drove) for $10,990. If he
said yes I would then tell hair to start the paperwork, and would bring up
the trade at that point (making him stop the paperwork). If he had said
anything other than yes I would have got up and walked out, never to
return. After all, you were not really in the market.

Dealers like him are crooks and are not interested in a fair respectable
deal. They also are too myopic to understand that they make the money after
the sale and in repeat business and referrals.

Best Regards
Wayne Moses <> Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:10:01 -0600

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We bought our 06 Elantra at Quirk Hyundia in Bangor ,Maine...GREAT people.
GREAT service...No hassel , no tricks...They even gave us a thousand dollar
rebate even though the promotion didn't start for another week He did ask if
we wanted the Extended Service Warranty but were NOT pressured in any way.
They WILL have my business in the future....4 STARS......