Like several of us here, I bought my truck from Mark Dodge (thank you to 5GR for telling me about them). It was a painless process, I got a great deal, and it made me forget how much of a pain in the booty car buying can be.
Until now. My wife and I are shopping for a small SUV for her. She's got her eyes on a Hybrid Hyundai Tucson, and similar vehicles.
I know this is crazy talk, but shouldn't we be able to get a minor detail like the price of a vehicle without driving to a dealer and spending hours there? Or do they think that after we waste time there that we'll agree to anything? "Oh, that's so generous of you to put air in the tires, and for the low, low price of $199? I'll take it! And yes, I would love to pay you $299 for some plastic film you lovingly applied to the door sills. I was going to balk at a $2,700 markup, but now that you call it a Value Package, I'm all in! $700 for documentation fees would have been too much, but $699 is a bargain. Do I take my pants off and bend over for you now, or do I save that for the finance office?"
Then you've got web sites that purport to give you an "instant price" after you enter your email and phone number...well, I'm still waiting on a price.
We'll wait things out a bit. She doesn't need a new car immediately, and I think the market is about to turn and that these "Value Packages" that add no value except to the dealer's vacation fund are about to go away. My crystal ball has always been hazy, but I believe that anyone paying inflated prices today will regret it in the next three months.
And within that time frame, if she decides to give the Dodge Hornet a look instead, and we buy again from Mark Dodge, I'm more than okay with that.
Until now. My wife and I are shopping for a small SUV for her. She's got her eyes on a Hybrid Hyundai Tucson, and similar vehicles.
I know this is crazy talk, but shouldn't we be able to get a minor detail like the price of a vehicle without driving to a dealer and spending hours there? Or do they think that after we waste time there that we'll agree to anything? "Oh, that's so generous of you to put air in the tires, and for the low, low price of $199? I'll take it! And yes, I would love to pay you $299 for some plastic film you lovingly applied to the door sills. I was going to balk at a $2,700 markup, but now that you call it a Value Package, I'm all in! $700 for documentation fees would have been too much, but $699 is a bargain. Do I take my pants off and bend over for you now, or do I save that for the finance office?"
Then you've got web sites that purport to give you an "instant price" after you enter your email and phone number...well, I'm still waiting on a price.
We'll wait things out a bit. She doesn't need a new car immediately, and I think the market is about to turn and that these "Value Packages" that add no value except to the dealer's vacation fund are about to go away. My crystal ball has always been hazy, but I believe that anyone paying inflated prices today will regret it in the next three months.
And within that time frame, if she decides to give the Dodge Hornet a look instead, and we buy again from Mark Dodge, I'm more than okay with that.
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