So I took time out of my day to go look at a used car they had listed for $23,000. When I arrived, they made me wait and then sent out a salesperson I didn't even have an appointment with. Trying to be understanding, I went along with it.
We looked at the car, and I immediately noticed the window sticker showed a price of $27,000. The salesperson saw me looking at it and said, "Boss, I just want to show you that we added these dealer upgrades, and that's why it's $27,000."
That was a major red flag for me. I told him I wasn't interested in any dealer add-ons.
He left, came back a few minutes later, and asked if I had any "wiggle room" on the price. I told him no. Then he asked what I was willing to pay--another common sales tactic. My response was simple: "I can't be both the buyer and the seller."
This was a 2022 Ford sitting on a Honda dealer's lot, and it had already been there for 76 days. I was ready to make a deal, but I wasn't about to pay over $30,000 for a used Ford at a Honda dealership.
A few minutes later, another gentleman came over and introduced himself as the sales manager. You know the routine. He showed me a dealer KBB printout claiming the vehicle was worth $29,000. I understand dealers pay for pricing tools, but they always seem to focus on the highest possible value instead of a fair deal.
They said they would run everything by the internet manager and get back to me. At that point, I took my family and left.
To their credit, they offered to fill up my gas tank for making the trip. But the money wasn't the issue--I can afford my own gas. The issue was the principle. It felt like they were trying to take advantage of me and my family.
Remember: dealerships are businesses, and their goal is to maximize profit. Do your homework, know the market value of the vehicle, and don't let anyone pressure you into paying more than you're comfortable with. The best negotiating position is being willing to walk away.
Oh, and here's the part that really got me.
The salesperson told me that the dealership is allowed to add upgrades to the vehicle and increase the price accordingly. That's true--they can do that. But then he told me the disclosure was buried in the fine print underneath the internet listing.
Come on.
The dealership owner talks a lot about transparency. If you're truly transparent, you don't hide a $4,000 price increase in fine print while advertising the vehicle for $23,000 in big, bold numbers. Real transparency would be putting that information right next to the advertised price in the same size font for everyone to see.
Advertising a vehicle for $23,000 and then explaining that it's actually $27,000 because of dealer add-ons once the customer arrives isn't transparency. Transparency means making sure customers know the real price before they drive to the dealership.
That's all I was asking for--a straightforward, honest price from the beginning. read more