Buying a Car in 2022
Why buying a car is so stressful exercise for all of us? We hate the whole process of selecting a car that we like and it also fits our needs and budget as well. We are always nervous and scared to walk into a dealership and try to avoid that 'Salesman'. He will probably take the last penny from our savings and give us a car that he wants to sell and then probably go on vacations with the commission earned from this deal or buy a home etc. etc.
We try to find an experienced friend or colleague or a family member who can deal with that sleazy Salesman and also save us from the guy sitting in a small office called Finance Manager. We start looking at all the blogs and articles on the internet, look at advice from Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, CarGurus.com, TrueCar.com, kbb.com, and million other affiliates attached to them including our bank or credit union where we keep our savings.
We make the mistake of visiting one of these sites in the hope of getting a 'deal' where we can save thousands and thousands of dollars and get our dream car at almost half the advertised price and also avoid the process of negotiation. Why can't we buy a car like any other item like a TV, Fridge, Apple iPhone, Macbook, Samsung products, LG TV, XBOX, Grocery, Clothes, Shoes, Braces, Glasses, Air Ticket, NFL ticket to name a few. After filling in our information, we are bombarded with emails and phone calls from the same Sleazy 'Salesman" whom we wanted to avoid. We just let every call go to voicemail as one of our besties told us that they are highly trained to sell cars and would probably sell anything to us over the phone. We look at various quotes and get more confused as every dealer is trying to win us by giving us lower and lower prices with some unexplained asterisks *
Finally, we take out some courage and drive to a dealership at night time to look at some cars but to our amazement, the lots are almost empty and there are a couple of cars in the colors that we don't want and upon looking on the window stickers, we find the prices with some addendums which are way beyond our budget.
领英推荐
The next day we make an effort and visit the dealership to find out there are no cars available and everything is being sold in advance. After giving a deposit, we will have to wait a few months for our car and we don't know what our monthly payment would be on our beloved car. Should we lease or buy? After putting in a deposit, we keep waiting for that phone call that never rings. We check with some other dealers and everyone tells us the same story.
Chip shortage, Manpower problems, the Ukraine war, the Middle East Crisis, the Chinese Pandemic, COVID19, Trucking problems, Wait time at Ports, short staffing at dealerships, and Raw material shortage are a few reasons for all this mess. We can't even go on the weekend to 'Test Drive' a few cars or 'kick tires' as there are no cars. We can't even wrestle with the Salesman or Sales Manager or negotiate for our favorite car even if we threaten to walk out (as suggested by Dad). We also want to wait for the Electric model or Plugin Hybrid but each one of them is booked way over MSRP.
As an insider and privy to so many problems, I would be more than happy to provide proper advice on the process of buying a car in a stress-free manner in the coming days and weeks. Please stay tuned for the following newsletter and blog from the author and subscribe.