Quote Originally Posted by darwinism View Post
An update on one of my friend's car shopping adventure.

He has just moved to Michigan from Kentucky, and will be expecting another child in August. He has no ties to GM, Chrysler or Ford. Currently owns 2 older models Dodge and VW from the early 90s.

Because of my persuasion, he has agreed to add the Ford Fusion and the Chevy Malibu to his list, which includes the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Accord.

After visiting a few Ford and GM dealerships within the tri-county area, we ventured further out to find out what Brighton Ford, Dick Genthe Chevrolet, Monroe Friendly Ford and Southgate Ford were able to offer. These 4 were specially recommended by fellow DetroitYes member, heedus.

None of the 4 above were able to offer any better deals for him, compared to dealerships in the Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties. The sticking point appears to be their inability to act beyond the confines of the rebates and incentives system placed unto them. For example; my buddy is losing out on about $3000 of discounts from GM because he doesn't 'qualify'. He is losing out on at least $4000 of discounts from Ford because he doesn't 'qualify'.

I was with him throughout each and every one of these trips to the dealerships. For heaven's sake, why turn a customer away just because of stupid conditions like that?! Seriously. At this juncture, as much as I wish he would purchase a Ford or GM, I would completely understand if he were to choose a Honda or a Hyundai.
I'm sorry to hear that your experience w/these four dealerships weren't all that great [[if you need names of good salespeople at each of those dealers for any reason, let me know). I am curious, however, to hear about how your negotiations with the dealers went.

Since I have family that works in the auto industry, I only have purchased cars using their employee discounts. I had assumed that the way that most people purchased their cars were that they got quotes online from dealers. They then went to the dealers who gave them the best price and negotiated with those dealers. In negotiating, they used websites like Edmunds.com for invoice and true market pricing to get the best deal possible.

What has been your approach? Has it been the same for all of the brands that you're shopping?