Car buying advice
 

I know two senior villages that were grossly taken advantage of at a local chain of car dealers. I won't mention names as this also may apply to other dealers. It does begin with a "J". In both instances the dealers sold them a new car for several thousand dollars above the MSRP or Government Monroney Label. These dealers add a second sticker to the window with options they added or will add that are unnecessary and overpriced. When you go to a dealer do your homework. Get and estimate of your trade in value at Kelley Blue Book | New and Used Car Price Values, Expert Car Reviews, Carvana.com or a Carmax. Only negotiate from the Manufacturer Label. If the dealer won't, find one that will. When shopping for a used car check Kelley Blue Book | New and Used Car Price Values, Expert Car Reviews, Autotrader.com or Car Gurus.com

Eight out of ten new cars purchased are from a dealer that added additional cost that should not have been added. Car dealers are not working for you but for the dealership. Where they get you is the sales person closes the deal at a particular final price and then when you sit down with the financial guy to sign the papers he takes you to the cleaners with additional cost. He is well trained, smarter than most buyers.

We had a discussion about this topic.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...g-tips-310793/

Some of us have learned to truly enjoy the car buying experience.

Car sales people are not your friends.

Some of us like going to the dentist too!

Buy used, there are so many beautiful low mileage used cars available in a 55+ community that have never seen northern snow and the associated road salt and potholes. Cars primarily depreciate because of age, so there are great deals older low mileage vehicles.

Wrong, once you get to know a salesman and he understands what you want and what you know, they will generally see it your way rather than let you walk out the door. I just bought a new car yesterday, I studied for several days what was available and what the prices were, I received a cash offer value of my trade from Carnova so I knew exactly what it was worth to them. I went in with a price in mind, made my offer, they came back with a $2,300 higher price which included county tax, various fees, and the awesome $900 dealer fee, there were also about $900 in dealer added items. I explained that my offer was a "Out the Door" offer and that is all I was willing to pay for the car and they accepted it. I did not pay the extra fees nor did I pay for the dealer added items. They just went back and fudged the numbers to cover those items on their end but it did not affect the final out the door price that I paid. That being said I did the same thing with the "J" dealer that the OP is referring to 3 years ago, that one took 4 hours but I got the same results as i got up and left and they chased me down in the parking lot to come back and sign the papers. You can't blame them for trying, you have to be prepared for it and don't fall for all those extra charges.

About two years ago I remember sitting in the Leesburg Jenkins Hyundai show room after having just taken a test drive of a new 2018 Kona Limited. I was on the Hyundai of Central Florida of Clermont website earlier and they advertised the Kona Limited (turbo & leather) for $24,200 with NO dealer fees or any other extras, the floor mats are even included.

The Jenkins sales manager comes over and said we'll give you $24,500 for your trade and a $500 veteran discount, so I'm thinking they're going to give me money back. Then he said, it's just your car and $3600 and we have a deal. As I sat there I saw an older couple being lead by a smiling friendly salesman to another desk, it reminded me of leading the lambs to slaughter. I said to the manager, write that down and I'll think about it and left.

I went right over to HOCF in Clermont, drove a Kona and went inside while they test drove my car. They came back and said, we'll give you $24,000 for your trade. At first you think, wow, Jenkins will give me $500 more for my car. I said, what the bottom line. They said the car is $24,200, so it's your car and $200. Don't be fooled by what they give for your trade, just compare the out the door prices. For one thing, since there was only $200 difference in the sales price and trade in price, my sales tax was only $14.00, with title and tag it was only $200 in extras, everything else in the car was included in the price.

Everytime I see a Jenkins plate on the back of a Hyundai, I think to myself, that person paid too much for convenience. In 2013 I bought a Hyundai Veloster Turbo in Winter Haven because they gave me the KBB price for the car and for my trade, they were $3,000 cheaper than Jenkins. I never drove the 90 minutes each way to Winter Haven to get the car serviced, took it to the nice new Jenkins dealer in Ocala and let them do the maintenance, I got a great price and convenience of a local dealership. Jenkins doesn't care where you bought the care when they service the car.

Hyundai of Central Florida is about a beautiful newer dealer in Clermont, about a 45 minute drive on Hwy 50 just a few miles east of Hwy 27 towards Orlando. It's next to the Toyota and Chevy dealers.

https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...94&oe=60349B81

https://www.hyundaicfl.com/?utm_term...caAtQcEALw_wcB

I agree, except I would never spend 4 hours at a dealership. If you do your research and know how much the car is worth, most dealers will accept the price. I give them about 15 minutes and then I am gone. The trick is to convince them that you will not negotiate, but you will buy the car immediately or you will be leaving and never come back. And, do not sit in their little office. Stay in the lounge and drink their free coffee.

Before you go car shopping you best do your homework first. Research to know what your trade value is by using Edmunds, NADA vehicle value or Kelly Blue Book. Know what new vehicles you may be interested in purchasing then look up what dealer cost is on those vehicles based on what model level you want to buy.
Going car shopping unprepared is just asking for yourself to be taken advantage of.
Do not shop at dealers that have any type of added profit on the vehicle window sticker.
Jenkins Dealers are notorious for this practice.
Look over the dealers internet site for the vehicle you may want. I have found that dealing only with the internet manager at a dealer will get you your best pricing and this all starts with a phone call.
This process will save you time, money and brain damage.

Guess we will have to agree to disagree.

They work for someone who wants to maximize profitability.

You go in and they want to sell a car but they do have ways to squeeze extra dollars out of you and if they see a sucker let the buyer beware.

Just another great statement Oh thanks stu

You cannot even talk about price in 15 minutes. I was there on a Saturday and staff was short because of a car show in Daytona, I watched the salesman wait in line to talk with one of the managers, he had to wait his turn just like everyone else that was there and it was packed. It was well worth the wait to get the price I wanted and all the dealer add ons free. I realized several hundred dollars per hour so not a big deal.

These salesman are real people, they do what they are told and hope for the best trying to feed their families and most of them don't last more than a few months. On any larger purchase the buyer should always be aware and if they didn't do their homework they are not suckers, simply ill-informed and they paid the price for not doing their homework. Everyone that owns a business wants to maximize their profits.

I'm glad you got a good price. The last car I bought, I selected the car I wanted, took a test drive, allowed the dealer to inspect my trade-in, got the dealer's price in writing and a copy of the window sticker, and went home. Two days later, I retuned with an appointment, handed the salesman my out-the-door price on a piece of paper, showed him my checkbook, and trade-in title. I told him that I would wait in the lounge and that he had 15 minutes to accept the price and start the paperwork, or I was leaving. Within 10 minutes, the sales manager came out, and said the he would be losing 200 dollars if he accepted my price. I thanked him and told him that I didn't want him to lose money, so I would just buy the car from another dealer. When I turned and started to walk away, he immediately shook my hand and said we had a deal. It was a Thursday morning, not a Saturday.

I am happy to shop at dealers who have a separate window sticker with added items. Just don't pay for them.

And there you go, you did your homework and it paid off, that's the only way to do it. It's easier to figure out trades now as sites such as Carvana will give you a 7 day guaranteed price to buy your car, a little lower than you would get selling it to an individual but a good number to use on a trade to save on sales tax. It used to be fun being cars but not so much any more.

Dealerships are in business to make money. It's makes no difference if you are young or old, if you are not prepared, you will not come out on top of a professional salesman.

It's not fair to say the dealer took advantage of some senior citizens. Did the dealer come to their house and trick them into buying a car they did not want or need?

The people went to the dealership and simply did not get as good of a deal as sharper people could have.

I agree, but this situation is unique to car buying. Most retail businesses charge the same price to all customers. But, typically, uninformed car buyers will pay approximately $2,000 to $4,000 more than a savvy buyer will pay for the same car.

Dealerships know the people who they can generally get to pay more for a car and thus do take advantage of many people.

Florida full of rip-off artist, especially car dealers!

Yes, it is fair, they are rip-off artist

If a dealer accepts YOUR OFFER with little or no haggling YOU PAID TOO MUCH no matter how much research you did.

Every "sucker" who overpays only helps you to get a better deal. :D

Don't "feel sorry" for someone who overpaid because it's THEIR fault for not asking someone (friend or family) to help or not doing their "due diligence." Also, some people willingly pay sticker price just because they don't want to hassle and have plenty of money so as to not to give a damn. I have someone in my "extended" family like that. They have so much money they don't know what to do with it. That doesn't mean they were gouged it means they don't care. They do get VERY WELL taken care of by the dealers .... :) and no, they don't buy "luxury" cars.

I don't believe they are taking advantage of anyone. That's called SELLING. That's what they get paid for. Get the most they can. Now if they blatantly lie or charge for things they don't provide that's another story. It's up to a BUYER to beat up on the salesman. If they don't they shouldn't be buying anything over $50 without assistance or hiring a 3rd party buyer to represent them.


High-Ticket Sales: 12 Ways to Sell an Expensive Product

When test driving a used car from a dealer and they insist that they HOLD your drivers license while you are on the test drive, do not allow it.

Some great stories
 

When my kids started being of the age to drive I went on my long crusade of buying cars I think I bought six cars for three kids over 6 years. My best friend's friend worked for a car dealer and the first car we bought was a VW convertible which is what my daughter wanted. Being a used car it had a sticker on it. The nice sales lady who knew we were friends of a friend simply took $4,000 off the used car sticker price. That was probably the easiest sale she ever made in half an hour and the easiest negotiation I never had to do that's just shows you how much they make on used cars. Just so you know new cars are marked up eight to 12% maximum and then the dealers can get advertising rebates floor rebates, all these are rebates besides the consumer rebates of 0% and specific car model and option rebates buying a new car itself is crazy and you'll probably lose 5 to $10,000 in one year in depreciation but that's up to you. I firmly believe most car salesmen are there to take up your time and get you to be impatient to just accept an offer after two or three hours. As others have said above most car salesman last one or two months because it's truly a hard job with a lot of rejection. You have to research the car you want you have to know what the wholesale value of your used car is and keep in mind it has to be three to $4,000 below what the retail is. The internet is your friend get to doing some research. The finance manager today is much more than that you should either know

My uncle sold GM Cars after retiring from the military. He told me the magic words are "Out the door price". Of course find out the fair value before shopping, using Kelly Blue Book find out what the state tax will be and add it in. Then state all negotiation is on the "out the door price" and don't let them charge you more than the car is worth - hopefully get it for less. The dealers can't add extra items and charge you for them if you sue "out the door price". If there is something dealers cannot change (all I've been to say they cannot take away one certain fee whose name I have forgotten) then either try to get them below Kelly Blue Book or live with that one fee.

Every dealership will appraise your car at a different value.So before you call somebody a rip off artist you should understand how everything works. Sounds like most of you people have never been in business for yourself.

Go to You Tube and search for “Homework Guy” or “Auto Advocate” (there are many others) for great advice on avoiding unnecessary auto dealer costs and tricks. You also need to grow a spine when you step onto the dealer lot to avoid their sales techniques and bull****. I hate the whole process.

Only ever had new cars when employer supplied them.
Personal cars I have always bought private, low mileage used in top condition.
As soon as you drive a new car from showroom, you have lost at least 15-20% of what you pay, probably more.
Never seen the point in throwing that amount away for a machine.
That's another holiday somewhere nice!

Exactly. Anyone who gets ripped off buying a car is just lazy. Even if youre there and run into a price youre not sure about, so? Go home, research then go back. Are you that desperate for a car that you have to buy on first visit? Do you buy a house in one day, first visit without doing some research? (Stupid question, I guess, because Im sure some do and then whine about the outcome). You are in charge of your own life. If you get ripped? Well, sorry. Thats kinda your fault

I bought a new SUV from the "J" dealer last March...the dealer add-on sticker included almost $3,000 of extra stuff (mats, under coating, paint protection, wheel locks, etc). I told them I didn't want any of the extra stuff and to remove them. He said it would cost him more to remove them so just left everything in place without charging extra. They gave me a very fair value for my trade-in and I was pleased with the negotiated out the door price. I did have to go through the whole salesman/sales manager song and dance and was about ready to bail out when they finally made it happen. Patience, persistence, and homework!!!

On April 24th I sold them my Honda Van and they assured me that after paying off my loan balance I would receive a check in about 5-7 business days. A week went by and I decided to check with Honda Finance. They did not receive payment. When I went back to Jenkins to ask why they hadn't sent payment, they couldn't find any paperwork showing they had purchased my vehicle even though my van was posted for sale on their website. They made me fill out everything all over again. By this time my payment to the finance company was past due. Another week passed and still no money from Jenkins. Their Manager told me that they were waiting for the title and release of lien. Furious, I complained to Honda Corporate Headquarters. After calling Jenkins they discovered that the dealer not only had the title in hand but had sold my van without paying me. Finally, on May 17, almost a month after my first visit and numerous phone calls between Honda Corporate, American Honda Finance and the Better Business Bureau I was paid. If you're thinking of buying a Honda I strongly suggest not using Jenkins.

All the dealers do it. Do your homework and if your not computer savvy enough to look it up enlist the help of a friend or neighbor. Bring your son, daughter or younger neighbor when you do the deal.

Your advice of course is well founded and easily documented. It would be greatly appreciated if you would share the dealerships. If you have a bad landscaper or painter who took you to task would you not be emboldened to name names. if bad enough to write about it should be bad enough to name

I bought a car from a multi-store dealership whose name begins with a J. No issues. If a man or woman buys a car in their senior years and “gets taken”, it is their own fault. With 40 or 50 years experience buying vehicles, there is no comprehensible reason to overpay. That is just being stupid. We all need to remember dealerships require the P word, PROFIT. The more the better. Every salesman and every sales manager is rated by two things, sales numbers and profit. Every auto buyer needs to remember that simple fact.

When buying a car remember there are three negotiations going on. The value of your trade, the price you'll pay for the new car, and the interest rate if your financing. Then when you go to the finance desk, buy nothing, got it? Buy nothing. I sold cars for a while at a friend's Dad's Ford Dealership when I went to college, and I was well trained. The salesman is not your friend. Do your pre-buy research, and remember the three things your negotiating. And do not buy any extras from the finance MGR.

Just tell them you want to hold the dealership owners drivers license while they evaluate you’re trade in. :)

You know why they want the drivers license? So while you out driving they can bring up you private information.

The key to buying cars (at dealers) is apparent in these replies...... #1 Do your homework before any negotiating. #2 Set your bottom line price and be prepared to walk out.

Use a dealers internet sales desk. You do all the info exchange via your computer and focus only on the out the door price, the one you already have researched. There are dealers within an hour to ninety minute drive that will give you the price you are looking for and even deliver the vehicle you purchased. I have bought my last three cars this way and in my opinion the individual you are dealing with via their internet sales group is more accommodating and more importantly you’re not sitting there for four hours