Used Cars - "Haggle Free Pricing"

[ladrones]

Do they have the sales staff on hourly pay?

[ATX Tyler]

Haggle or no haggle shouldn't really have any impact on whether you should buy a car there or not. The only thing that ultimately matters is how the final price compares to what similar vehicles are going for in a particular market. You can find this info all over the internet.

Like some have said, a lot of dealers are going to the no-haggle model because it's what a lot of consumers want (those who hate the back and forth of negotiating), and also because it's more efficient for their sales people. Carmax was a big player in starting that movement. They discovered that customers are willing to pay a little more money for a car that has a return policy, and to not have to deal with spending hours negotiating a deal on inflated advertised pricing. Does that fit for every person? No, some people will always want to feel like the "won" in the pricing game even if it took hours to do so. Can you sometimes get a better deal by haggling with a different store? Sure, but it depends on how much of your Saturday you want to spend in a sales cubicle.

My philosophy is to decide what I feel is a fair price, and be prepared to pay it. I'll still open the door for negotiation if the dealer will bite, because it's an automatic no if you don't ask, but it really doesn't matter if the price is fair.

[WItoTX]

My experience has been I get more money off the price of a car by haggling, compared to the no haggle places.

I also enjoy the deal making that goes on during haggling too. Too many people these days don't know how to haggle, simple things that would save them a lot down the road (For example, paying cash vs credit always saves me money).

[icetrauma]

Bought my wife's vehicle from Carmax. A lot of their vehicles are program cars. Walked in and in less than 1 hour, had the vehicle she wanted in a price I was willing to pay. I hate car dealers. If a dealership has to post rebates and bull bagels like that, it's just plain dumb. Put the dang price on the vehicle.

[trophy8]

If they want to sell it that day they’ll haggle. Lol

[RiverRat1]

Has anyone bought a used car from a dealer lately that has "haggle free pricing"? Pro's - Con's - Thoughts?

It seems like most dealerships are going to this strategy, and I'm not sure if its a good thing...

Basically they will not budge off the price no matter what.

I even went and test drove a vehicle a few days ago and told the guy I was interested in buying it. The sticker price was around 15k and the online advertised price was about 13k. They told me they would only "negotiate" the sticker price, not the online price? Doesn't seem like much of a negotiation...

Am I wrong in thinking the negotiations should have started at the online advertised price? The dealership wouldn't budge a dollar even though they were not technically advertised as a "haggle free" dealership.

I would have likely bought the vehicle if they would have negotiated a few hundreds bucks... I wasn't asking for Thousands off or anything..

Needless to say I walked out without purchasing, and continue to search...

What are y'alls thoughts or experiences???

To answer your question the "online" price is usually considered a sale price that's their lowest offer. Think of it as a sale price on TV where they only have 1 or 2 at that price in stock trying to get lots of people to come in. They don't go down on the sale price.

I also hate buying a new car. Hope my Tacoma runs forever.

[BitBackShot]

With price transparency these days, you should be able to figure out roughly what a vehicle is actually selling for within a fairly small tolerance.

If I'm +/- $1000, I"m not going to worry too terribly much about it.

Anything beyond that, I do the "call me if you're ready to accept my number and not before" and leave.

[Drycreek3189]

Every vehicle I ever bought was haggle free, from my end. I know what I want weeks before I buy and in the past have usually given four or five guys a shot. If they won't give me a price without the grand tour, I let them slide. For the past three or four trucks and cars I've bought from the same guy because he beats every one else. I'd just as soon take an *** whipping as fool around with a car salesman.

[Chuy]

I must be a weirdo because I kind of like the haggling part. I've always gotten below what I'm willing to pay for a vehicle and usually end up making the sales guy(or my wife) mad or fluster him to the point where he runs for help after a few days. It's a blast!

[417scott]

I've always ignored the sticker price and worked off the dealers cost, both used and new. The approach has always been let's agree on what a fair profit is and then we will add that to the dealers cost. If the dealer isn't willing to deal this way I'll go somewhere else. I've paid as low as $200 over dealers actual cost to as high as $1500. $200 was on a factory order that was on the dealers lot less than 12hrs. The $1500 was on a relatively hard to find used vehicle.

[Deepwoods]

I asked a dealer this same question. What I was told, is with all the cars for sale on the internet now, they have to drop their prices to compete. He claimed the internet sales prices and the No haggle approach is the only way they can get people to come look at used cars these days. Not sure I buy it, but was a good story.

[stickbowcoop]

I despise haggling. Hate it. I shop online, find what I want for what I am willing to pay, and if I like it after a test drive, I buy it.

[Mike]

This is a timely post and I’m glad I use the search function. I’m trying to buy used vehicle for my son turned 16 and even possibly another vehicle for my graduating senior. I found the car I want on two different use lots but I can’t get anybody to work with me at all, I had one guy come out $202 on a $17,000 car. They have a car I would like to get is covered in dirt on the dealers lot and has been there for 54 days and they won’t even call me back.

I have purchased my last three vehicles from Carmax and absolutely love the experience but they don’t have anything that will match our budget on their lot.

I have also found that they do not like dealing over the phone or a cash transaction.

I don’t really want to drive to Houston to make this deal but there are so many vehicles over there in our price range it may warrant the trip.

[skeeter]

I’ve bought 4 vehicles from car max. I won’t buy another new vehicle. They ain’t the cheapest and ain’t the highest priced either. Sales people aren’t on commission. They don’t care if you buy a car or not. You can walk around and look at cars without someone bothering you. The price is on the car. You don’t like it, move to the next one. All cars come with a 3 month warranty, plus factory warranty if available and also offer extended warranty’s. Or, you can sit at home and shop on line. EZ, PZ

[TP3]

Oh, we are gonna haggle either way.