The 10th circle of hell – buying a car
Why is it that the price of a car is a moving target?
Tim Wilson
In Dante’s “Inferno”, he describes nine circles of hell. I contend there is a 10th circle of hell – buying a car. Let me say up front that I am most definitely not a car guy. For me, a car is a means of transportation. I don’t relate to the romance that some attach to buying, driving and maintaining a car. A car to me is a large, glorified shoe – something I need to get me around with my stuff.
Why is it that the price of a car is a moving target? I know there is a “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price” but that’s nothing but a starting point for a game that, just as in a casino, the dealer always wins when all is said and done.
I don’t believe car dealers ever sell at a loss. The MSRP exists to make people think they are some kind of master negotiator to get the price down. Sure. And then there are all the random fees, and I’m not talking about taxes. There can be “documentation fees", "destination charges", “advertising fees”, and “dealer prep fees”.
Other retailers can set the price they choose for items put up for sale on their shelves. But once you take the item off the shelf and head to the checkout the price is the price. Can you imagine going to the supermarket and being told they are adding a buck to the cost of a can of peas because they had to fill out paperwork to order the peas, pay for that can to get shipped to the store and then put on the shelf by a grocery clerk? No. That’s factored into the price on the can you picked up off the shelf.
But somehow, they can’t do that with a car so that the price you see in the showroom is the actual price you pay.
Don’t tell me the situation is the same when buying a house. Houses are unique, starting with the three most important considerations when buying a house – location, location and location.
Every car model that rolls off a manufacturer’s assembly line is the same, at least until you start adding those overpriced “packages.” But magically two people can pay wildly different prices for the exact same car with the exact same features from the exact same dealer. P.T. Barnum would be proud.
One last gripe about getting a car. How the hell do they get away with advertising car leases on TV at “$199 per month” with no mention of having to put down $3,500 first to get that list price. Yeah, I know it’s on the screen but it’s in ridiculously small text on the very bottom for about 2 seconds. If you press your face against the TV screen you might be able to read it.
What’s that you say? Buy a used car. All I can say is that there’s a reason when we want to describe someone as a swindler, we compare them to a “used car salesman.”
About the author: Tim Wilson is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts. He is passionate about his family, Marquette University, bicycling and all Boston sports.