Have you ever used an agent to shop for a car?

@Jeruba I’m surprised at you. Do your research and I have every confidence that you would be a match for any used car salesman. If I can do it, you can do it!

But to answer your question, no, I have never used an agent.

I have never used an agent, but I have managed to fare pretty well over the years.

The big thing is to know exactly what you want and not let them up-sell our derail you. Make it known that you know what you want and that they are not the only ones who can give it to you, and that seems to put an end to a lot of bullshit right there.

It also helps to know a little about financing; you don’t have to be a wizard, but it really helps to know how the numbers work. For instance, there was the time a dealer tried to get me a car loan with “simple interest” where, instead of recalculating the balance periodically based on how much of the principal balance remains and allowing me to reduce the overall cost by paying off early, they basically tacked on all 60 months worth of interest right at the beginning, which added up to a few thousand dollars difference. There are other tricks they may try as well.

If you are still not comfortable doing the deed yourself then Google will help you find one, but be aware of the difference between an agent and a broker… or just bring me along ;)

Honestly, the prospect is more than daunting. I don’t know anything. The last time I bought a car, I basically paid what the guy on the lot asked, and it made my husband very sad. Not that he feels like dealing with a car salesman any more than I do. I just want to get it over with, come out of it with a new car, and not get ripped off too badly.

I wasn’t planning on financing. Can’t I just write a check? I’ve done my saving in advance.

Tell me about the difference between an agent and a broker, please.

@Jeruba, there is a company over here that once you have decided what you want puts out a tender to the car dealerships and finds you the best deal. You have to do your research first and know exactly what car you want and what features you want in it, but then he does the negotiating. He charges about $250.00 per car.

Perhaps do a search online and see if there is anything like this where you are. We are seriously thinking of using it when we have to buy a new car, which may be soon. He does a lot of business with these people so can negotiate the best price. I hope you find someone. I can understand where you are coming from. I have no problem dealing with such people but I do tend to come away feeling very irritated and frustrated and I just don’t have the time to go around car dealer after car dealer putting up with their sales games. Good luck.

I hear you – I am also bad at the things you mentioned. I hate souks, and any place that expects haggling of any kind. I like to see the price up front and pay the sticker price.

This is not the way smart business transactions are done though. I recently saw a program where it was shown how almost anything, a n y t h i n g is negotiable. Things you would never think could be haggled, including bank fees and insurance policies to store sticker prices for everyday household items. I know I am overpaying where others are saving, for a fact.

So do your research dear – research where to get yourself a good agent. It sounds like a great idea. What’s the saying for a lawyer that represents himself? Same difference here – the next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it (Samuel Johnson).

Oh, but go for the used car. A new one depreciates by 10–15 percent the minute you drive it out of the dealer. By as new a model as you can afford, e.g., a 2010 Toyota with low mileage.

We got our last car through our Credit Union.

I haven’t used an agent, but you can get a lot of useful information by using a site like Edmunds.com. You can pretty much buy a car over the internet these days, from a local dealer. No face-to-face haggling at all!

I want you to know that I did read your details, and interpreted more of a “don’t want to haggle” thing than a “must have a guy” thing…
I have never used an agent, but I did get a very good deal on a car through Costco.com. I’d link directly to the page but it gets all funny. In the search bar enter “cars” and “automotive.” a number of years ago. My last car I just went to the dealership with a printout from Edmunds.com, there was no haggling. Granted, both of them were new cars, I can’t advise on used.

I think it sounds like a great idea, but I have never done it. My agent is my husband I guess. For a used car I would want to see it in person (except for my husband’s race cars we do buy them over the internet, but that is an exception) while for a new car we have purchased online from dealers and always had a good experience. We usually use ebay, dealers put their inventory on ebay also. I only mention the online because it can be easier to negotiate not face-to-face. If you don’t get an agent, you could ask a friend, someone obsessed with cars to help. My husband did some searching for a friend of ours. He is obsessed with looking at cars online anyway.

Also, I would not beat yourself up for paying a little more to avoid the horrors of a long drawn out disgusting process at a car dealership. I absolutely hate buying a car, and if I can get it over quickly and not feel terrible when I leave, I am not freaked out if maybe I could have had another $500—$1000 taken off the price.

Also, I find Carmax to be very reasonable, if you want to visit one used car dealership. There seems to be some level of integrity with that company. They must use some sort of formula for what they do, and it never feels to me they are trying to take a consumer for all they can.

I’ve never used an agent but it makes sense if you’re not good at negotiating. If you want to try it on your own, the key is not to be wedded to the idea you can’t walk out of the dealership without a car. If you can walk away if you’re not happy with the deal you’ll be fine.

Jeruba, I did my homework, before buying another vehicle, and I am going to share this with you…........

C A R M A X.

I trusted these guys on the vehicle I purchased. The car was right, the price was right and they showed me the Carfax.

Love my new car and I highly recommend Carmax for your auto purchase.

I’m so with you on this. I’m actually pretty good at negotiating, but dislike it intensely. Just tell me the price and let’s get on with it! So I used the Fax Attack method. You can find out about it at www.fightingchance.com. This company will send you more information than you can possibly imagine about the vehicle you want to purchase, including invoice price, what every option costs and dealer incentives. This worked well for me and I paid $1,000 below invoice for a 2002 Highlander which were very popular that year. The downside to this is getting calls from a lot of dealers. I hate talking to them on the phone almost as much as I do in person. But it cut through a lot of the haggling and the sales people knew you had done your research and they couldn’t “snow” you.

Last year I wanted to buy an Infinity EX35 and decided to try the Fax Attack method again. This time I purchased the vehicle for $3,000 below invoice and it was one of the easiest transactions I’ve ever had. There was only one Infinity dealer where I live, so I sent inquiries out all over the state. The response was amazing. This is the same time of year when I purchased my vehicle, so I got a 2010. The dealers want to unload the 2011 models now. Purchase your vehicle at the very end of the month when they are trying to meet their quotas and you’ll get an even better deal.

Good luck, and don’t take any crap from the dealers!

I start with the research on the car. Here in winter wonderland that can last from Oct. to Nov., I need an AWD SUV that is reliable, easily serviced, easily resold and comfortable. In my case that narrowed things down to Subaru Forester.

Then I did the financial research; I started by estimating what I wanted to put down and how much I minded paying for how many months. If you are comfortable paying for it upfront, you will do better financially. The interest on the car payments is much higher than the interest your money is probably earning.

I negociated online initially,. There was very little wiggle room. Edmunds.com is user-friendly.

@Jeruba; Remind yourself that it is simply research and exactly like any other more high-falutiin’ research. If you wanted to find out what kind of corselet Forever Amber wore, you’d hop to it, I know.

My advise is probably not what you are looking for but I hope you find it helpful. I hate those situations too. Two cars ago I promised myself that I was not going to be pressured into anything I didn’t want. And if they pressured and didn’t back off when I asked them to then I’d leave and find another car dealership. I did it and walked out of two car dealerships feeling empowered.

This takes practise. Once you develop the skill you can push back and walk away from any high pressure sales. I recently had “skin specialist” grab me as I was marching through a department store on the way to my car. I gave him two minutes and told him I wasn’t going to buy anything. He tried and tried and TRIED. I finally told him that his tactics were too intense and walked away (after I told him his premise was garbage). My 14 year old daughter was with me and she burst into laughter as we made our way to our car. I hadn’t realized that that situation was going to turn into a teaching moment for my daughter.

We talk to friends and neighbours about their experiences with dealers. My husband works for a credit union that has a dealer services division so we also get the name of a good contact from them.

The thing I worry about with an agent is that you are giving up your control and that it may work but it also may be just one more step for you to be messed with.

Never would.

No but some of our customers do and I’ve always looked on those agents as super dirtbags. They hit up the dealerships in advance of coming in with their clients to ask for what’s called a “bird dog fee”, a fee for steering their client to our store versus a competitor’s store. What they do is take the highest offer they get and most stores routinely give people this fee for bringing new clients. Once they come in, they know in order to get their “bird dog” that the client has to buy there so in a way, they put the pressure on even more than our sales guys. We pretty much think they’re scum because they mostly take advantage of old people.

Wow, @Neizvestnaya. Ok. Do you work for a car dealership?

@Jeruba: Yes, I’ve worked in them for the last decade. Check your PM.

@Neizvestnaya Well, that is eye opening.

Does your dealership do that TO bullshit?! That is one reason I hate buying a car. I build my rapport with a salesperson and then I either have to watch him supposedly check with his manager what deal can be done. Or, meet his manager and answer questions I don’t feel like answering. It makes the salesperson look like an idiot. I hate that practice.

@JLeslie: Yes, all store TO (turnover) because if the salesman who starts isn’t a good fit, another one might be. Also, all salesmen turn over to a sales manager who makes sure the salesman has covered all bases with the clients. That floor manager goes to the finance/desk men to get an idea if the people can buy the car they want, what their approx. payments would be and also what kinds of programs they do or don’t qualify for. Salespeople are not contract managers so they don’t quote rates, don’t roll out lease programs, don’t run credit reports.

If more of our customers were less terrified of a simple system then the buying process wouldn’t be half as irritating. Believe it or not, salespeople are the best buyers out there, the quickest and most hassle free because they research every day. Everyone has access these days to the same info we do, go to edmunds.com or the website for the brands of cars you like. It’s all full disclosure stuff.

@Neizvestnaya It makes no sense to me that salesperson cannot complete a sale on his own. I know the salesperson is just doing his job as laid out by his boss, but I find it extremely irritating. Twice I didn’t deal with that sort of a system and it was great. Once when I bought a Mazda years ago, and we went back to the same salesperson a few months later and bought another car we were so happy. Next an Acura I bought years ago. All those deals were done in less than two hours from driving the car to walking out with it. Porsche/Audi/VW (one dealership) here where I live now also has been good in that the salespeople never push the sale, never feel like I have to make a decision that day. They let me leave and come back. I hate when a dealership doesn’t want to let me leave. Get off me, it feels harrassing.

You say if the salesperson isn’t a good fit. So what’s going to happen the manager is going to finish the sale? How often does that work?

Once the internet started having info available it really streamlined the process for the regular consumer. In the mid-90s I was still running into the “old school” type car salesmen who called me “little lady” and tried to run me around on price and trade-in and whatnot, but now I have no issue at all. It’s really nice.

@JLeslie: The salesmanager will get another guy to finish the sale. There’s usually a sales mgr. for each team of salespeople. I’ve only ever worked a handful of stores where there were no “closers” and two of them were highline. Most stores have closers who train and oversee salepeople. I personally hate the “old school” type of stores that reduce the salesperson to a stooping fetching caricature with no dignity as a business person but I’m also not a multi million dollars franchise owner with an investment in statistics :(

@Neizvestnaya To my knowledge, that is pretty much the difference between an agent and a broker.

@Neizvestnaya No dignity, perfect word for it. Makes me feel awful for the salesperson.

@JLeslie: Yes, I’ve been in their shoes and it’s really frustrating to ask your customers to respect you and give you their time when you are acting like a carnival barker, performing ape and grovelling minion. Why do people do it? A person with no college degree can make six figure income.

@Jeruba : I hope you’ll keep us apprised of the Great Vehicle Hunt of 2011…

Does no one agree with me about Carmax?

@john65pennington I said carmax before you. Even provided the link.

<Ok, looking…>

What do I want a Bluetooth for in a car? I mean, literally, what’s it for? And does “navigation system” mean GPS? If so, is there a monthly data charge as there is for a smartphone?

You guys are right about the research. Point nicely made by @gailcalled, who has a damned good eye for weak points in arguments.

If I opt for a used car, because I really don’t truly need a new one, I won’t have any choice of color, will I? Silver, white, gray. That’s just about all I see on the road. Gahhh.

And why don’t cars come in nice patterns and designs instead of all solid colors? (Not counting the two-tone jobs of the fifties.)

@Jeruba: Bluetooth is so you can talk on your phone and hear the other speaker through your stereo speakers.

Navigation is terribly overrated in cars because they require updated discs which are very expensive and released only every so often. My portable Tom Tom is updated everytime I sync to my computer for a minute and then plug it via adapter into any of our cars. So much less expensive, more up to date and purse-handy.

There is no used car factory so your choice of colors will be limited. Silver and gray colors are the most popular for the past decade so there you go :) A little tip- unless it’s an exotic limited edition model of car, salespeople usually buy Certified (extended factory warranty) used cars 1–2 model years old. Best buys, best coverage, best insurance and most still qualify for low finance rates from banks.

@Jeruba: I’ve been aching to use this again (courtesy of @Cruiser).

Buy whatever boring model you can and then be creative, like this

Yeah, pimp your ride.

As I have an hours drive to work, blue tooth would be wonderful in my car. I won’t answer calls or make calls on my phone while I am driving unless I have plugged in the GPS and I usually forget to do that. The number of times I have wanted to call my husband to say, “can you check the traffic news there is a huge traffic jam” or “I am on my way, be there in xxx” but I can’t because I didn’t set up the GPS and I don’t like those weird ear things. Bluetooth would resolve that I believe. If you can get it in a model, I think it would be a valuable addition.

@Bellatrix Where’s Your Head?

In his book, Emotional Design, Donald Norman, a usability and design expert, briefly considered the use of cell phones and driving. Having seen preliminary research which showed no difference in accident rates between handheld cell phone use and hands-free cell phone use, he guessed it was because a phone conversation puts us in an emotional space outside the immediate environment.

You are in two places at once – the physical space you are in and the mental and emotional space in which your conversation is taking place. Though you can perform the mechanics of driving, your “inattention” or, rather, “divided attention” means you are less able to plan, to anticipate the actions of other drivers, and to react to any unexpected conditions. As you get drawn into the conversation, you are less able to reflect on what you are doing, which is operating a two-ton machine.

What are the consequences?

The Insurance Industry Reviews the Data

The Insurance Industry Institute has reviewed the latest research. Seventy-three percent of drivers now report using a cell phone while driving. They found that talking on a cell phone while driving increases your chances of an accident by 1.3 times even when using a hands-free headset. This is about the same as when driving while drunk (at the legal intoxication limit). While this increased risk is much less than when reaching for a falling item, it leads to many more accidents because of the amount of time spent using cell phones while driving.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2152783

Where’s your head is the title of the article – not an implication, dear.

@zensky. I have a response but I will create a question rather than hijack @Jeruba‘s thread.

Next research project about the car. @Jeruba , find out the prices in your area to paint your car. If you make a good enough deal on the purchase, maybe you can afford to have it painted? I don’t believe there’s a law that prohibits you from having a pretty blue car if you’ve bought a dull gray one… :-)

You can have some choice of color if you buy from a dealer who has multiple locations. They can search their entire network for the car you want.

I really like my car with blue tooth, but I don’t drive enough or need to be on the phone enough that it would be a requirement for me. But, it’s a nice perk.

I rarely use my navigation/GPS, I have it in one of my cars, but every once in a while it comes in handy. My cars has the disc mentioned above and the system is very dissappointing. But, there are cars that have better GPS, which I think are not run on discs. You can ask it for the closest gas station or restaurants, which is kind of cool for long distance driving.

@JLeslie: Any dealer will do a search of their brand regions, the stores don’t have to be owned by the same franchise group but the chance of further discount goes away with that choice since they trade one of their own stock for the desired other dealer stock, no real unit gets moved.

Good news on discs, as far a few brands anyway- the talk is they will be phased out in lieu of a unit that can be updated via a USB to computer, more like a portable Garmin or Tom Tom device.