Discussions

I've bought many new vehicles over my lifetime and I always feel that as soon as I leave the dealership with the new ride that the salespeople are doing the happy dance and popping champagne corks since I likely overpaid (a lot) for the vehicle. I always feel that the next person who buys the exact same vehicle paid a lot less than I did. Does anyone else feel the same way?  
 
I've mostly had very negative experiences with salespeople in dealerships ( there have been a few exceptions) - on my last visit I was quoted a trade-in price for my current vehicle and the salesperson wrote the number down on his business card - when I came back the next day to sign the deal - the value of my trade-in had decreased by $2,500 and the salesperson insisted that he never wrote that number on the card - I hadn't signed the contract - ripped it up in front of him and threw it in the garbage - he said he had never seen anyone do that. Haven't visited that dealership since. Anyone else have negative experiences like that?

Without going into the details of why new cars are a terrible deal - that's a debate for another thread - buying new cars is the same as buying used cars in the sense that cash is king.  
 
You want a new car? You walk in with the money (including the money from selling your old car), and you negociate the best cash deal you can then and there. Know what your bottom line is before stepping foot in the office, and once you reach it, sign the contract, pay and leave.

I can tell you that there are many car sales people that can hardly pay their bills from month to month. The ones that work hard make a good living but they work 60 hours a week. There's a reputation out there from years and years ago when vehicles were discounted maybe even $10,000 a vehicle, when the price was whatever you looked like you could pay. It's no longer like that. Work in the car business, you'll realize that pretty quickly.

We just recently bought a new vehicle and I felt exactly the same.  
 
I think car sales people and dealerships just have that feeling about them. You never really know if you're getting the what price. I've had sales people lie to me. I won't name the dealership but when we were looking for a new vehicle I dealt with one sales person who showed me a demo that was discounted and he stated that it had only ever been driven by the "sales manager" I looked on auto trader and the exact vehicle was on there covered in decals that said "test drive me today" (they had been removed when we were looking at it) so the vehicle that we were told had only been "carefully driven by the sales manager" was actually a demo that had been test drove by pretty much anyone and everyone. Not exactly worth the small discount they were offering on what they were selling as a brand new vehicle. Needless to say we didn't go back there and ended up buying somewhere else.  
 
The one thing I would say about buying brand new. While you do feel like you're being raked over the coals (like I did) at least your buying a brand new vehicle that nobody else has driven. You know it's history. It's covered with a full warrenty and there should be no hidden surprises.  
 
I've bought used trucked in the past (2-3 years old) at 2/3 the cost of new thinking I'm getting a much better deal. Then they go in for an oil change and you find out you've got $$$$ of repairs to be done and no warrenty. So yeah. To some people new vehicles seem like a rip off but used vehicles, while cheaper to buy become more expensive to maintain.  
 
I like to think we paid a bit extra now for piece of mind later.

I feel like that every time I buy a piece of furniture. I think anywhere where prices are discounted, we wonder what someone else might have paid.

We have never ever bought a brand new vehicle, simply because it is not worth it to be the one to pay the depreciation. You can save a lot of money by sticking with a one or two year old vehicle, and still getting quite a bit of warranty left on it.  
 
The best thing to do is go in to the dealership with a comfortable price in mind, and let them know that the amount you will be spending will be dependant on the value of your trade in. Get the value, ask how long that number is good for, and then start your search for a vehicle with those guidelines. Be very firm on what type of vehicle, what options, colours, etc. you are looking for, and don't let them try to sell you something you are not interested in. It is also best to be upfront about payment method, and best if you have cash, instead of financing. Telling a sales person you will be paying cash usually is a helpful thing to do. Usually people that finance will be taken advantage of by all kinds of extra fee's and meaningless crap.  
 
When you find the vehicle that is right for you, they will of course calculate everything for you based on trade value, and give you your final number. Tell them you will think about it, and then get back to them within hours, or a day, and give them a lower offer. They of course won't accept it, so then make them a second offer a bit higher, and say that you cannot go any higher than that in your budget, you have cash and will come in the same day to sign the papers if they accept your offer.  
 
In my experience this has always worked, and I have never felt ripped off buying a vehicle. Often times I have ended up getting vehicles for a lot less than the original asking price. One experience had be getting a vehicle for around $5000 less than the original asking price.

I had no such ripped off feelings at all. I bought a new car that I am absolutely happy with at a price that I felt was right. I don't care what anyone else might have negotiated for a deal on the same car or a similar one at that same dealership...nor even at a different one.

Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now.

The answer is that some suckers take the first figure that the sales guys throw at them and don't give them a hard time.  
Dealers are the same all over the world, if you trade a vehicle in expect to get bit in the backside.

they probably are doing a happy dance to be honest, being a car salesman from what I understand is pretty competitve and a tough gig. Sales are few and far between so you're probably pretty happy when you make some commission, doesn't necessarily mean you got a bad deal though.  
 
Also I 2nd the comment about Winnipeg. Do yourself a favor and at least talk to a dealership there, even if you don't end up buying there. When we got our last vehicle we didn't even go to Winnipeg, I phoned a couple of dealerships there and the prices were significantly lower, took that back to the Brandon dealership and saved a bunch of cash...

I did a lot of research (price wise) with our last "brand new" purchased vehicle vs used vehicle.  
 
We bought a brand new 2015 SUV for the same price vs buying a used 2014 SUV. Both SUV are same model and identical spec wise. We bought our SUV in Winnipeg, as Brandon dealership refused to beat the price.

I never feel like that. I have a long standing history with Honda. Have bought several new vehicles over my life from them. Have all service done there as well as body work and always feel good about the price and quality of service they provide. Our most recent purchase we received gas cards back, reduced interest rate as well as add ons for free. I think if you are loyal to one business they are able to offer you additional perks as they know they will be making money off of you in maintenance and future purchases.

I went to about 7 dealerships before I purchased. The more you look around the better you'll feel about getting a good deal.  
 
If you've settled on a certain model contact several dealerships for that model over the phone.

Thelongandshortofit said "Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now. "

So you live and work in Brandon but buy vehicles in Winnipeg instead of supporting those that choose to live and work in Brandon.Hmpf why not tell us where you work so we can look in Winnipeg for the service you supply.

AG12 said "I did a lot of research (price wise) with our last "brand new" purchased vehicle vs used vehicle.     We bought a brand new 2015 SUV for the same price vs buying a used 2014 SUV. Both SUV are same model and identical spec wise. We bought our SUV in Winnipeg, as Brandon dealership refused to beat the price. "

You rather than posting how much better Winnipeg is while living in Brandon post where you work so we can all go to Winnipeg instead of using your business.  
 
No I do not work at a dealership I work out of the area but live in Brandon and shop support local business.  
 
It truely amazes me the amount of people that complain about not having businesses to shop from and want more businesses but don't shop locally. You all need to think about whT you say and want and what you do and demonstrate.

Now let me think about that for a moment, now I don't know if the new auto business is like the farm machinery business, but there are things like volume discounts for dealers as well as when the dollar value of sales pass a certain point there are rebates to dealers on sales. Now give this some thought, if a auto dealer has the same sort of programs and incentives, do people get a cheque from the dealer if there is a rebarte from the company.  
We live in a capitalist society, if people can't compete, well that's just too bad.

on the west side by the bridge has excellent customer service and the salesmen are great. never had any issues there and been using them in our family for over 25 yrs

What are you saying don buy local or not buy local I am a little confused

For myself it is to buy where the price is best. A person could expand the idea "local"to include only within the province or only within the country, as carrying on business elsewhere ends up hurting us in one way or another. The death of business usually isn't caused by people not shopping locally, it is caused by people or business not being competitive, or just because there are to many players in the field. The people who are always asking for new stores usually are asking for things like Cosco, which offer discount pricing, those who ask for high end merchadise fail to realize that those ventures require a large customer base.  
 
Back to local shopping and dealer discounts, if I support a local dealer, at higher prices, for the sake of having them in the community, and the dealer hits sales targets and gets factory rebates, how should he repay the local customer. Sort of the idea of what comes round goes round.

Black Star said "    Thelongandshortofit said "Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now. " So you live and work in Brandon but buy vehicles in Winnipeg instead of supporting those that choose to live and work in Brandon.Hmpf why not tell us where you work so we can look in Winnipeg for the service you supply. "

Between my husband and I, our last four vehicles have come from Winnipeg.  
 
If course I like to shop local, but I am not made of money and just overspend my $1500 (my car), to buy it here, instead of going to Winnipeg.  
 
If the dealers here don''t want to deal with Winnipeg prices, they have to expect to loose sales. For me $1500 is a lot of money. It was the same for the other vehicles we purchsed...it all came down to over $1000 or more difference to buy in Winnipeg.  
 
I used to work as a buyer/purchaser, so had to get quotes for needed materials. Sorry, if you can''t be honest and give me your lowest price off the hop, the game is done! I am shopping elsewhere. Also the Winnipeg dealers gave us what we thought were good prices for our trade-ins and since they knew we were driving from Brandon to look at a certain car and what our trade-in would be, there was no driving make and forth. Everything was ready to be looked at and we brought the new vehicles home the same day.  
 
I''d love to buy local, but even if I had more money, I still wouldn''t for that price difference. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck.  
 
Hubby works on base...is there a vehicle dealership out there?  
 
Edited by Brenda, 2016-08-28 17:49:12

Brenda said "    Black Star said "    Thelongandshortofit said "Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now. " So you live and work in Brandon but buy vehicles in Winnipeg instead of supporting those that choose to live and work in Brandon.Hmpf why not tell us where you work so we can look in Winnipeg for the service you supply. " Between my husband and I, our last four vehicles have come from Winnipeg.     If course I like to shop local, but I am not made of money and just overspend my $1500 (my car), to buy it here, instead of going to Winnipeg.     If the dealers here don''t want to deal with Winnipeg prices, they have to expect to loose sales. For me $1500 is a lot of money. It was the same for the other vehicles we purchsed...it all came down to over $1000 or more difference to buy in Winnipeg.     I used to work as a buyer/purchaser, so had to get quotes for needed materials. Sorry, if you can''t be honest and give me your lowest price off the hop, the game is done! I am shopping elsewhere. Also the Winnipeg dealers gave us what we thought were good prices for our trade-ins and since they knew we were driving from Brandon to look at a certain car and what our trade-in would be, there was no driving make and forth. Everything was ready to be looked at and we brought the new vehicles home the same day.     I''d love to buy local, but even if I had more money, I still wouldn''t for that price difference. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck.     Hubby works on base...is there a vehicle dealership out there?     Edited by Brenda, 2016-08-28 17:49:12"

So what is the value of shopping local and Don for this purpose we will say local is in Brandon.  
On a 25000 dollar car 1500 is 6% which works out to about 30 dollars a month over 5 years. On a 50000 dollar vehicle that is 3% and over 5 years that is 20 dollars a month.  
Sounds like quite a bit maybe. But if business start to close up because no sales means cant pay workers and now business is gone and everybody has to drive to Winnipeg twice a month to buy supplies who is going to be able to do that for 25 dollars (average between the 2)  
sounds like a deal. Well it wont hurt if only I go to Winnipeg and save my 25 dollars on car payment a month but what if now because everybody does that the car dealer closes and puts all his employees out of work. Well those people all don't spend money and next the grocery store starts cutting jobs and so on. Once it starts where does it end.  
I have the perfect opportunity to buy elsewhere I work in Saskatchewan easily could buy my vehicle in Regina I go through there once a week but in my mind it is wrong. I will continue to spend the extra 25 a month on a major purchase to make sure I can buy local.

Black Star said "    Brenda said "    Black Star said "    Thelongandshortofit said "Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now. " So you live and work in Brandon but buy vehicles in Winnipeg instead of supporting those that choose to live and work in Brandon.Hmpf why not tell us where you work so we can look in Winnipeg for the service you supply. " Between my husband and I, our last four vehicles have come from Winnipeg.     If course I like to shop local, but I am not made of money and just overspend my $1500 (my car), to buy it here, instead of going to Winnipeg.     If the dealers here don''t want to deal with Winnipeg prices, they have to expect to loose sales. For me $1500 is a lot of money. It was the same for the other vehicles we purchsed...it all came down to over $1000 or more difference to buy in Winnipeg.     I used to work as a buyer/purchaser, so had to get quotes for needed materials. Sorry, if you can''t be honest and give me your lowest price off the hop, the game is done! I am shopping elsewhere. Also the Winnipeg dealers gave us what we thought were good prices for our trade-ins and since they knew we were driving from Brandon to look at a certain car and what our trade-in would be, there was no driving make and forth. Everything was ready to be looked at and we brought the new vehicles home the same day.     I''d love to buy local, but even if I had more money, I still wouldn''t for that price difference. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck.     Hubby works on base...is there a vehicle dealership out there?     Edited by Brenda, 2016-08-28 17:49:12" So what is the value of shopping local and Don for this purpose we will say local is in Brandon.   On a 25000 dollar car 1500 is 6% which works out to about 30 dollars a month over 5 years. On a 50000 dollar vehicle that is 3% and over 5 years that is 20 dollars a month.   Sounds like quite a bit maybe. But if business start to close up because no sales means cant pay workers and now business is gone and everybody has to drive to Winnipeg twice a month to buy supplies who is going to be able to do that for 25 dollars (average between the 2)   sounds like a deal. Well it wont hurt if only I go to Winnipeg and save my 25 dollars on car payment a month but what if now because everybody does that the car dealer closes and puts all his employees out of work. Well those people all don't spend money and next the grocery store starts cutting jobs and so on. Once it starts where does it end.   I have the perfect opportunity to buy elsewhere I work in Saskatchewan easily could buy my vehicle in Regina I go through there once a week but in my mind it is wrong. I will continue to spend the extra 25 a month on a major purchase to make sure I can buy local. "

you are so entitled to buy were you wish, as am I. I, having lived paycheck to paycheck, $25 a month is a huge deal to me, whether you can believe it or not.

Are you saying you are willing to pay 3% higher prices for everything you purchase, if you are willing to do it for an auto then it should apply for all purchases, doing this would not result in a 20-25 a week in spending.

First I agree with don brown 100%.  
 
Next to Blackstar thanks for still supporting our local dealerships! We need you to continue to do so that these dealerships won't leave town and I and other people that purchase and get a better deal for a vehicle in Winnipeg will continue to service our vehicles in Brandon.  
 
IMO, Service is where dealerships make money. If there are no cars to service then the dealerships won't last.

Black Star said "    Thelongandshortofit said "Buy in Winnipeg. The service is excellent and you will not find a better price in Brandon. They want our business!!! We only shop Winnipeg for vehicles now. " So you live and work in Brandon but buy vehicles in Winnipeg instead of supporting those that choose to live and work in Brandon.Hmpf why not tell us where you work so we can look in Winnipeg for the service you supply. "

We trade in a vehicle every 2-3 years and buy brand new. And we do it in Winnipeg because the dealerships here don't even come close to matching prices. And I'm not talking a $1500 difference, the last one was closer to $6000. So, if you want to bend over and hand the dealers 6k extra, go ahead. I chose to buy 2 hours down the highway, where the dealerships are not all owned by the same company and they actually fight to earn your business.

Believe it or not service departments are lucky to break even I have been a service manager. That folks is the reason Winnipeg dealers can sell you a vehicle cheaper than a local dealership because they do not have to worry about you coming back for service or warranty. So they do not need to carry the service department overhead. But hey it is a free world you can buy your auto anywhere you wish. But like I said for all you that don't want to buy local please just do as was asked in the first place list the business your in so that those of us can return the favour and shop in Winnipeg for the service you supply.

How juvenile. You'd rather shop in Winnipeg just to get revenge on a person that you've never met in your life?  
 
Sorry but I'd much rather shop at a place that treats me well instead of trying to rip me off. A business doesn't get a free pass to treat me poorly just because they operate in the city where I live.  
 
I work for the phone company. It doesn't bother me where you shop, it's a free market for you to do whatever you want.

Nobody gets a free pass either but I am proud to support local business I just don't believe that people should recommend shopping out of town on one thread and then other times be vocal that Brandon has nowhere to shop. Or complain when business is poor. Also I do support business that by local and avoid business that don't. Whether I know the person if that is what you call juvenile I guess then I am.

I've only ever bought 2 vehicles new, and I went in and was straight up about what package/options I wanted, and what I was willing to pay.  
 
The first purchase the dealer took about 3 hours of going in and out of his managers office (if it wasn't just a show) and they came down to exactly what I was willing to pay.  
 
The second purchase the dealer took 4 months of calling me saying "We can do this" Nope! "We can do this!" Nope! until finally they came down to the price I was willing to pay.  
 
I'll never know if I got a "Good" deal or not because I don't work in that industry, but both times I got the price that I was willing to pay for a new vehicle so I didn't feel ripped off.  
 
I've found a lot of the dealerships in Brandon do tend to have really good service outside the sales departments.  
 
Never ever sign anything ever without seeing the final price is about all I can add to my experience.

we do shop local for all of our purchases, that we can get in Brandon, unless of course you are going to save a $1000 or $1500 by going elsewhere. We don't take shopping trips to Minot or Winnipeg.  
 
Yes, we have bought our vehicles in Winnipeg,, because we were saving $1000 or more, even though it was pointed out to me that is only about $25 a month - but I know what it is like to live pay check to pay check and Winnipeg had what I wanted, gave me what I thought my trade was worth and had the car I wanted. We also had to go out of town to buy out trailer. We could not find a used one on any Brandon Lot with the layout we wanted, or what was in our budget. We ended up buying in Roblin, which was great, as our seasonal camp is at Lake of the Prairies Roblin.  
 
Furniture - I am going to locally owned Kullbergs, no doubt about it. I know I can't save $1000's by going to Winnipeg to buy a couch.  
 
In today's society, you need to save where you can. Shop and buy wisely, unless you are overextended on every credit card or your line of credit and don't care.  
 
as a side note - I gave the dealership the amount I wanted to spend on a used car. He called me up, had a car come in he thought I would like, took it for a test drive, then told me the price. it was $3500 over the amount I told him, now where did he think I was going to come up with that?  
 
So easy to check around and shop the internet first. I found sales online in stores that we have in Brandon. Go to the store, they don't have that sale on, it is only an online sale. Try on what I like, go home and order it off the net.  
 
After having to watch what I spend all my adult life, I can't imagine just throwing a couple grand away, to shop in Brandon.