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Car Deal -- Should I have walked away?

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  • Car Deal -- Should I have walked away?

    Ok, here's the deal. I know it's too late now, just getting some basic feedback from here.

    Last September (2019) I bought a new car. I had worked via email for a couple of weeks to negotiate a price among a couple of different dealerships in my area. I was asking them for an "out the door" price. I managed to get it down to $28,000 for this particular car (about 4% or so over invoice). which, I think, was below MSRP, too. They seemed very confused by the fact that I was more interested in "How much?" rather than "How much per month?" I think it threw them a little. Though I was a bit frustrated when I asked for an "itemization" of what things would cost, and no dealership would provide me with one.

    Anyhow, the price is agreed to, and I tell the salesman that we'll be there on the weekend to finish up the paperwork and such.

    So the family and I head to the dealership that Saturday, and we meet the sales guy.

    Then the following happens:

    1. I'm told that the price only applies to "in house" financing. I'd gotten pre-approved through my bank, but they wouldn't sell me the car at that price and let me finance through my bank.

    2. The interest rate was WAY higher than it would have been through my bank. It was over two percentage points higher through dealer financing, and they wanted me to do it for 72 months. This surprised me, but my wife and I had decided that we were going to pay it off as quickly as possible anyway, so we just sucked that up.

    The next one is the kicker. And at this point, even with a negotiated price, we'd been there a few hours. That's how they get ya.

    3. When we get to finance, they're going over everything with us, and they spring on us some sort of maintenance package (one of those scammy things where they apply some kind of "paint protector" or whatever every six months) for $600. We told them to take that off, because we didn't want it, as we live 50 miles away and wouldn't use it. We're told by the finance guy that they "can't" take it off. We ask to speak to the manager. Manager tells us it's a "standard" thing, and that goes back and forth until we agree to an extra $200 off on the car (which made them have to re-print a bunch of stuff, and the finance guy wasn't real happy with us).

    At that point, my wife and I look at each other. We're both kind of disgusted, and I think we were very close to walking out at that point.

    But as I said, we'd been there a few hours (even though it's a sunk cost at that point) and that's how they get ya. And with my family situation, we moved forward with the transaction and a new "out the door" price of $27,800. Then the finance manager (because he kinda understands what we're doing) asks us to do him a "favor" and not to pay the car off in less than six months. We weren't planning on it, but we "agreed" anyway.

    So my question is: Should we have walked away from that deal?

    I have the car now, and have no real complaints about it. I'm working diligently to pay it off as quickly as possible, hopefully by the end of this year.

    What would you have done? Did I make a mistake? I hate car shopping, that's why I did as much as I could online.

    I will say this: I do credit the salesman for delivering it to my house later in the evening.
    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

  • #2
    When they started jerking me around with the financing, I would have walked.

    My former boss would negotiate the price of a new car before he even picked it out. He was good that way.

    Bottom line though, you had a negotiated price of $28,000 at the start and ended up with $27,800 at the end, so you done good. And you can pay it off at your leisure.
    "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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    • #3
      IF you can pay it off in a year, the 2-3 percent won't really matter..you'll still come out ahead..if not..it was time to walk away
      Engaged to the amazing Marmalady. She is my Silver Dragon, shining as bright as the sun. I her Black Dragon (though good honestly), dark as night..fierce and strong.

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      • #4
        Quoth Mytical View Post
        IF you can pay it off in a year, the 2-3 percent won't really matter..you'll still come out ahead..if not..it was time to walk away
        That's the general plan. The dealership had me on a 72 month plan at a high interest rate for what my credit score showed.

        That said, I've been paying for it at a rate that will have it paid off hopefully by September of this year, basically a year after I got it.
        Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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        • #5
          Yeah, they hosed you on the interest rate, but if you can do it in a year, it should not make enough of a difference. It sounds like the finance guy was at least a bit sympathetic And you *definitely* did the right thing by waiting until you were talking to the finance guy to strike garbage off of that bill (fees like the one you mentioned, excessive "document/filing" fees (over $100 or so),etc ^__^ That's the place to do it.
          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
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          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
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          • #6
            Quoth EricKei View Post
            Yeah, they hosed you on the interest rate, but if you can do it in a year, it should not make enough of a difference. It sounds like the finance guy was at least a bit sympathetic And you *definitely* did the right thing by waiting until you were talking to the finance guy to strike garbage off of that bill (fees like the one you mentioned, excessive "document/filing" fees (over $100 or so),etc ^__^ That's the place to do it.
            It was the finance manager that knocked off the extra $200. Which was 1/3 of the total price of the "paint protection package" (or whatever it was). There's a place here where I live where I can get my car fully detailed, washed, and waxed for a few hundred bucks, and if I want "ceramic coating", it's more, but it's a complete package.

            What's weird, though, is that the salesman didn't give us a breakdown other than interest, term length, and anticipated monthly payment. I didn't find out about this other thing until we're sitting in the finance department.
            Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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            • #7
              Why is this so much reminding me of an early scene in "Fargo"?
              "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

              "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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              • #8
                If you pay it off in a year, the extra 2% will cost you about $300.00.

                What you could have done was take the loan from the bank and paid off the dealership loan. I did that on two occasion to negotiate a better deal and take the car home same day.

                Two things to consider:
                1. On a new car, the bank may consider it a used car loan as you are paying off an existing loan. Rates may not be as good. If it is a used car, it is still a used car.
                2. You will need to have put something down on the car.
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