[KilgoreTrout]

[ QUOTE ]
for most people, thinking you got a good deal is more important than actually getting a good deal.


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I sort of hoped Freakonomics delved into this subject. Not that their theories are at all earth shattering or even productive, but that the comparisons alone are entertaining.

The reason why the Saturn model fails is because consumers (US consumers anyway) think the MSRP is fiction to begin with. Am I to think that the industry is being benevolent? Pshaw.

I recall one near-bamboozle with my most recent vehicle purchase. I found a couple dealers with 4x4 F150's with 8 foot beds, 5.4L, XLT trim line, and the performance options I wanted. One had more doohickeys than the other, which didn't matter much to me. After a couple of weeks going back and forth with both dealers, the guy selling me the tricked out model was only a few bucks away from the guy selling a more basic model. I decided, dollars being equal, why not get the Bose system and the power windows, etc.?

I got there and the guy had all the paperwork prepared. But the math didn't add up. He did the quick "here's our agreed-upon price" which appeared at the bottom, like a bottom line. Added to it were the rebate, my down payment, my trade in, etc. etc. etc. So instead of, say, $25K for the truck, he was writing up a $36K sale.

I told him that I hadn't decided whether to trade my car in or not. I said I may want the cash rebate, as I hadn't settled on financing yet. Furthermore, I told the guy that based on the research I had shown him previously, that I wasn't negotiating down from the MSRP, but was starting with dealer cost and factoring in optional equipment in the plus column and rebates, dealer incentives, and holdback in the minus column.

He said my math was wrong. I told him to have a nice day, went to the other dealer with the less-fancy truck, and got the sale price in writing, then discussed trade, rebate, financing. The number came out to within a couple hundred of my number (though I did settle for a drop in bedliner as opposed to a spray-on one and a cheapo tonneau cover instead of a hard top one). I compromised on options, the dealer compromised on dollars. I signed the deal.

Be very wary of car dealer math.