Car Buying Experience

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
My mom just bought a 2006 Impala LT today. I helped her out with the salesman. She wanted the light gray interior which looks like ass with the fake wood so she had to order the aluminum interior trim because Chevy only offers it as an option (which is really stupid-fake wood doesn't look very good next to grey).

It will take 6 weeks to get the car. here's the kicker-the red tag sale ends on Jan 3, and the dealer said if they don't get the car by then than they can't give her the red tag price! Is this insane or what? She signed the contract today, so why should it matter when the car arrives at the dealer?

I told them if she doesn't get the red tag price (the one on the contract) then she isn't taking the car. They basically said OK.

What is up with that!? Does GM have its collective head up its ass?

That took what would have been a good car buying experience to an eye rolling experience.

In any case, it is on order as we speak. Glacier Blue with a Grey interior and aluminum trim, power seats, CD Player, and I had her get the antilock brakes and traction control.

Total price=$21,800.

There is a rebate choice of $1,000 rebate or 1.9% financing for 36 months. The regular rate would most likely be 5.9%. I think the lower financing rate would be better?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    regreg Posts: 832member
    The impala is one of chevy's better models and they figure they can sell it when it comes in. On general principal I would have just walked out on this salesman. Once I had gotten home I would then start making calls to the car dealership and sending emails to Chevy corporate headquaters, cc'ing the dealership and salesman. It is not unusual to get calls back when you do this and they will try to make some type of amends. When we take our car in for repairs or whatever, we always get a call asking us to give them 5's in the company reviews for the work done. This includes company personel. The companies are not doing so well that they can afford to lose sales.



    reg
  • Reply 2 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by reg

    The impala is one of chevy's better models and they figure they can sell it when it comes in. On general principal I would have just walked out on this salesman. Once I had gotten home I would then start making calls to the car dealership and sending emails to Chevy corporate headquaters, cc'ing the dealership and salesman. It is not unusual to get calls back when you do this and they will try to make some type of amends. When we take our car in for repairs or whatever, we always get a call asking us to give them 5's in the company reviews for the work done. This includes company personel. The companies are not doing so well that they can afford to lose sales.



    reg




    Welp, I would have been angrier had they not given me a decent price to begin with. The salesman was actually a nice guy and even drove the car to my mothers house to make sure it would fit in her garage.

    He called over the manager when I questioned the policy and he said that was GM's policy. The funny thing is, the dealership is GM owned!

    I am planning to offer to meet them half way if it gets there after Jan3. My mother really wants the car and her car has a oil leak, and she doesnt want to go through the purchase experience again.

    Basically the red tag price was only $600 less than their original offer, which was $1000 less than their competing dealership. I am going to just tell them to charge her $300 more and split it. If they dont agree to that I will be surprised.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    regreg Posts: 832member
    I would wait till the very last moment before making any other offer. I would expect the car to make it several weeks early. The longest I have had to wait for a new car with non-standard options is 3 1/2 weeks.



    reg
  • Reply 4 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by reg

    I would wait till the very last moment before making any other offer. I would expect the car to make it several weeks early. The longest I have had to wait for a new car with non-standard options is 3 1/2 weeks.



    reg




    I plan on waiting until the car actually comes in. I want to see what their response is first.



    Now, I'm trying to decide whether she should take the $1000 rebate or get 1.9% financing for 36 months. She is going to put 10 grand down, so the monthly payments actually come out a little lower with the 5.9%, however, she ends up paying more interest on the total price of the car. I hope I'm figuring this out right-

    $13,000 at 1.9% for 36 months vs.

    $12,000 at 5.9% for 36 months.

    I assume she wouldn't get a regular rate above 5.9% since she has excellent credit.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    regreg Posts: 832member
    Auto Rate Calculator . This is a site that will help you to figure things out. You will save money by taking the rebate if the 2 rates are 1.9 and 5.9. The site now shows that the over night rate is 8.31. At that rate it is cheaper to 1.9 percent.



    reg
  • Reply 6 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by reg

    Auto Rate Calculator . This is a site that will help you to figure things out. You will save money by taking the rebate if the 2 rates are 1.9 and 5.9. The site now shows that the over night rate is 8.31. At that rate it is cheaper to 1.9 percent.



    reg




    I think she will go with the 1.9%, especially at that rate. I guess we'll have to see what the rate is at the time she picks up the car.

    I thought for sure it would be cheaper with the 1.9% vs the 5.9% but i guess the $1,000 lower price makes more of a difference than I thought.
  • Reply 7 of 17
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    i hate buying cars. i really hate car salespeople. i've only dealt with two that i didn't want to stab in the eye within five minutes. and why, oh WHY, can i not just f'n buy a car for the price ont he commercial?!? i see an ad for a computer at a certain price, and i can go t the store and buy it FOR THAT D@MN PRICE. yet automobiles exist on this other-wordly plane where they role dice in a back room to come up with prices and discounts, and magnetic poetry sets to come up with added features that are inextricably HEWN into the car's structure, and you have to pay for. and if anythign falls off your car pulling out of the lot, the salesperson, who WAS your best freind 38 seconds ago, now can't remember your name, and keeps transferring you to the home office in omaha every time you call.



    i really, REALLY hate buying cars.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    I usually hate it also. Believe it or not, this salesman was actually a good guy, not phony at all, no sales pitch, very mellow.

    He gave me the same price that he gave me a few weeks ago when my mom was first looking, and then took $600 off for the red tag sale which was fine.

    Only then were we told about that delivery by date crap and unfortunately that really is GM policy and the salesman didnt like it either.

    What that did was take an actually pleasant car buying experience and added some nausea to it. Really unfortunate that car companies dont realize what a turn-off that is.



    Also, screw the red tag, just go to no-haggle pricing like Saturn. If you want to add a sale to get buyers in during a slow time just offer 0% financing.
  • Reply 9 of 17
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    The internet and general access to real consumer information is gradually changing the culture of car sales, but I will never understand why an industry elected to turn their sales experience into something most people would rank well under getting a root canal.



    I guess the dealerships figured that increased profit on head exploding bullshit made up for a certain segment of the population hating them with the intensity of a thousand suns, and frankly I would guess that most people never realize how badly they are being used.



    I have half a dozen completely insane car dealership stories, each more horrific than the last, and I know that I've probably had a relatively good time of it.



    Whenever sales slump and the manufacturers start wringing their hands, I always wonder "Gee, do you think you maybe taking your dealerships out of the hands of the sleaziest people in the world might help with moving your product?"
  • Reply 10 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    This is true. Thats one of the reasons Saturn gets such high sales satisfaction results is because they arent bothered by salespeople and they know what price they will be paying first.

    I actually had a price in mind when i first went to that Chevy dealership because I had gotten a price on the lower level Impala from another dealer a couple weeks prior.

    When this new dealer quoted me a price for the next model up it was the same price as i was earlier quoted for the base model. No haggling necessary, I was pleased with the price.

    Add in the red tag savings of $600 and that sealed it. Then they had to ruin it with that be here by jan3 gimmick.

    I guess they didnt want to ruin their record and have a happy customer!
  • Reply 11 of 17
    Typically, any sort of promotion applies only "when taken from dealer's stock", and will say so in the advertisement copy (either spoken or written). The idea is to move cars off the lot to make room for cars being made at the factory. By not purchasing from the lot, essentially from the factory, you've bypassed the need for the incentive. I'm actually surpised that you got it at all.



    That said, unless what you want is very rare, most dealers will try to locate that car from other area dealers and have that car shipped to yours, if available.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by scottiB

    Typically, any sort of promotion applies only "when taken from dealer's stock", and will say so in the advertisement copy (either spoken or written). The idea is to move cars off the lot to make room for cars being made at the factory. By not purchasing from the lot, essentially from the factory, you've bypassed the need for the incentive. I'm actually surpised that you got it at all.



    That said, unless what you want is very rare, most dealers will try to locate that car from other area dealers and have that car shipped to yours, if available.




    He checked, there were none.

    He realized we came in quicker than we planned just for the red tag deal so they gave it to us. They only had a few on the lot anyway.

    Now, I just have to hope GM doesn't go out of business!
  • Reply 13 of 17
    I will be ordering a Scion tC relatively soon, and among the great things about this car is Scion's Pure Price system. What you see is what you pay. Hoorah.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DanMacMan

    I will be ordering a Scion tC relatively soon, and among the great things about this car is Scion's Pure Price system. What you see is what you pay. Hoorah.



    I can't bring myself to buy foreign, especially Toyota.

    The only Japanese cars I can see buying are Mazda (controlled by Ford), or Suzuki (controlled by GM-although most of their cars are Korean).



    If it were me buying a car I'd go for either the Mazda3, Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G6, Suzuki Reno, or Chevy Malibu
  • Reply 15 of 17
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DanMacMan

    I will be ordering a Scion tC relatively soon, and among the great things about this car is Scion's Pure Price system. What you see is what you pay. Hoorah.



    Yeah, I think the smarter manufacturers are figuring out that if they want to build all important brand loyalty through a marquee that skews "young", they had best not kill the "hip" vibe by making the showrooms reek of sweat and desperation.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    First of all, the dealers are independent of the manufacture. Second, I would call GM itself. I believe is as long as you order the car and put a deposit on it, you should get the red tag pricing. I think the dealer is just BS'ing you just to get more money out of you. I am not sure 100% of GM's policy on this though. Seriously though, the Impala is really nice. Especially the SS with the LS4. I would search around at more Chevy dealers and see if they have a model you would like for your mom, even if you have to drive 50 miles. You have to go out of your way to buy a car sometimes as it is a big investment. Hope everything works out for you.



    PS: Yes, go American only buying! I just got a Chevy Equinox and it rocks!
  • Reply 17 of 17
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by quagmire

    First of all, the dealers are independent of the manufacture. Second, I would call GM itself. I believe is as long as you order the car and put a deposit on it, you should get the red tag pricing. I think the dealer is just BS'ing you just to get more money out of you. I am not sure 100% of GM's policy on this though. Seriously though, the Impala is really nice. Especially the SS with the LS4. I would search around at more Chevy dealers and see if they have a model you would like for your mom, even if you have to drive 50 miles. You have to go out of your way to buy a car sometimes as it is a big investment. Hope everything works out for you.



    PS: Yes, go American only buying! I just got a Chevy Equinox and it rocks!




    Awesome, hope you like the 'Nox.

    There isn't an Impala like the one she likes anywhere except NJ, which is too far.

    Who knows, maybe there will be a even better sale after jan3?

    I personally prefer she buy the Buick LaCrosse, but she really likes the Impala and thats what matters most.
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