Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
It still amazes me in this day and age that this type of sales platform still exists where the price tag is not the price tag at all and although you fight to the end to get the best deal, you will never know whether you did or not.
I sort of look at it from the opposite perspective. Car buying is to some degree a last vestige of the bartering system, truly "trading" one thing for another. In fact, in the south that's exactly what it used to be called, whether you were paying cash or not. You hear older folks say, "I used to trade with so-and-so at this dealership until he left, so I started trading with this other guy..."
In reality, nearly everything is negotiable...it's just that the car dealership is the last remaining place where "the game" is played. Real estate is another such area, but "the game" is much more structured, often going through agents to negotiate with the other side.
I enjoy buying cars. I enjoy working with people and getting practice at that kind of thing. It never hurts to have the skill of tactful negotiation, and there are few places to hone that skill anymore. I'll admit that with an 800+ credit score and not having to rely on the dealership for financing, I have nothing to fear from car sales folks. With that said, I FAR prefer an "open price" type scenario to the "closed price" take-it-or-leave-it concept at places like CarMax. At least with an open price concept, you have the chance of not getting taken for a ride.
With CarMax, you know you're getting steam-rolled.