Quote:
Originally Posted by champignon
I'm not telling anyone what to buy; I'm just saying don't perseverate about it too much.
I just bought a car last week; a 2018 Golf R, on which I traded in my 2016 R. The details of what I bought are irrelevant. I scanned the boards for about 15 minutes to get some idea of what was out there, looked at the inventory within reasonable driving distance and time, then contacted 6 or 8 dealers. Only 2 had what I really wanted, however there were some other cars (color choices) I might have accepted. I talked prices with 3 dealers in the end, ruling the others out on the basis of lowball trade offers, terrible online reviews and/or BBB ratings, etc. One dealer stood out with his trade in offer, and was very straightforward on all other aspects. I decided to go with my gut and booked a $100 hotel room online, and arranged the financial details.
I drove out there on Sunday, 300 miles, stayed overnight, exchanged cars and keys with the salesman the next morning, then drove the car home.
I came within $1000 of the best deal reasonably attainable. Everyone was happy; me, the selling salesman, the selling dealership, the hotel I spent $100 on, and the shithole restaurant I ate in on Sunday night.
This process is not brain surgery. People who have the ability to spent $55K or more on a car should know how to prioritize their time, get the best bang for their buck (taking the value of their own time into consideration), buy the damn thing, and move on.
I'm not saying don't put a few hours into the process and don't negotiate. What I am saying is that turning this into a many month's long odyssey trying to save the last nickel, is (I hope) a bad use of your time, and hopefully, you can find more productive things to do with it, like making more money so that you can continue to be able to afford to drive a nice car and live in a nice house.
That is all.
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I'm not sure about you but taking 30 seconds to put a simple post up on a forum with people who own them, are putting deposits on them, who work at dealerships is a far better use of my time then spending an hour looking myself.
If we were all paying Idaho cost of living none of us would worry about our car expenses....