How do I deal with car dealerships in buying a car and negotiating repairs?

Question

Boy, do I hate dealing with car dealerships. I don't like to play cards and I get this uneasy feeling when I walk into a car dealership to buy a car or get my car repaired. I feel like a little boy walking into a saloon with a poker game going. Sit down boy, and throw yer cards on the table. They are such crooks. I just don't see why the set up is such that it is not the same price for every body. You  have to negotiate with them. What should take about 15 minutes winds up taking 2-3 hours. Because if you agree to pay whatever price they want out of you, then they try to get even more money out of you. What once was a $15K deal turns into a $20K deal and then Bozo the Clown begins working on ways he can finagle his kids college tuition with my car deal. And the same is true in the garage. Karl Marx with a screw driver. Workers of the world unite around -my wallet. Those brakes are gonna cost ya- yeah how much are the baloney skinned shims from China that cost you fifty cents five years ago gonna cost me today? Then it seems like when I go in to repair one thing, all of a sudden something else mysteriously goes wrong. Like Karl Marx and Groutcho Marx are under the hood trying to tip the scales from my hard working wallet into their greasy, greedy fat-fingered hands. 
I am trying to survive this winter with my 2003 Hyundai Accent and just maintain it through the winter and get a 2009 Toyota Corolla in the spring. The warranty on the car has expired. 
How do I deal with the dealership mechanics until I am ready to trade in my car? How do I deal with car salesmen when I am ready to trade in my old car for a new one? I don't know whether to bring a lawyer along or just a thug from a local gang to straight them all out. Maybe if Guido breaks a few fingers, I can get a hundred bucks knocked off my next brake job. Is that the only way to deal with these crooks?

beavanjb · Accepted Answer

If you don't want to deal with dealership mechanics don't use them, there are plenty of chains like Pepboys and local mechanics who can do the same work for 24-50% less then the dealer charges.  I took my Nissan Quest in for a quote last week, dealer wanted $3000, went to my local guy and paid $1165 for the same repair...he fixed what was actually wrong, not try to sell me new parts that weren't needed.
If you don't like playing the car salesmen game, that why Car-max has become so popular along with just buying a used car off craigslist or ebay, less fuss.
Seriously though, you don't even have to talk to the car salesmen, now you can simply email the sale department for the best price at most dealers, just go to the dealer website or ask for a quote and you'll be surprised at what they will do for you.

Anonymous · Answer

The dealers actually WANT everyone to pay the same price!  They post prices on the windows of all the cars!  It's the customers that refuse to cooperate!  ;)

Seriously, though... if you don't like negotiating, pay the price on the window.  If you want a better deal, you just have to do the work to get it.  

Yes, repairs are expensive.  Cars are not easy to work on.  If they were, you would do it yourself.  Find out what is specifically wrong with the car, then call the service advisor from home and ask what the repair will cost.  Ask for a discount.  You can call a few places and shop around for the best price.  Then take it to the place that gives you the best deal.

Honestly, although repairs and car buying are not necessarily fun, it doesn't have to be so bad.  I don't mean this in a mean way, but your attitude isn't helping you.  You get yourself all worked up and prepared for a fight, so inevitably, a fight happens.  I honestly believe that the experience is as bad as you let it get.  

Make sure to try to be relaxed and prepared when you go in.  Do your research from home, ahead of time, where you are comfortable.  If you are this anxious, of course you are going to have a bad experience.  You are basically willing a bad experience to happen.  Plus, you call dealership employees crooks and clowns seven times in one paragraph.  I can only imagine that you have no problem treating them with such disrespect in person.  That is going to ensure that they return the favor.

QuestionX · Answer

Take my Mother-In-Law with u and when she gets through with them U will have more than a hundred bucks knocked off. make sure U tell them u r gona bring her back with u when u negociate purchasing that New Car.. have a good day.

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How do I deal with car dealerships in buying a car and negotiating repairs?

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