We had a perplexed radio show caller last Saturday who found the perfect car at one of the used car only dealerships, but he knew it was overpriced.
I can’t help but chuckle to myself when someone tells me he or she bought a vehicle from a place that doesn’t negotiate prices and had a wonderful experience. My first thought is always: of course! You can have a wonderful experience at any car lot in America if you pay what the dealer is asking for any given car. The contentious nature of car buying started 100 years ago when some salesperson discounted a car for the first time.
Of course, we all want to have a great car buying experience, and of course, we all want the best possible price. The question of the day is, can you get both?
As I say on the air all the time, places that market themselves as no haggle-no hassle dealerships are often priced higher than traditional dealerships that negotiate. As a consumer, you have to decide if easy and pleasant is worth more to you than saving money. CarMax, for instance, has built a brand around easy purchases and no negotiations, and they have been successful. Remember that their inventory has to be purchased and to keep as many cars in inventory as they do, they have to pay top dollar, then charge top dollar.
I’ve had a lot of questions recently about a place called Carvana. Besides being a no hassle-no haggle place, their niche is they build high-rise buildings that are supposed to be car vending machines, right down to a person putting a large coin into the machine, which sets in motion elevators to bring your car down from the tower and on to a launch pad. Probably a cool experience and there is little doubt it would make for a memorable delivery, but what is…