We’ve been in business a long time and I believe that most car buyers are very nice people and will accept things in a car dealer that they would not in any other business.
Think of it.
We have commercials with dealers dressed in costumes, others yelling bout how big they are. (All us dealers buy the cars from the factory for the same price so THAT doesn’t matter). It goes on and on.
Then there are all the “disclaimers” where a dealer will tell you in a radio ad that the car payment is $199 a month then it will be followed by 15 seconds of fast talking unintelligible “disclaimer” telling you why he CAN’T do $199 a month. Worse is the mouseprint on TV.
There are the “all rebates applied” dealers. This is no joke, I found a dealer online that published low prices on his cars , beating all of us other dealers, BUT he was including a sum of rebates nobody will qualify for; Current Owner, Competitive Lease Owner, Recent College Grad, Active Military, Realtors Association, Business Owner, Manufacturer’s employee. Nobody on the planet would qualify for those altogether.
This begs the question; would you accept this nonsense from anyone other than a car dealer?
What if your dentist dressed up like a pirate on TV or a realtor went on the radio saying they can give you $75,000 more for your house than it’s worth?
If your banker quoted your mortgage at $1,500 a month and then you found there was a $75,000 “balloon” payment due in the micro-small print would you still close?
What would you do if the preacher read your marriage vows to you so fast that you had no idea of what he was saying? Would you still say “I do”? Probably not.
What’s my point?
You can and should demand better. Your “deal” is your price combined with financing and trade-in. Demand transparency and be an educated consumer when you shop. It is better for all of us.
You can, and should, expect better from a car dealer.