Complaint Review: Hardin Honda - Anaheim California

You are ignorant to car buying...No one noticed what car she was look to buy...2005 Odyssey EX-L?Some dealerships in the OC area are selling these vehicles for $1000 over sticker...And you sat in the box and ground the salesperson down for four hours to what you thought was a low price...But on a vehicle that was NOT in stock? So let me get this straight..They need to make almost no profit on a hot model and they need to ORDER the vehicle for you? WHY? Because you are such a strong negotiator?

Bob, let me explain better. A car dealer will give you a low-ball price for one reason. To get you to come back again. They know that once you leave, there's a good chance they'll never see you again. So, they give you a super-low price that will get you to come back. It's a complete lie. They have no intention of selling a car at that price. The number was just to get you back in the dealership so they could work you some more. They'll write down $10,000 for a new Honda if that's what it takes to get you back in. Obviously, they'll never sell you one at that price, though. It was a waste of her time to try to pursue a price when there was clearly no deal. For some reason, the dealership was ignoring this woman. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because most of them work every deal that comes through the door. Her mistake was in trying to come up with a price before she agreed on an actual car to buy. She claimed that she wanted a different color. So, step one is find the actual color and car she intends to buy. Then, begin the negotiation process. The way to negotiate is to go in with the knowledge of what the car cost the dealership. Then, you can get an idea of the amount of profit they are trying to make. I bought a bunch of new stuff. Most of it was negotiated right over the phone. For instance, if I already know they had $18,000 in the car, I offer $19,000. Once I'm able to get a deal over the phone, I drive over with money. If the salesman changes his mind, I simply walk out and go to the next highest price on my list. The way to always get the best price is to first know the actual dealer price of the vehicle. Then, you simply add the required markup. That's what you expect to pay. A hot item like a popular SUV could be marked up as much as $10,000. While a left-over would go out the door for a couple of hundred. Many people have trouble with the bargaining process because they really don't understand it. In this case, this woman thought she had a firm price for the vehicle. Instead, all she had was an attractive number that was designed to get her to return. Nothing more. They lied to her in order to get her to come back.

Oh my Paul, you are so right. Casey really stuck to the car dealer by sitting in the showroom for 4 hours beating down the price. The poor car dealer never knew what hit them. I mean Casey must be a professional negotiator to get a car dealer to sell a car they would lose money on. But Paul, you are right, "That's why they gave you the cold shoulder. Like any business, a car dealer needs to make a certain amount of profit to stay in business. Anybody that thinks he or she is going to buy a car for $100 over cost is out of their minds." I mean Casey got the car dealer so confused they forgot what they needed to sell the car for to make a profit. And then when Casey went back to buy the car the dealer refused to honor the price the dealership had agreed upon. I mean, like, why should the dealer sell a car for the price agreed upon? The dealer had to spend 4 hours of their valuable time taking a loss on a vehicle they didn't have but managed to give shrewd Casey a price on in WRITING. That Casey, what a sleaze. I mean, he/she was ready to buy the car for what the car dealer SAID (guess it was a lie, huh?) and the dealership just couldn't find the car, wouldn't honor the agreement to sell it at a certain price, blah, blah, blah. And then Casey got physical, I mean Casey actually tried to leave the dealership. Wow, this is one tough cookie. I mean, the poor car dealer, what could they do other than try to prevent Casey and daughter from leaving? Yep, you're 100% right Paul. No more facetiousness. Seriously, Paul, are you really trying to say the dealership gave Casey a price where they would only make a profit of $100 or less on? The dealer will sell a car for what profit they can. Regardless of what the dealer wants in profit ($500, $1,000, $2,000) they will price and sell a car accordingly. A customer is not going to get them below their base price no matter how god a negotiator the customer is (the dealer is always better), because the dealer will not sell a car for less than their bottom profit line. Sorry, Paul, no tears shed and no sympathy for the dealer.

First, did they ever have a car you were willing to buy? And, if so, what price were they willing to sell it at? You mentioned 4 hours of negotiation. It looks like you got them to agree to a price that wouldn't allow them to make a profit. That's why they gave you the cold shoulder. Like any business, a car dealer needs to make a certain amount of profit to stay in business. Anybody that thinks he or she is going to buy a car for $100 over cost is out of their minds. Look at a typical dealership. It's a multi-million dollar piece of property. Plus, the salesman needs to make $3,000 a month, minimum. Rather than trying to beat them down, why not just ask their price. If you feel it's too high, thank them for their time and leave. Four hours of hard-ball negotiating didn't seem to do you any good. Perhaps, you'd feel more comfortable buying a used car from a private party. At least private sellers expect to lose money. Dealerships can't afford to do that if they want to stay in business.