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Internet vs. Traditional Car Buying

3113 messages,  Last post on Nov 19, 2012 at 5:43 AM

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#1 of 3113 Anyone Bought a Car This Way? by philip17

Feb 20, 2002 (3:10 pm)

Hello:
 
I'm an editor at Edmunds.com and I've written many of the advice pieces. Now I need your help.
 
I'm doing research for a story that tests the way cars are priced. Specifically: if you walk on the lot and ask for a price on a car they will probably quote you sticker price and try to stick to that. But if you go through the Internet department, the same car will immediately be discounted.
 
Has anyone had this experience? Can any of you post your stories and the prices of the cars involved. I need this information for my article.
 
Thanks for your help.
 
Philip Reed
Consumer Advice Editor
Edmunds.com

#2 of 3113 Geez by raybear

Feb 20, 2002 (3:52 pm)

How many stories do you need?
 
Truthfully, I've seen it go both ways. Somtimes the customer gets the right salesman and sometimes they get the wrong internet guy. Usually the internet or fleet managers come in low right away; where the salesman's job is to protect the dealer's profit margin the internet manager's is to move product.

#3 of 3113 We usually only get by abtseller

Feb 21, 2002 (7:16 am)

one shot at the internet customer, so we cut to the chase immediately. The lot guys try to start out higher, but will eventually get into our range.
 
How many stories do you want? We could write a book.
 
Ed

#4 of 3113 Phil by im_brentwood

Feb 21, 2002 (7:56 am)

Gimme a call if ya want...
 
I'm moving a ton of used cars on eBay and autotrader.com and I do put my "bottom-line" pricing there as a rule..
 
Bill
 
PA.. ya missed the fun this week!

#5 of 3113 internet worked for me by eimeria

Feb 21, 2002 (2:46 pm)

I used the fax/email method described by brentwood in the Acura shopping thread to get what I feel is a phenomenal price on a new 2003 Acura TL-S with Navi. I proposed what I thought was a fair price for the vehicle and emailed a ton of dealerships within about a 90 minute drive of my location. Some of the dealers didn't respond, some were down right rude, and some gave decent quotes. I also emailed a dealership that I had dealt with previously that was two hours away to see what they could do. They responded quickly, courteously and with a price significantly lower than the others. Guess who earned my business .
 
On the whole, it was a pleasant buying experience. There was none of the dickering over price or stress of negotiating. Instead, I got to do things at my own pace in an environment that I was comfortable in. The only anxiety I experienced in the whole process was in waiting for those emails responses to role back in. I would recommend it to anyone buying a new car.
 
On the flip side, I do have some recommendations for dealers. I know I may be speaking to a lot of converts already, but there are a lot of things that a dealer can do to increase the likelihood that I, as an internet buyer, will buy from you. I found that the most useful responses were from dealers that used some sort of form. These responses included some details about the car, price, destination fees, dealer prep fees, and any fees associated with titling or registering the car. By being upfront with all the not so obvious costs of a car, those dealers earned a long hard second look from me. Also, and perhaps most importantly, be courteous in your response even if the price the customer is asking is totally out of whack with what you think you can sell the car at. I sent my emails out to dealers with an offer based upon Edmund's TMV, so I did not think my offer was way out of line for my area. I received several offers that were close (but it turned out they couldn't get the color I wanted on a 2002, so I got the great deal on a 2003). However, a couple of dealers were pretty rude in their responses. One responded that they would not "devalue our product in such a way. This offer is unacceptable." While I may not have the capacity to understand the economics that drive automobile pricing beyond simple supply and demand, I am capable of figuring out that if dealer X , Y, and Z can sell that car for $200 more than my offer than it is not really "devaluing" the product that much. However, if it is unacceptable to you, suggest something that would be more reasonable. I was amazed that I could contact dealers with a stated intent to buy a car for a certain amount of money TODAY and be told "Sorry, can't do that" and not receive some sort of counter offer. To me, it would make sense to at least give me your best price. You might be a little higher, but it does no harm to ante up and get in the game. You might be a couple of hundred bucks higher, but I might be willing to pay that. Maybe your dealership is on the way home from my office or my child's daycare. I might be willing to part with a little more of my hard earned dollars for that little bit of convenience. You will never have the chance to find out and take some of my hard earned money from me if you don't at least suggest what would be a fair price for you.
 
I'm sure most car salespeople see their share of buyers who want to nickel and dime you so that they can save a buck of two. As a buyer, I want to get a price that I think is fair, to me and to you. After using the email method to purchase my new car, I'm most likely to recommend to my family, friends and co-workers the dealerships that did all the things I described above.
I personally don't think I'll buy another car by walking into a showroom to sit down and negotiate again. It's not a perfect method, but it really puts the power in the hands of the buyer. If I bought the old way and you treated me like crp, I had to get up and leave, wasting a lot of my time. If you do that to me now, one simple keystroke and PLONK! you're filed in the trash with all of the other spam that I get.
 
I do want to thank all of the great contributors to these forums. They provide a lot of information that makes the car buying experience much more palatable. If more sales people were like the ones that frequent these forums, I think most people would not have such a negative opinion of the process.

#6 of 3113 I tried to. by beachfish

Feb 21, 2002 (2:49 pm)

I bought a Forester last August the old-fashioned way - face-to-face.
 
I also looked at the Ford/Mazda Tribscape, Xterra, Pathfinder and one or two others.
 
In the process of using the Internet to research them, I wound up on manufacturers' sites that said design your car and e-mail local dealers FOR A PRICE. I believed them. HA!
 
Okay, I tried two or three. All I got back was invites to come on down and talk.
 
If I had wanted to come on down and talk I wouldn't have been sitting there typing my info into the pc, e-mailing it and waiting for an answer.
 
They lied on the sites, or they don't know what their representatives are really doing.
 
Thanks for listening.
 
John

#7 of 3113 by lonesomeduv

Feb 21, 2002 (8:16 pm)

I recently tried to obtain quotes through the Internet on an Acura TL, a Toyota Tacoma, and a Ford F-150. Each time I was given some b.s. reason that I needed to either call or "come on down to the dealership and let's talk".
 
I did not want to go down to the dealership and talk. That's why I used the internet. I wanted a damned quote, no more, no less. Why is that so frigging difficult in this business?

#8 of 3113 I've had both by garyking

Feb 21, 2002 (8:19 pm)

Last year, I got a great deal on a new Outback Sedan for the wife. Emailed the "internet rep." at the Subaru dealership, and an hour later I was offered a GREAT deal. No other dealer was willing to come within $2K of the price they gave me up front.
 
Last month I was looking for a new ML320, so I emailed the dealers & also all the internet sites like Stoneage, Autobytel, etc.
Of the 3 dealers in the area, one never replied, one quoted me FULL MSRP as their "best price" (and I was already one of their customers) after about a week, and the third dealer sent me a letter two weeks after my inquiry asking me to go to their dealership and talk to them.
 
Pissed me off so bad I went and bought a new Envoy. (With a GM Employee Discount, so internet shopping wouldn't have made any difference anyway)

#9 of 3113 by afty

Feb 22, 2002 (9:06 am)

I totally agree with the getting a quote business. I'm not emailing dealers so that I can come down and talk. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid!
 
When I was buying my Altima, I emailed 6 dealers for a quote. 3 of them called me and wanted me to come down and talk. 1 never replied. 2 gave me a price quote, and I bought from the cheaper one of those two.

#10 of 3113 But... by isellhondas

Feb 22, 2002 (9:52 am)

No smart dealer will give you a "quote" to go shop! Sure, some business will be lost that way, but a smart dealer will simply tell the shopper to bring in an offer after getting quotes from everyone else!
 
It is truly amazing to se what some people will put themselves through in their quest to get the "best" price on a car!
 
And beware of the lowball! I recently had a customer drive over 100 miles to "save" five hundred dollars on a new Civic.
 
When she got there, the car she wanted turned out to be a five speed and not the automatic she wanted!
 
" Oh...I could've sworn you wanted a stick...sorry, but the automatics are 800.00 more"
 
She stormed out, drove another 100 miles and bought the car from me.
 
Sadly, a lot of shoppers wold have simply caved in and bought the car from the store that lied to them.

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