Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla • Hacker News Board

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#111

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:23 AM UTC

Zanni wrote: post #34

throwaway98121 wrote: post #3

We sold our vehicle because the monthly payment, insurance, gasoline, and parking costs were adding up to about $1000 a month. I planned on downgrading from an Infiniti to a 3 year old Honda Civic or Fit. I visited three dealerships in my area. The experience was horrible at all three. I consider myself a decent person, but I now judge people who work in car sales or car sales management and not in a good way. Anyway…

For those that haven't had the Tesla experience, it's a refreshing change of pace. They don't have dealerships, only showrooms and service centers. You can schedule a test drive at a showroom (or online), and your rep will be happy to help you configure your car right there if you decide to buy, but you can also go home and leisurely plan your configuration over the internet. You can see the price of every option bef…

Believe me, any dealer will happily escort you thru a similar order process if you're paying list price.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#112

Post by CamelCaseName » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:25 AM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #86

clouddrover wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the idea is an EV with good range at a better price, then there's the Hyundai Kona: https://insideevs.com/hyundai-kona-electric-gets-shockingly-... The Kona's quite efficient. It recently finished second in an EV efficiency race: https://electrek.co/2018/12/23/tesla-roadster-24-hour-electr...

I recently saw a Kona in Palo Alto and immediately called my wife to have her google it. I didn't even know it was an EV — I just didn't recognize it and thought it was a great-looking vehicle.

Only the Kona 19 is an EV, earlier models are ICE.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#113

Post by ntsplnkv2 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:26 AM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #88

endymi0n wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I fully agree on hating the process, I've found the easiest working reply to these tactics by accident: Simply visit the dealer, get through exactly the model you want, be reasonably interested (but not too much in love), ask for a quote, leave some contact details and leave. Never answer and come back in about a month with a cheque when they've bidded themselves 20% down without you even saying a word.

This only works if your vehicle isn't niche or if demand is more than supply. I guess you could just multiply by X dealers and use the same "time is on my side" approach.

Well, yes, that's kind of implied isn't it? If it was in demand then they won't have to negotiate with you as much. Some could even charge more if the demand is high enough.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#114

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:29 AM UTC

endymi0n wrote: post #58

hueving wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're willing to pay the dealer's quote, then car salesmen will love you and you'll have a great time at a dealership anyway. The entire bullshit process begins when you try to get a price that doesn't have thousands of extra dollars in for the dealership.

While I fully agree on hating the process, I've found the easiest working reply to these tactics by accident: Simply visit the dealer, get through exactly the model you want, be reasonably interested (but not too much in love), ask for a quote, leave some contact details and leave. Never answer and come back in about a month with a cheque when they've bidded themselves 20% down without you even saying a word.

9 times out of 10 when you ask for the quote, the answer will be "what will it take to put you in this car today" and the haggling starts. They will dance and do tricks to keep you in the showroom. You need to be determined to walk out, and probably get as far as opening the door, to get them to quote a number first.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#115

Post by purplezooey » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:33 AM UTC

Well let's face it, we buy things based on emotions. The wife and/or kids like something. You can see yourself driving it. As long as that is true, there will be car dealerships exactly as they are today.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#116

Post by jiaweihli » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:40 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #93

pkaye wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this the same for Tesla? You have to accept tesla's quote with no negotiation?

It’s different because with Tesla you can’t negotiate. The price is the price, take it or leave it. With a traditional dealership, you can refrain from negotiating, but then you’re leaving money on the table, potentially thousands of dollars.

So they have better salespeople that will never negotiate? Seems like a win for them.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#117

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:42 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #97

clircle wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on your horrible experience? I bought a new car for the first time this year. I went to the Toyota dealer with my wife, we drove three cars, and decided the Corolla iM would be enough for 95% of our needs. We came back the next day and filled out all the paper work. Of course, they did try to get us to buy a bunch of pointles s addons and insurances, so it was annoying to have to say "No" over and o…

I had an unusual Toyota experience that really pissed me off. The buying experience was ok. Negotiating the price was annoying but I called a bunch of places for quotes, asking each one to beat the last one, and stopped when they started to say they couldn’t. Everything was fine until much later when I was buying my next car and trading this one in. Turned out the dealer had filed a lien with their finance division e…

Filing a fraudulent lien is a crime. You should have said resolve this now or I'm calling the prosecutors office.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#118

Post by AndrewKemendo » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:43 AM UTC

acct1771 wrote: post #100

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every salesman had a kid the same age as the customers or a cousin who worked at the same company I had a sales manager at a used car dealership tell me he went to the Air Force Academy (my alma mater) after he asked about my college. Little did he know we have a "secret handshake" of sorts, which he was completely clueless about. Ended up calling him on it and he backed off of his high pressure sales bullshit.

Tell me you didn't give that lowlife a sale.

Well I "gave" my salesman the sale, the manager was just overseeing the whole place and would interject randomly to the consternation of his actual salesmen who were perfectly cordial.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#119

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:51 AM UTC

throwaway98121 wrote: post #3

We sold our vehicle because the monthly payment, insurance, gasoline, and parking costs were adding up to about $1000 a month. I planned on downgrading from an Infiniti to a 3 year old Honda Civic or Fit. I visited three dealerships in my area. The experience was horrible at all three. I consider myself a decent person, but I now judge people who work in car sales or car sales management and not in a good way. Anyway…

> I planned on downgrading from an Infiniti to a 3 year old Honda Civic or Fit.

If you're buying used, I would recommend to never bother with dealers. Buy from a local private seller.

I've also heard CarMax is OK but I have no first hand experience with them.

Re: Detroit News Vehicle of the Year is a Tesla

#120

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 3:57 AM UTC

csa wrote: post #48

lflux wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, if the quote is out the door, but it never seems to be from what I've seen. This was "Here's the price excluding title transfer including delivery"

Here is what I do, and it works well: 1. Call the dealer and ask for the internet sales manager. 2. Tell the manager exactly what you want (many people are not able to do this accurately and consistently). 3. Ask for the out-the-door price. 4. Repeat for any number of dealers that you are willing to drive to. 5. Buy from the dealer you choose. I usually get several quotes within $100 or so of each other. At that poin…

If you get an out the door quote that you're willing to accept, tell them that you're coming in with a check made out in exactly that amount and if it turns out that isn't enough, you'll leave.