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Read it as well. It was eye opening to me that the dealers have this all worked out, have a strategy. Me wandering in like the mark I am.

The article changed me though. I had a guy try the four-square when I showed up and I almost laughed. "Go to your manager and get me the best price he can give me. I've got like 5 minutes and then I'm headed to another dealership."

Another time I played one dealership off another trying to get each to go lower than the other. One soon told me to fuck off so I bought the car from the other dealership. Oh well.

It's not like I was able to screw over the dealers or anything (there is an absolute bottom they will not sell below) but I think when you finally realize you have agency, have the money they want, can walk away, it made the process much less anxiety-inducing.

> One soon told me to fuck off so I bought the car from the other dealership. Oh well.

My proudest moment in my development as a car-buyer was having a one of the managers invite me and my wife into his office, after I guess we weren’t playing along with their bullshit enough (Jesus, I wasn’t even playing hardball yet) for him to try some totally bizarre “look, you don’t seem to know how this works” plus “we don’t need your business” routine on us. It was clearly a tactic because he spent way too much time on it, if all he actually wanted was for us to fuck off.

Utterly weird interaction, and hilarious. We bought elsewhere.

Car buying’s risky and hellish unless you come in armed with knowledge and ready to treat it as a game—a game you’re free to stop playing the very second you perceive you’re not winning. Then it’s kinda fun.

> Car buying’s risky and hellish

Agreed! I just make sure to buy cheaper vehicles so I don’t worry about spending an extra 5% or 10% if I “get scammed” by the dealer. So they made some extra money? Who cares. I don’t negotiate for my pint and burger either.

This approach has saved me a lot of stress.

> Another time I played one dealership off another trying to get each to go lower than the other

How do you do this for more then one iteration? Do you call the other dealership on the spot? Do you run/drive back and forth half a dozen times?

I've heard of that done via email.

Email works well. Would recommend.

I drove back and forth. This was San Jose and there was a Toyota dealership on El Camino and one on Stevens Creek – only a 15 minute drive or so.

> but be ready to bail if they are too stubborn.

this is best tip that I've personally used. the first time, I wasn't even trying. i dropped my car off for service for the 3rd time for the exact same defect, and was killing time on the show floor. jokingly, i told a sales person if they could make the "lemon" car go away I could be talked into a new car. I did this on the way to work and did not consider how long the process had taken. My boss called with a "where are you" that I turned into a crisis that required me to leave. The price suddenly started dropping to keep me from leaving. Left anyways as i wasn't really looking to buy.

I ask for an "out the door price" and negotiate on that. If I'm buying a fairly common car, like a Toyota Camry, then this is very easy to do across dealerships. I make it clear that I'm paying cash.

That's money they can flip immediately towards the purchase of another car.

A few tips on going this route.

* This won't work well for cars with limited stock. If a model/trim is leaving as fast as it's coming in they will prefer to give it to someone with dealership financing.

* If buying new make sure to be very clear to a dealership if you are calling from out of state.

Is this backwards? I just purchased a very difficult to get vehicle and the dealership required a cash-only payment

I'm sure it's different for different dealers. I wasn't talking about anything too limited edition but mass market models that dealerships cannot seem to keep in stock. The thing were supply is just a little behind demand. We've seen a lot of that in the last 3 years, and it's still around for some make/models.

> If buying new make sure to be very clear to a dealership if you are calling from out of state.

Interesting, why so?

With the limited stock the only option I found is to locate a low markup dealer and either go on their list or just keep calling them.

This seems outdated, no? Dealerships nowadays love financing, that's what brings home the bacon.

It worked 2 years ago when the cost of cars was sky high, but I don't know about today.

Relevant username?

> Find out what tax and title should be, assume a $500 "documenting fee" do a notional write up in advance, bring a calculator

A few states have capped or fixed document fees. In New York State, it's currently up to $175 for the dealer, plus any fees you owe to the state for title and registration (should match what the state charges for you to do it yourself).

Many states have no cap and it's no uncommon to find $500-$1000 doc fees. Check your state's law.

Dealers, in my experience, will not agree to sell you a car if you try to pay with AmEx. Checks work, though.

I was able to do a large portion for the last 2 i have bought. It wasn't their first choice but they didn't push back too hard either. Amex even has a program for it.