I seriously hate car shopping

jaimebeth9

Not much makes me feel more uninformed than car shopping, even when I've done my research!!  Vent over. 

banana468

I completely rely on DH for stuff like that.  Doing research on stuff like this is what he does for fun.We could go looking for cars on a daily basis.  Packing up our  home?   Yeah that doesn't go so well.

~mRm~

When I bought my SUV a few years ago my hand was shaking so bad when I had to sign. Even after all the research and test drives, I still was a little uneasy.

shanwalk2

My DH makes me nuts about car shopping.  Even talking about it with him irritates me.  He does zero research, then picks a random (super low) number out of the air and sits on it and refuses to go higher.  It's infuriating.  He thinks that's the way to bargain.  Sigh. I'd much do the research and do it myself. 

zitiqueen

[url]www.edmunds.com[/url]Check out the section on what snakes car salesmen are and the tricks/lies they use to try and separate you from your money.

BecW2be

I love edmund.com. It is invaluable! I had to buy my first car all by myself right after my Ex left. Worst experience of my life. I actually had to tell one salesman at the Mazda place that if he called me 'darlin' one more time it would get physical. He was also the one that pointed out the deep recess behind the door handle that would keep my "pretty little fingernails" from damage when I opened the door. WTF? Needless to say, I did not buy a Mazda. But the doof I did buy from wasn't much better. He had no concept of personal space. Ick. Thankfully, I had all my edmunds stuff printed out and ready to negotiate, so the transaction didn't take long. I will NEVER do that alone again. I don't care if I have to hire a gigalo to go with me, I will have a man in tow when I buy another car.

jenbat

Last time I bought a car I did it like this. Did my research. Had a pre-approved loan. Went to the dealer, met a salesman and asked for his card - no test drive, just told him what I was looking at. Emailed him with a detailed email of what I wanted to buy, what I wanted for my trade in and what I was willing to pay. Told him not to call until he could do the deal. He called two days later and we were done.

tidetravel

I completely understand... I just had a week of hell car shopping.  I went to one dealer and got screwed (said they could get me the car they showed me - which was an upgraded version of what I wanted - within my budget.  When I went in the next day to sign the contract, it was "oh sorry, you were shown the wrong car."  I walked out.)  I went to another dealership that day and said "this is my price point, can you get me this car for this - yes or no."  They got close, but couldn't do it; I walked away with the low quote in writing. From there I decided to only do all correspondance via email.  I knew exactly what car I wanted and with what features.  I emailed my quote to multiple dealerships to see if anyone could beat it.  If I was given an e-quote, I called and asked if that was the REAL price of the car, or if that price included "applicable rebates" which may or may not be applicable.  I didn't deal with anyone that wouldn't give me a quote in writing - if they asked me to call or stop by I said, sorry, no.I ended up with a really open, honest salesperson, who didn't try to pull anything the day I went to get the car.I don't know if you are looking for a new or used car, but if you are buying new, look into the cash for clunkers program.  If you have a car that qualifies, you can get a $3500 or $4500 credit to the purchase of a new car.www.cars.gov