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Forums
Smart Shopper Internet vs. Traditional Car Buying
3011 messages, Last post on Aug 27, 2009 at 10:23 AM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: venture (May 05, 2009 5:21 pm)
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Replying to: kirstie_h (May 06, 2009 9:59 am) True. But, the popcorn is fresh and the kool-aid extra sweet... so it evens out. 
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Hi All: Well I went ahead and bought the above-mentioned SUV. My buying experience did not quite go as anticipated. I bought it at few hundred below invoice but I think I could have done better. First of all my wife was interested in the Pilot, Highlander and some SUV from Mazda, Infiniti, Lexus and Audi. She did not like the Audi, Mazada or Infiniti at all. For different reasons we eliminated the Lexus so that left the Highlander. My wife test drove the Highlander and was surprised how easy it was to drive; and then we went and drove the Pilot. It was not as smooth as the Highlander; but she liked the features and amenities that came with the Pilot. I had intended on going with my wife as she wanted to test drive the cars and then I would leave and internet shop. One thing we found via internet and some dealers we visited was the Touring model especially with the NAV and RES is not widely available. A few dealers had no Pilots or a very limited selection. I had an idea of what I wanted to pay and they came back a little below list and I said not good enough. Well I got up to leave and grrr..my wife stayed seated. I really wanted to leave to internet shop. When the saleman left to get get a new price I was like let's go...and look around. I learned not to take my wife I should have sent her by herself. She is kind of impatient and once she makes up her mind she wants it. After a lot of back and forth we settled on a little below invoice....but then they did not have the color we wanted. Again I wanted to walk and look around; but in the end the dealer said they would get one at that price. The internet helped a lot to assist me on knowing a general market price. I wish I could have shopped more that way but..oh well. I think I could have done better if I was at the dealer by myself as I was in no hurry to buy one--which I told the dealer unless it is at the right price. Regards, JC
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Replying to: jungle_cat (Jul 04, 2009 9:08 am) |
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Replying to: jungle_cat (Jul 04, 2009 9:08 am) I would say,,a Honda for below invoice at the color u wanted--I think you did really well.Not bad.. Enjoy your Pilot.... |
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This is my first post here. Forgive me if it's been answered before. I made an attempt at searching for the topic but came up empty. I'm a big fan of internet research and shopping, and I used Edmunds a great deal to help with the purchase of my wife's '01 Passat and my '04 4Runner. We've started looking at new cars for her and I'm starting the process again. Here's the dilemma I'm running into. After we've picked some vehicles we're interested in, we have to go test drive them to see which onse we like. To do that we've just headed over to the dealership and grabbed a salesperson. So once we've decided which vehicle we want, where do we begin with the negotiating process? I'd love to try and bypass the typical haggling and contact the internet or fleet manager, but it doesn't seem fair to skip over the saleperson that took their time to test drive the vehicle with me. Do I start by contacting them and asking for their price? Or should I start with Edmunds TMV and tell them what I'm willing to pay? I plan on getting prices from other dealers that I haven't visited in person, so should I just wait for quotes from them so I have something to show the dealers here? Is there some other way to go about getting test drives if you plan on doing internet shopping? Any insight would be appreciated.
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Replying to: g_billings (Jul 10, 2009 6:05 pm) tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper |
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Replying to: g_billings (Jul 10, 2009 6:05 pm) You went to drive the vehicle, and a salesperson helped you out. Now you decided you do like this vehicle but want to make sure you will get the best price. If you're not sure what the best price is, get quotes from other dealers to see what range they're in. After you get quotes go back to the salesperson (if you were ahppy with his or her service) that helped you out in during the test drive and give him a chance to match or beat the deal. If he does the buy the car from him. If you do know waht target price is achievable and what you want to pay, save yourself time and hassle, and go back to the test drive salesperson and make an offer with him to buy the car. If you by pass the salesperson and go to fleet or internet manager then chances are they'll have to split the deal with that salesperson anyways. Fleet will not always deal with you unless you're buying a few cars or have credit card in hand and ready to put a deposit on the car right away. They usually don't have time to be sending out random quotes to everyone that emails them. That's what floor salespeople and internet managers do. Good luck. |
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Replying to: g_billings (Jul 10, 2009 6:05 pm) I usually make my first contact online and set up a test drive that way. |
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Smart Shopper Internet vs. Traditional Car Buying
