Car Shopping circa 2001

In the fall of 2001, when I was buying a new car, I chose to look at Fords.   Ever since my brother-in-law started running his own dealership in Wisconsin, we bought them from him.  However, since I moved to the Pacific Northwest, it was no longer practical to make a road trip to buy a car from Wisconsin.  However, he still did have some insight into the costs of Fords, so I figured I could work out a decent deal on a Ford.

After going through the test drive process and looking at what was available on the lot, I went in to start talking money.  Their process at the dealership was to show the customer the invoice, add some miscellaneous fees, and then calculate a 15% profit margin for the car. By the time the salesman was done, the price was about 50% more than the sticker on the car.

When he asked me what I thought, I said "My brother-in-law, who owns a Ford dealership, said I should be able to buy it for the invoice cost."  The salesman looked at me horrified!  He started to justify why they can't do that, and started trying to talk me into a loan because the "monthly payment would be smaller."  I stuck to my guns and the salesman had to go get his manager.

When his manager came out, he was taller and wider than the salesman, and kind of started over.  He said he could be gracious and waive some of the fees.  So he scratched out some numbers, recomputed the total, and asked me what I thought.  I replied "My brother-in-law, who owns a Ford dealership, said I should be able to buy it for the invoice cost." He was indignant.  He explained to me that they had costs in the dealership and they needed to make a profit on the car.  Once again, I stuck to my guns and told them that no one is forcing them to sell me a car.  He then indicated that he didn't have that kind of authority and had to get his manager.

When the next guy came out, he was ever larger and wider and pretty imposing.  I think he told me that he played defensive tackle at the University of Washington or something like that.  He took the sheet of paper and crossed off some more numbers.  At this point in time, the only thing left was the invoice price and the 15% profit margin, trying to get me to understand that they needed to make money on the car.  When he asked me what I thought, I gave him the same answer that I gave the other two:  "My brother-in-law, who owns a Ford dealership, said I should be able to buy it for the invoice cost."

He was fit to be tied.  He started to berate me and I finally had it.  I started to get up to leave when he circled the invoice price and threw the paper at me.  He left in a huff, but in the end, I got the car for the invoice price plus a nominal delivery charge.

I don't want to say I won and they lost, or vice versa.  I'm not that kind of guy.  Ordeals like that (and it was an ordeal) are experiences that I'd rather not go through.