This is a great article. The author went undercover and worked at two car sales jobs. In the article he explains how they maximize profit and play the customers.

http://netscape.edmunds.com/advice/b...ng.buying..4.*

This is a pet peeve of mine because I watched a "slick" delership try to take my sisters money. They tried tricks like charging $1200 (yes 12 hundred dollars) for paint and fabric protector. They also switched salesmen no fewer than 5 times because I kept working the price down. It was UNREAL what they were doing. This was for a entry level toyota (carolla I think, it was a few years ago) and they were actually charging some customers as much as $3500 OVER msrp for the cars!!

(This was for common cars, not even something hard to get like a new model or limited run car)

Pretty scary to think about all the peope who are not "money smart" and end up paying way too much. Unfortunately the people who can least afford it (young/poor/uneducated) are also the people who are easiest to trick. [/END RANT]


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yeah i seen it before. great read. the insights into the car salesman culture is hilarious.

 

I think consumer reports also had an article on how to work it when buying a car. It's basically the less gut-wrenching version. Unfortunately, that means that readers tend to forget the good advice when they come across a good salesman.

Then again, though, an excellent salesman won't just take your money; he'll provide a pleasant experience that's worth the money he takes away, and he doesn't try too hard to take much more of your money than, say, regular dealer markup.

The slimy ones are the ones that'll take all your money, make you feel good about it, but only long enough for you to take delivery. He doesn't care if you regret it the next morning.