Skip Elliott Bowman wrote:

>I spent a total of around $75 and 4.5 month's research on that
purchase.
>Lots of work, but it paid off in the end. Not just in saving money,
but in
>the sweet smell of smug that comes from turning the tables on the
sales
>hawks.

You likely got a better deal than you would otherwise have gotten, but
if the dealer agreed to the deal, you didn't turn the tables on anyone.
The sales "hawks" don't care that they let a vehicle be sold for a
minimal profit, they want you out of there so they can spend their time
on the next guy.

The only time you know that you've turned the tables on them is when
they come up with a phoney excuse to renege on the whole deal, after
the contract has been signed, but then you don't end up with the
vehicle, so they still win.

I bought a vehicle in Southern California, at West Covina Toyota. It
was an "All in Stock at this Price" sale, so you'd think it'd be hassle
free, but it wasn't.

We agreed to the deal, which was way below invoice (due to factory to
dealer incentives), and signed the contract. When it became clear that
we were not financing, buying a warranty, or buying any other extras
like paint guard, fabric guard, gold package, digital ash trays, etc.,
the car suddenly became "unavailable." The cock and bull story was that
they couldn't sell it to us because it had been damaged, then repaired
(hence the lack of visible damage), but it hadn't been "cleared by
Toyota."

We went back the next day, got there before the dealer opened, and I
was talking to a guy setting up a BBQ lunch at the dealership. He knew
the dealership's owner personally, told me his name, about his family,
his previous dealership etc. When the salespeople arrived, I was
talking to them outside as they could not get into the building until
the dealer arrived. I explained that I was an old friend of the dealer
when he had his dealership across town, etc., all lies of course. So
when the dealer arrives one salesman tells the dealer that an old
customer is here and I say, "g-d it's been a long time, how's the wife
and the family," and the dealer who doesn't know who the hell I am has
to pretend that he knows me, and my wife has to walk away to keep from
bursting out laughing. Fortunately no one recognized us from the day
before. We ended up getting the car at the advertised price, but we
financed it to make the dealer happy, then paid it off immediately.
Then the dealer starts sending us gifts so we'll fill out the Toyota
survey "properly."