I just bought an '08 Prius, silver pine, pkg #2, for 23K in Bremerton, WA. I have to say the purchase was an incredibly smooth experience. All the terms were settled via email and phone, no surprises at the showroom, the staff was friendly and fun, and I feel like I got a fair deal. I went in expecting an arguement and pressure to buy more than I wanted before anything went on paper. Nothing happened. I didn't have anywhere to put that energy I worked up. This was the third time I have bought a car. My previous experience, buying my '03 Chevy S10, was also good, although that was all in person. My first, buying my '92 Honda Accord, was a nightmare of pushy salespeople who tried to sell me what I didn't want (me: "What part of manual transmission do you not understand?") or thought I was an idiot (salesman: "Oh, this car doesn't use oil.") Aside from that, my mother was married to a used car salesman, so I spent some of my childhood in that very shady milieu. It seems to me that there has been a real change in dealer culture over the last 20 years. Or am I just deluded or plain lucky the last two times? Senket
In almost every dealership, the internet department is expanding, while the number of traditional salespersons is shrinking. People are getting used to negotiating prices over internet through e-mails to nail down terms before they go into dealerships. In and out within one hour is very possible now.
You got that right! If I get any attitude or "games" I walk out right away and never go back. There are plenty of dealerships wanting your business. When you do have a good buying experience after dealing with jerks you appreciate it.
I'll agree with hybridgrl about the sleaze. If I had to deal with the typical person who sells Toyotas, I wouldn't have bought a Prius. Returning to a Toyota dealer, this time where I'm going to school in Pensacola, I dealt with one that I'd as soon have kicked his tail into the latter part of next week. That many Toyota sales persons I've encountered act as if your purchase is virtually predestined is one thing (it isn't), this one was clearly an immigrant, probably from Central America, and decided to make his case with the old "fix or repair daily" saw when I told him that one of the other vehicles I was considering was a Ford. When I bought my Prius, I was driving my mom's '91 Cutlass Supreme (don't laugh, it hits the right spots in several places), making a final sweep of the dealers I'd recently visited. The GTO was still there, but I checked Checkered Flag one last time. In this case, the salesman really only had to not do something stupid, like the guy in Pensacola did. First he showed me a new one with Navigation (for technogeek reasons, the lack of nav and bluetooth would have been a deal breaker). I asked him about used ones, and there were two on the lot, in any color you like as long as it was black. One had nav, I put a deposit on it right then, because I was hoping someone else would have come up with something similar, so I didn't close the deal immediately. When that dealer's buyer was unable to come up with a Prius as I wanted in the time I gave him, I went and closed the deal on the car I now have. The other reason I'm a Prius owner is the dealer where I looked at the GTO. The salesman I dealt with there was very high pressure, and could not accept the fact that I needed to find out about the modifications on that car. For example, it had a cam that caused the whole car to shake at idle. Work had been done by Carolina Auto Masters(?), whose sticker was one of several that graced the radiator support. When I consider the idea of putting up with x mpg for x 0 to 60, the 16.7 mpg that car gave on its test drive was a pittance for its lusty, indecent acceleration, to say nothing of a GTO's handling. I still often dream of owning one. But, as I said, the salesman was too high pressure, I'd forgotten his name in about five minutes, meaning before we got to the car, and he'd made a number of assumptions about me that I found annoying. I might have bought the car, but, from him, not on a political bet. I don't buy the buying over the internet thing, not quite. You still have to go somewhere and actually get in the thing and drive, or you might find you've bought something less than the sum of its parts. The latest Chrysler Sebring, would likely prove an example of such a car. However, some sales people have an attitude that needs to be checked at the door.
I had to sell my Prius to myself because the salespeople didn't know how to do it. I ended up giving them pointers because I felt sorry for them.
When we bought our new Sienna in 2004, there were no bargains to be had in the Seattle metro area. With hard bargaining, we MIGHT have been able to get the price down to MSRP. I said the heck with that, and got on the internet. Found someone about 2 hours out of town, worked a deal completely via a couple of phone calls, several emails, and 1 fax, to order a car exactly how we wanted it...Saved 1500-$2000 over best we could have done in the Seattle area. Got an added surprise bonus when we drove down to pick up the car - sales tax was 1% less than seattle, so saved another $275. Now we have recently bought a Prius, after dealing with 2 toyota dealers and 1 honda dealer. No games or hassle; I'm sure the fact that we had an email from 1 toyota dealer stating "any prius on the lot for invoice" helped. Now we will not pick up the car for another week, so cannot comment on how hard sell the warranty, undercoats, etc will be...
That's kind of cute, really. Not that I've not ended up showing sales people how various features worked. I remember showing a Pontiac sales person how to use a CD changer in a brand new ('97) Grand Prix. Mind you, I'd never used a CD changer before. I'd also shown a Chevy salesperson how the MP3 disc player in a Cavalier worked, by breaking out some of my own MP3 discs, and playing them in the car. In the case of my Prius purchase, all the salesman had to do, I'll say it again, was not to offend me. Many younger Toyota salesmen do precisely that. While I do now own a Toyota, it doesn't make me a fan, or make Toyota my default choice in cars. Some Toyota salespersons fail to grasp this.
