I've never had so much trouble buying a car before.

[SlugSlinger]

Another dealerships are stupid story is I agreed to buy a Tacoma from a dealership in Alabama a few years ago. The sales guy provided a document with the otd price and I agreed to buy it and told him I was purchasing an airline ticket and would be there a few days later to pick it up and drive it home. He said great, so you then.

He called the next morning in a panic and told me he couldn’t sell me the truck because the dealer that actually had it wouldn’t transfer the truck. I told him fine, send me the money for the non-refundable ticket I purchased and I would buy somewhere else. The sales guy told me he wasn’t going to refund my money. I sent the entire, documented email conversation to all the executives listed in the dealers website and requested a refund. Funny thing is the next email I received was from one of the vice presidents asking for the receipt from the ticket purchased. I provided that and he mailed me a check for $650.

I found and bought the Tacoma I wanted for a good price from a dealership in Colorado Springs. Too bad local Toyota dealers wouldn’t negotiate the price, but I did save a couple thousand dollars and got a trip to Colorado Springs for the family out of that deal.

 

[Glockisgood17]

Bought a 2023 Z-71, 1500 ltz with the Duramax Diesel in may of this year. Not any dealers in this area, we are remote. Before I was able to purchase it I shopped MANY dealers with similar trucks like I wanted online. With trade, no trade. My financing, their financing. I tried purchasing from the two closest dealers, even after bringing in printed quotes from more than 5 dealers within a 4 hour drive. Ended up walking out of both, after all the gimgaws and addons, one even stated to me, “you’ll be back!” Gave him the look and told him not in your lifetime son…

The gm of that dealership called me 2 days later to apologize and offered the truck I was dealing on at 1k less then where I wanted to be, and adding another 1 k on my trade. I told him no thanks that I had bought one with a higher trim level, for less than their truck. He asked where, I told him where and he said those guys always beat us…

Not saying this is your case at all, but people get caught up in the new car syndrome and take the deal that is offered! I have to drive an hour further to the dealer I got the truck from but it’s worth it to me.

Good luck in your purchase,
Regards,

 

[dlbleak]

Similar stuff has been going on for a long time. Mom and dad started looking for a 4 door jeep in late 2016. Dad told every dealer in a 200 mile radius what he wanted and that he was paying cash. Nope, every one wanted to tack on crap to make up for what they wouldn’t get from financing. Bob Howard said ok, we won’t add on anything except there will an additional $1600 for not financing.
Dad check off and on for over a year and no one would budge. Finally Fowler called and said they would meet his terms. Mom ended up with a 2018 because that’s how long it took.

 

[1911Sooner]

Stealerships are getting worse! Tesla really does have buying a new car down. I wish everyone else would go to that model.

 

[trekrok]

Mr. Dealer, I haven't decided for sure on financing but would rather you handle it over messing with it at a bank. I have fair, but not the best credit so I know you could get it done. Anyway, I'm more concerned with getting on an OTD price. I make decent money so payment matters a lot less to me than the price, so let's focus on that.

That primes them for the mindset that they'll be able to violate you in the F&I office. Then if you don't like their terms, just pay cash.

 

[GnometownHero]

I found that some small town dealerships in rural Iowa were the best price and minimal BS.
I have a friend who sells cars in Kansas. PM me and I will give you his information.
His dad and grandpa ran construction and farmed so he understands a working man's truck needs

 

[jtmcglothin]

Similar stuff has been going on for a long time. Mom and dad started looking for a 4 door jeep in late 2016. Dad told every dealer in a 200 mile radius what he wanted and that he was paying cash. Nope, every one wanted to tack on crap to make up for what they wouldn’t get from financing. Bob Howard said ok, we won’t add on anything except there will an additional $1600 for not financing.
Dad check off and on for over a year and no one would budge. Finally Fowler called and said they would meet his terms. Mom ended up with a 2018 because that’s how long it took.

I’ve bought 2 vehicles from Fowler so far and they are by far the best to work with in my experience.

 

[turkeyrun]

Car salesmen are the scum of the Earth.
What Trekrok said. Dealerships teach "what payment do you want?" NEVER talk total price.

Get the OTD price, go to finance, agree with financing and then put 100% down.

F-i-L ordered a truck, waited 4 months on a "2 more weeks" to arrive truck.

I called Lawton, got a higher trim level, lower price agreement ON THE PHONE, called F-i-L, he drove up the next day, walked in, signed papers, went into finance, paid cash. Walked out with a new truck he had never seen.

It was at Ford dealer, salesman was Chris. Lawton Chevy dealer is scummiest of the scum. GMC dealer does better at end of slow months, but you never know. The Wichita Falls GMC dealer WAS fairly decent, but owner was arrested for child porn.

Good luck.

 

[OkieMoe]

Bought a 2023 Z-71, 1500 ltz with the Duramax Diesel in may of this year. Not any dealers in this area, we are remote. Before I was able to purchase it I shopped MANY dealers with similar trucks like I wanted online. With trade, no trade. My financing, their financing. I tried purchasing from the two closest dealers, even after bringing in printed quotes from more than 5 dealers within a 4 hour drive. Ended up walking out of both, after all the gimgaws and addons, one even stated to me, “you’ll be back!” Gave him the look and told him not in your lifetime son…

The gm of that dealership called me 2 days later to apologize and offered the truck I was dealing on at 1k less then where I wanted to be, and adding another 1 k on my trade. I told him no thanks that I had bought one with a higher trim level, for less than their truck. He asked where, I told him where and he said those guys always beat us…

Not saying this is your case at all, but people get caught up in the new car syndrome and take the deal that is offered! I have to drive an hour further to the dealer I got the truck from but it’s worth it to me.

Good luck in your purchase,
Regards,

Being in sales most of my life. Bells should've gone off with this GM long ago. Its a fine line between selling a lot at a small markup, and selling a few at a huge markup. Ive learned to choose my battles and get that money when its offered. A little profit is better than no profit... Unless......... Lack of product changes the game rules. sellers markets vs buyers etc.

 

[Chuckie]

I've been trying for over a week now to buy a new truck. I'm not exactly sure how many vehicles I've purchased from dealerships, but it's somewhere in the range of 15-20. Typically, the experiences are as bad as I choose to make them because I love to negotiate. For some reason I find pleasure in all the tension and discomfort. Well karma seems to be paying me back for all the trouble I've been to dealers in the past.

This time is different. I'm not trying to negotiate. I have nothing to trade in. I'm not financing anything. I'm just trying to buy a truck as advertised. It seems to be impossible. The dealers will list the MSRP. Then they will list the price they are willing to sell it for after all discounts and rebates. The prices are itemized on the websites with all the things you "may" qualify for. I qualify for nothing. I am asking for nothing. They all have a *dealership name* discount. When you hover your cursor over the little "1" by that discount, it says all customers qualify for this. I ask to pay that price plus their doc fee. Impossible.

I tried to buy in Midwest City. You must pay for a clear bra (that absolutely looks like garbage covering nearly half the hood and fenders), interior protectant (scam) and something else equally as worthless. I'd pay more to not have the clear bra. I asked to buy one in transit before they put that crap on there. Nope, goes on all vehicles. It's just a way to get some extra money on the backend. Funny thing is, it wasn't even that great of a deal. Truck was ~3k more than several other places without the extras. Next....

I drove to Baton Rouge. Probably the second lowest advertised price within 500 mile radius. I walked in last Tuesday when it was raining. Only customer in the building (and probably for the day). Picked out what I wanted and was quoted a price. Told them I'd come in the next morning with everything they asked for and to test drive it. They added in ~$1k in fees, including $250 for Etch (scam). I told them I wasn't paying $250 for Etch and I'd be willing to wait for another truck in transit that they hadn't spent the $10 on for Etch. Nope. Next...

I left south Louisiana on Thursday night (early) and spent the night in DFW just so I could try to buy a truck Friday morning. I went to a dealer in Fort Worth first thing Friday morning. Drive the truck. Take the salesman over to my truck where I have my laptop already open with the exact truck on their website. Told him the trouble I've been having and asked if I could just pay the price advertised and their doc fee. He says yes. When we are filling out paperwork, he leaves and comes back and asks if I have someone with a TX DL to sign for the truck (it's a company truck). Sure, I have probably 30 employees in TX. He asked if they are a signer for the company in the state of TX. Well hell no they aren't. Salesman says he can't sell me the truck unless I have someone with a TX DL that is a registered signer for the company. Really? We've probably bought 75 vehicles this year throughout several different states, probably 20 of those in TX. I personally picked up an F250 last month in Arlington. It was all done via Docusign and the money wired. We buy vehicles where we need them. How about we just write down all the numbers and then we'll let someone else smarter than you figure this out? So he writes down the deal and adds $1899 for window tint and locking lug nuts. It comes with all the windows tinted from the factory except the front 2. So it's $100 in tint and $40 in lug nuts. I told him I'd take one in transit so I didn't have to pay that. Nope. Next...

Monday I tried Ferguson in Norman. Hover cursor over the Ferguson discount and it says everyone qualifies. I said I'll take it for the advertised price and $599 doc fee. They tell me it will be an additional $2k because I'm not trading anything in. The "everyone qualifies" discount includes $2k trade assistance. It wasn't a good price to begin with. It was just convenient. Now it's a terrible price. Next...

Monday night I messaged a dealer in St. Louis. They called me at 8:02 A.M. on Tuesday. For the past 2 days I've been working with the dumbest human I've ever spoken to. This guy is so dumb, I actually think the dealer is getting some kind of tax break to employ him. He hasn't been able to get any emails from me because he can't tell me his correct email address. He sent me a text and misspelled his own name. I finally ask if there is someone else I can email and I get another salesmen's email. I realize they idiot I'm talking to has been giving me the wrong email because he doesn't know the difference between a period and an underscore. I'm now 2 full business days in and haven't seen anything in writing for him yet. He asked me to put $500 down with my personal card to hold it and he'd refund it when we wire the money. Let's look past the fact they are the largest volume dealer for this brand in the nation and they have probably 8 of these on the lot. I told him I needed something in writing showing what I'm buying and how much I'm paying. He said he was working on it (for 2 days). I told him if he could get me something in writing, I'd just wire ALL the money. *******.

I got so tired of waiting on the St. Louis *******, I called Springfield, MO this afternoon. Give the guy the stock number, asked for price, told him I'd take it. Started paperwork with this guy all within 30 minutes of the initial phone call. Send him all the information so he can work on it. He calls back and asks if I have a signer for the company in Missouri. They don't do Docusign. They need the person paying to physically be there. So you don't ship? Yes. But a person buying over the internet that wants a vehicle shipped, has to physically show up? Yes. So all my hopes are back with the ******* in St. Louis.

I never thought it would be this hard to buy a truck with no trade in, cash and just trying to pay an advertised price without all the backend scams. Don't let them tell you the economy is bad. They have no problem sitting on these things.

Sounds more like the problem with just purchasing a vehicle outright with cash has to do with, maybe something about the 'Patriot Act', you know, the laws that requires all sorts of government paperwork for any transaction over $10K, and treats Americans as if we were all terrorists?