# Employee pricing:  Yay or nay?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/employee-pricing-yay-or-nay/313656>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 22, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/employee-pricing-yay-or-nay/313656 "2005-07-22T15:44:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/employee-pricing-yay-or-nay/313656/21 "2005-07-28T12:53:20Z")

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> [@KRM](#):
>
> If these promotions are successful, (and they appear to be since the other makers are all copying each other) it would seem that in the very near future, it would be a very good time to buy a used car. I’m guessing that the majority of people trade cars instead of just outright buying one. If the dealers aren’t giving much in trade value as mentioned above and they have a lot of cars, the used car price should be fairly attractive, no?

That would be my guess. However, your very best option is to be well informed before going in. Make sure you know the market for the car you’re interested in like the back of your hand. My husband (who is not a guy that will take you for everything you’ve got just for fun, but used to work with a couple of them) says that not even those guys mess with you if you really know what you’re talking about and go in with realistic expectations. Again, YMMV.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/employee-pricing-yay-or-nay/313656/22 "2005-07-28T21:57:20Z")

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Yes, **they are freakin’ desperate to sell cars.** The US car companies have had the worst few quarters anybody can remember. The way their contracts are set up, it’s terribly, horribly expensive to shut down assembly plants for poor sales. It’s cheaper to sell cars at little or no profit. Besides, there’s a long term benefit; brand loyalty. Market research tells us that most buyers, unless they really hate the car, will buy the same brand the next two times.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/employee-pricing-yay-or-nay/313656/23 "2005-07-28T23:27:08Z")

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So after a week I’m still the only one who actually bought a car under this deal?

American automakers, good luck!

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