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Re: enjoying something that most people detest:
Once, just because growing up my parents told me I was supposed to like it, I actually ordered fried liver from a restaurant menu.
At that restaurant, which claimed to be authentic Irish food, that dish was surprisingly good.
This post has nothing to do with cars, negotiating, or band camp.
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That’s a surprising story. It’s hard to imagine that nearly halving the marked price wasn’t a good deal. But on the other hand, car dealers make most of their profit on financing, not on the price of the car, so they actually disprefer cash-on-the-table deals, usually.
Until the last 10-15 years, anyone who walked into a showroom wanting to pay CASH for a new car would get a helluva deal. But now CASH buyers are actually at a disadvantage because the dealership won’t have a chance to mark up the APR on a loan. When a dealer submits your app to a bank or finance company, it gets approved for XX months at X.xx% APR. The dealer can then increase the interest rate (if the bank approved the loan for 60 months at 4.9% APR, you may be presented with a 60-month loan at 6.9% APR. If you haven’t done your own research and checked your credit report and your credit score, most buyers just accept it and sign on the dotted line. Even if they know they should qualify for a lower rate, they will still sign off on the higher APR loan to finish the deal and get out of there. I’ve know a few people who had every intention of refinancing because they qualified for a much lower rate than the dealer, but it’s such a hassle and they forget and eventually it is forgotten..I was in that situation with my second new car loan, which I got when I was 21 for a 1996 Accord. I signed off on a freakin’ 13.99% 60-month loan and dxidn’t even catch the high APR for almost a year. My credit union quoted me a 48-month refi at 7.25%, but I totaled the car a few months later and hadn’t bothered to do the refi yet…I as an idiot about money back then, so I guess I deserved whatever I was dumb enough to fall for! :smack:
By the way, there is nothing illegal about dealers marking up loan rates. It’s a product they’re selling, just like the car you’re buying, the parts and accessories they sell and the services the the services provided by the Service Dept and Body Shop. I personally don’t think it’s ‘wrong’ or unethical in any way either. If the customer is willing to sign the loan at the rate presentd, it’s the buyer’s fault that he/she is over-paying, not the dealer.
The other big reasont that most dealerships don’t like cash buyers is because it’s much more difficult to sell them an extended warranty, service contract and other items of dubious value sold by the F&I office.
I love cleaning and organizing bathrooms.
I love cigarettes.
I’m pretty disgusting in most people’s eyes, clearly.
It was about a dozen years ago. I asked him what kind of car it was and he said a Hyundai Scoupe which they don’t make anymore.
Just this morning I called ADT and told them I was dumping them for Comcast home security because their rates have gotten too high ($52 vs $29.95). So the guy says “we can probably do that well”. Comes back and says $25/mo, no contract. Comcast wants a 2-year contract, with a hike in price of $10/mo after that. Deal!
Speak for yourself. I’m actually kind of impressed. There’s a lot of good one liners in there you could use for a lot of sales transactions.
2 things. First, let’s say you want to pay cash but don’t mind playing the game and pretend to along like a good sheep. I assume you get a better deal on the price since they figure to make it up later. But then you prepay the loan. What are the prepay penalties like. Are they bad enough to make it lose-lose?
Second, I admire people who have the ability to do this since I suspect it requires not only an understanding of that side of the business but the ability to read people and manipulate them to some extent. I don’t mean that in a bad way though. I think it’s human nature for example to nice when we want something for example - which is certainly a type of manipulation.
My point is, I would enjoy reading an installment thread on negotiation tactics if you were ever inclined to do something like that. 
Will you call my cable company and tell them I’m going to take my ball and go home unless they lower my bill?