WARNING OT POST sorry need help w/ new car purchase

I simply have not heard ANY rational argument for a car guy to purchase a new car.
None.
Nada.
Zip.
What could it be??
You actually TRUST the dealer's service dept.??
You NEED to lose the $4-10,000 dollars as you drive off the lot??
Your ego is so fragile that neighbours looking in awe at your new car actually makes you feel good??
You CARE what your neighbours THINK??
You HAVE neighbours who think??

My newest car today is a 1985 with 265,000 miles on it. It is a W123 Merc diesel, THE longest-lasting car on the planet, BAR NONE. I paid $1,750, plus T&T, over 65,000 miles ago. I've done brakes and tyres, glow plugs and filters, plus a centre section rebuild due to a Japanese bearing where a German bearing belonged (and now resides). That was only $400.00. Everything works on the car (cruise, air, all power, etc.), it uses 1 quart per 6,000 miles of 0W-30 Mobil One, yada, yada.

Would this not suffice for your family, while allowing you to put away a TON of money for college, emergencies, etc??

Just a rant, really, but I cannot see a new car.

Cosmo

 

Several years ago it was 10% on the base price and 15% on options on the sticker for markup. Those numbers will get you close. The poor salesman makes 25% of total profit and the dealer is paying interest on the vehicles sitting on the lot to the manufacture.

 

Just to respond to a few - YES i live in az NO i do not think i NEED a 4x4 anything on a daily basis , its not like i live 3 cabins down from the old unibombers shack . But here in the southwest there are plenty of times to get off the beaten path .Is this the perfect family car NOOOOOOO but i would not be drivin a mini van eww . Had enough of vans in the 70's .
I notice the drive it off the lot coment came up , well i really doubt i will drive it off the lot and slap a for sale sign on it just to loose $$$ .I do think and plan on keeping it for a very long time . Why would any car guy get a new car >?? FACTOR A WIFE also A KID , then factor in that i really do not wish to pump 15K into a vehicle that slams down gas like that old guy from the man show used to drink beer .I still have 3 outta 4 of my old rides on the road , no they are not perfect buy i can crank the key and go anytime .I wish i could buy the vehicle we want USED but its just too new . Would i get a used rental anything ?? If other people drive a rental the way i do, I would not want it .
I do not care how great thier upkeep records are, I know what it is, A RENTAL ??what car can jump like the general lee , do doughnuts in empty parking lots ?Can go through anysized mud puddle placed in front of it ?Can do the ebrake turn better than anyother car ??A RENTAL .. THANKS for all the links and help on this new car thing ya all . I did expand my search to trucks today and was shocked on that aswell . The pick-up no longer exsist's .By that i mean if you want a truck bare bones it has to be orderd .I saw trucks today that have the bed space smaller than the desk i am typing on now .The money thing is not a problem , not that we are rich, far from it , just did a home loan line of credit and now we can write some cost off our taxes ,BONUS !I asked one dealer to give me the best out the door deal , w/ sams club, discounts ,etc , then i pulled out all the info i found, Funny how the deal did get better .Guess we will see what happens next week , when i go back in the dealer trenches .BTW this thread is an education , i got more info from you in 2 days than i thought was even out there KUDOS

 

Hey scooter, try wearing a .357 on your hip. That might help in your negotiations, this is still the "wild west" after all .

Good luck on your hunt for a new-fangled conveyance.

 

No offense taken. At all. I'm sorry if my post sounded that way. I was just pointing out the parts or your post that I don't agree with.

I am proud to be a professional in the car business. Yes, there are a ton of shady dealerships. Maybe even most of them. That's why you have to do your research. And that's also why I'm proud of the why we do business. I menu sell all of my products. Each product is written down on a "menu", with how much it'll add to your payment to purchase it. If you want to know the actual total dollar amount of an item, I'll tell you straight up, first time you ask. And I make more, per deal, than the guys trying to sneak stuff in. Because I know how to sell, and I believe in my products. The REAL old fashioned way.

 

The company I work for offered to us the "X-Plan"
pretty cut and dry on pricing. I "believe" its 4% above what a ford emplyee can purchase a vehicle for, PLUS rebates. Chevy and dodge has it also. My real problem was trying to get the most out of my trade-in as they could'nt make it up on the new truck.

I bought a new f-250 Diesel lariat just last week. Plus the dealership offered free oil changes for life. Has anyone priced oil changes on a diesel

 

I agree Scooter, that there are DEFINITELY reasons to buy a new car... and they usually don't have to do so much with us as with the other people in our lives, or that it HAS to be reliable and have A/C (God knows my girlfriend can't even change a tire on her own, much less do side of the road fixes - plus she's scared of the Caddy ), or things like that. If you'll indulge me, I'll tell you a story about buying my 350Z. First off, I'm always as nice as humanly possible to the salesman, kinda that "get him on my side" kinda deal...

So I was looking at the 350Z, the RX-8, and the Mazda6 Sportwagon... and before anyone starts with me, I daily drive my '62 Caddy and my '55 Merc is almost up and runnin' and my '64 Continental is still slowly rotting in the backyard, so back off )... the first thing I did was go to Barnes and Noble, sat in their $8.50-a-cup coffee shop, and read a "car buying made easy" book cover to cover and then put it back on the shelf. That's where I got edmunds.com, and as said before, it truly is a godsend...

I then went on the Nissan and Mazda websites, and searched the local dealer's inventories. I'm not sure Jeep has that, but it's worth a shot. I had a few things I NEEDED and a few I wanted: needs were that it was black or silver but preferably black, that it was stripped (base model, no navigation or any of that ****), cloth interior (no leather), and that I could row it through the gears on my own. I found three 350Zs, a ton of RX-8s, and one Mazda6 Wagon.

The websites even have all of the options listed, so you can go right to Edmunds and do the math to see what the dealer paid for the car. Edmunds has their TMV price, and the book I read recommended to add 4-5% to the price of the car, so I kind of split the difference and multiplied the price I had for dealer cost by 1.045 to get 4.5% over what they paid. I went before the lots opened to a few of them, and one of my two 350Zs had all sorts of **** added (exhaust, wheels) to the tune of almost $10,000 more. So I learned that the stuff you can find on the website is how it was shipped to the dealer, but they can add on stuff.

That day when the dealers opened, I went armed with my twenty pages of notes on prices, edmunds printouts, manufacturer printouts, etc and drove all three cars, and to me there was no comparison, I knew I wanted the 350Z, which was the last one I drove. I told the salesmen at all of the dealerships that I had somewhere to be so I just wanted to test drive really quick and I'd be back if I was interested to save myself the "let me introduce you to my manager, and his manager, and his manager" ****... if that ever happened, I would politely meet them and when they'd say "what would it take to sell you this car today" I would say "give it to me for $10,000 under MSRP and you've got a deal" in a joking way, then let them know I was just comparison shopping.

So I got done with my test drive at Nissan of Scottsdale and knew right then I wanted the car. I asked the salesman to give me some preliminary figures real quick, cause remember I had somewhere to be He gave me a figure and I left.

I actually came back later that night, with research still in hand, and said that I wanted to see if we could make a deal (note that I didn't say that I wanted that car)... I went in with my girlfriend, and he allowed me to take her out in it, since it's only a two-seater... he said that's kind of against policy not to have a salesman - maybe he was blowing smoke up my ***, either way I thought it was cool and I thought it may've had something to do with the relationship building I had done the first time I came in.

So we sat at his desk and he gave me the same price he had given me before. I told him I wanted to do all of the deals separately (he knew that I had read that somewhere and said so) and he was very willing. He tried to pull the whole "what do you want your payment to be," and I kept jokingly saying 3 bucks until he realized that I wasn't going to do it that way. I told him what I wanted for my trade (and I was very reasonable with that knowing that I wouldn't get a ton), and I gave him a figure that was 4.5% over their cost for the Z, and he did the whole "let me ask my manager" thing...

We went back and forth for quite a while with me saying no a lot (it's a great word in these situations)... He talked about only making x amount of money on the car, and I mentioned that they have dealer programs, holdbacks, all that stuff that is unpublished, and if he wanted to sell one more car and get one off the lot then to give me my deal, and he could make money off of the next person...

I also told him there was another Z that met my criteria at ABC Nissan, and so if he couldn't make me the deal then I'd go there, and then if they couldn't, then I'd just keep my current car. I've always gone in with "I'm not totally sure about this one because there's another one I'm interested in..."

I saw so many people in there that looked like deer in headlights or that were total ***holes to the salesmen... they get that **** all day long, I recommed that you stand out as the "nice guy" who actually treated them like a human being (no I'm not a car salesman, but I am a social worker )... I'm just straight up and honest with them, and that tends to work for me, because then for the most part they will be the same way to me... I don't really like the post earlier about "screwing the dealer"... I guess that's just not my style, and I believe too much in karma...

So he finally comes back (probably the sixth time) with the figures exactly the way I want them. Then he says there's $800 more for tint and the ever-lovin' true coat... and I said to him I was willing to pay for the tint (although I did mention that it was a little costly) but there was no way I was paying for the paint protectant. He said that it was already on the car, so I said "If you take that cost off, you're at my number. If not, then I guess we're $500 over and that wasn't the deal I was looking for."

He went back to his manager (seventh time now) and came back and gave me the deal I had wanted three hours before - and I did let him know that we could've saved all of this trouble and I could be driving my new car by now, but we had a laugh over the whole thing... my girlfriend was looking at the Muranos, and at the end my salesman said, "When you come to buy one, just don't bring HIM with you," pointing to me... he's a pretty funny old French guy, used to race in Europe...

I recommend Nissan of Scottsdale to everyone I come in contact with, and I still go back there occasionally on my way home from work. I needed a ***le notarized to sell a '49 Chevy, I went in to Nissan and asked my salesman if they had a notary that could just do it real quick for me... he took me into the back offices, and told a woman what I needed, and she notarized the ***le for me right there... my salesman also said that if I wanted any Nismo accessories to let him know and he'll say he's my relative so I can get the 20% employee discount... I even started hanging out with another one of the salesmen there who's more my age, he just bought a 350Z as well...

They're good people down there, and they have to go through the whole "car salesman" procedure, but by the last few times he was checking with the manager he was rolling his eyes at me, as if to say, "I know you won't go for the next thing they come up with, but they won't listen to me and keep telling me to try..."

If you'd be willing to look at the Nissans, I'd even meet you down there and introduce you as a friend of mine... I almost always get good service when I do that tiny part of relationship building... not to be unpatriotic, but I think American dealerships are the worst... I went with my Mom to look at Suburbans at Van Chevrolet, and they were like ****in vultures, man! I swear the car was swarmed by about 10 salesman before we even had the door open...

Whatever you get, just go in there armed with all of your research, be cool to the guy, and let them know that you know how this works (because you have the HAMB!!) and that you're very willing to walk if you don't get the deal you want.

My 2 cents (or 200, it seems)... I guess since this has turned into a novel, I should put one of these:

THE END.

Longroof

 

Mike i think it may take a 45 w/ the option of the bazooka upgrade .
Longroof good tale of great service and deal ya have there and if i was in the nissan market i would make that trip for sure .
The problem i have is i sold my 1971 jeepsteer commando and NEVER should have .Now they come out w/ this ultru premo jeep product(atleast as i see it) and it will do just about everything i need in a vehicle .Yes it does not get great milage 16-20 , but like i stated before much better than the 4-6 i am gettin now .It is also a go anywhere type of vehicle i dig that freedom .Also the a convertable , and the model tows enough to be able to get a trailer and still make it a sudo workhorse .The way i have been able to be a stay at home dad to my lil one is buying stuff like estates and bring the stuff home and reselling it .The 12-14 foot trailer it will tow is also bigger than the 8 ft box i am using now .
This is one of the toughest things i have done cuz i am of the old car mind set , and would dig nothing more than to get than hidden valley ranch truck as my workhorse .Will it do the job Yes , will i be able to take it across 3 states on vacation w/ my wife and kid uuhhh prob not and keep everybody happy .
The truck selection is worse gas milage , yet better payload , not a remoavble top (except the ssr , and thats a 2 seater for 50 K).
I think i may have to gather all the info and go to the dealer armed to the teeth , and just may look like on of the jackson lawyers wheeling in all the do***ents .Thanks again for savin us some buck s and time .Also i will add to the list comsumer reports .I just got the whole 05 line-up at my fingertips for 5 buxs .Just a hint for anyone else going through this same deal .You can compare everything .
THANKS AGAIN