The east side of the car screams “New England” while the west side of the car screams “Pacific Northwest.” 
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Oh it is absolutely a perfect fit for the New England weather as well as my lifestyle as a dad of 3 (one in college, and the other 2 athletes where I am hauling gear and such).
I am looking to replace my beloved Lola in the next year. Wifey wants to take her and hand her Subaru Outback (Ebony) off to our daughter. I am looking at either another Outback, or the Volvo XC60 Polestar. My work offers free charging. So I could use only electric 5 days a week for free and only use gas on the weekends.
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How the interwebs has made just about every shopping experience so much more pleasant and convenient for customers except for car buying puzzles me.
That the car industry resists the web so furiously is evidence that they know their business model has been grifting us from day one, and they dont want it to stop.
Duly noted. It should have read “I’m sure we got scammed in addition to the inherent scam that is a new car purchase…”
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Sorry, I cheat and daily drive a 53 year old Volvo wagon because, I dunno, I’m weird and life is a little more interesting that way. Would love to play with any number of interesting newer cars (or okay, a new V90 Volvo), but i just can’t justify the expense.
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Ha! If I could convince the lovely Mrs. AndrewTF to drive a vintage Volvo that would be awesome, especially since I can tear down and rebuild a B20 engine in my sleep. But, alas, that is not going to happen in my lifetime.
I have many fond and an equally number of not-so-fond memories of my '71 Volvo 142.
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“Buyers are sheep to be shorn” as one car dealer proudly admitted to his next door neighbor… who then told me.
On my previous to last purchase, the seller tried to sneak in double billings on a couple of legitimate fees by re-wording them. The seller also talked up seat cloth stain protection (for $200) when one can just (as they would have) buy a $9 can of Scotchguard fabric spray and call it a day.
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The dealer probably didn’t tell you what he could make on the side from the manufacturer just by selling a car.
SOURCE https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/where-does-the-car-dealer-make-money.html
Dealer holdback: This money is from when the manufacturer pays the dealer after a car is sold. It’s typically 1% or 2% of either the invoice or the sticker price of the car. On a $20,000 car, a holdback represents $200 to $400. The holdback allows dealers to sell a car at invoice price, or even below invoice, but still receive money to cover the costs of doing business (advertising, sales commissions, etc.). Most manufacturers offer holdbacks to their brands’ dealers, but not all. This information is helpful to know, but don’t try to build it into your negotiations. Dealers consider this money off-limits for the purposes of price negotiation.
Dealer cash: To help move metal, a manufacturer will sometimes offer a bonus incentive to the dealer to move a vehicle off lots. That’s known as dealer cash. Dealer cash can also come into play at the end of a model year when both the dealership and the manufacturer want to clear out even popular cars to make way for incoming new vehicles. Dealer cash is rarely advertised.
I once saw a new car roll uncontrollably from a car-hauler and run into a small dumpster down the street. Another time (new car shopping) I noticed that the roof paint of one was slightly different from the rest of the car; you can also check by the feel. In other words, new cars that are damaged on site CAN end up being repaired/repainted then put back on the lot as new.
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Oh al stuff I know full Well. They play their game around “oh it’s invoice I’m taking a loss!!” Yeah. No. The manufacturer is paying you to sell the car. Herb chambers didn’t get his monstrous yacht and mansion selling cars at a loss.
It’s a game. A game in which they want to fleece you for every penny they can.
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The game includes sizing you up and claiming (as one young seller did to me) that they had six children to support. Uh huh.
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My reply to that would be “you need a fucking hobby. But that’s not my god damn problem”.
And sometimes you get blind-sided!
I went into a motorcycle dealership that had both new and used inventory. I knew exactly the make and model I wanted and what years were acceptable. And I’d memorized the Kelly Blue Book values for those years. So I was able to talk them down $300 off the posted price on a recent pre-owned bike, which I drove off the lot gleefully.
Three days later, they said that while filing the title transfer paper they’d realized the paperwork they’d shown me was incomplete. My bike was actually a salvage title and thus worth half what I’d paid. And California lemon laws only give you three days to reverse a sale.
Happily, the bike is still running 21 years and 80,000 miles later. (I named it Bucephalus.)
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Not to mention a game they play dozens of times a day whereas most shoppers only do once or twice every few years.
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I’m 65. I’ve owned a car for a total of 6 weeks in my entire life. I bus and walk a lot. Cars are money pits.
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I remember when one of the big draws for Saturn was that there was no haggling… I think there is enough of a vocal minority that likes to haggle; it is totally NOT my cup of tea.
Financially, I don’t know how well my local subaru dealer treats me, but I enjoy going there. Everyone is nice in a “I am totally empowered to make your experience better so I’m in a good mood” kind of way.
My old job you’d get bitched out if you waited an extra 5-10 minutes for a sedative to work.
Hadn’t heard of curbstoning by that name, but it’s reasonably commonplace in the UK, where people buying from a dealer have legal protections that people buying from a private seller don’t.
Dealers can claim all they like that a car sale is a ‘‘private sale’’ or a ‘‘trade sale’’ (from one dealer to another) and therefore you’re not protected, but legally you are- though it may be more trouble than it’s worth taking advantage of those rights.
(I think the only exception is if they tell you that the car isn’t currently driveable and is sold as ‘‘spares or repair’’)
Assuming that’s the kind of car you have, and not your wife’s name, you officially have the coolest car on BoingBoing.
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indeed, that is the car’s name (my daughter named her that…as she put it “whatever Lola wants, Lola gets”)
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Looks good! Would you recommend buying an Outback?
