7 Mistakes car shoppers make when buying a car from a dealership in 2024.

[@Toastybrew]

Looking to buy a car, this was very informative. Thank you.

[@willjones5816]

Respectfully I have to disagree about the part about “if you walk out, that deal is no longer available”. That hasn’t been my experience. In fact I have driven a touch (100-300) lower for “wasting my time”

[@willjones5816]

Follow up. There are a couple big used car dealers. One up in NY and/or NJ and another in FL. They advertise a very low price for a used car. Where they are sneaky is that the very low price is the price after something like a 2 year lease. Might be worth talking about. Can’t recall either dealership but it shouldn’t be hard to find. Way under market prices for used vehicles. Flashy websites. Huge amount of mixed reviews. Seems like they prey on the minorities.

[@willjones5816]

Last last reply. Video is pretty good overall. I agree with everything else (other than the above) and how quick to walk out. If they pull the bait and switch, they have to eat the cost. If they don’t then you walk. The only part I’d like to add is to do your research. Know what you want. Know what you can afford. Know what you NEED. Do your research on cars before you call or step in. Find volume dealers and see what they are listing cars at. Look up forums on new car prices. See what eBay is listing at (filter out salvage titles). I’ll spend 10-20 hours searching before I make a call or stop by somewhere. But when I step in I know exactly what I’ll pay for what I’m getting/ordering. It’s pretty smooth.

[@micosilver]

If I even said that - my intention was not to discourage you from walking out. My opinion is that if they let you walk out and don't call you within a day - your offer was too low. Their offer technically can be rescinded, but rarely they will not honor it if you come back.

[@kristingraves]

I told my salesperson I was not paying for VIN etching ($255), so they did discount the car by the $255, but technically the VIN etch was still a line item on my invoice. According to mistake #4, is this best case scenario?

[@micosilver]

Best scenario - for you, if it was easy enough. If it was disclosed on their website - then it's legal, although ethically questionable.

[@aw1078]

Aren’t they violating the law if they tie the sale of the car to their extra stuff?

[@micosilver]

They violate the law if they claim that you have to buy something to get a better rate or get approved. They do not violate the law if they say: "I refuse to sell you this car unless you buy this insurance product", because they can refuse a sale for pretty much any reason, as long as it is not discriminatory. I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding.

[@aw1078]

@@micosilver Gotcha. Thank you for posting this. Very helpful.