When approaching a dealership, I take charge the second I step onto the lot. When the salesman approaches me, I tell him my name and the list of cars I am considering. I immediately tell him I am just here to test drive the model I am interested in so I can compare it to the others and decide which car I will get. I don’t let him tell me shit about anything - I have already research ALL the models on the web, know every option, the size of the engine, the colors it’s available in, and what the DEALER INVOICE price is (all of this you can get at places like edmunds.com). It becomes clear within a minute that he’s at a huge disadvantage and that he will never be able to bullshit me.

As for negotiating the price, I start off by knowing the sticker price, the dealer invoice (though he will ALWAYS lie and tell me it was more for some reason that defies explanation - I will tell him he’s either of liar, or he works for the stupidest dealership on the planet that pays more for a car than dealer invoice). If it’s a used car, I know the KBB price for the car, with mileage, along with other cars in its class. I also know what the average sale price (which is different than KBB) is for that model in the particular area I am shopping.

I never talk financing, trade-in, or anything else related to paying for the car until I have decided exactly what model and options I want, and have agreed on a final selling price (which is usually somewhere between $0-1000 above dealer invoice).

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At any rate, one of my coworkers has a Fit and adores it. I rode around with him in it and it seemed pretty smooth and sporty. I love my Jetta, but it’s reaching that point where fixing it is getting more and more expensive (she’s got a new head gasket, which pretty much meant no vacation for 2008 for Mace). I keep eying the Yaris, but that’s just because of the possibility of more parking spaces. It is so wee.

When I bought my current car, I went to the Mini dealership in Mountain View first, just for shits and giggles. My friend and I were completely ignored, which was dumb, considering I went and impulse bought the Jetta, more or less. I could be driving a Mini right now, and probably still paying it off. We even went as far as to walk into the showroom proper and looked for someone to help us. They were so much more accommodating at Sunnyvale VW!

Come 2006. I was now eyeing the cute and sporty Honda Fit. It was perfect for me, but no where to be found. I test drove Scions in the Peninsula but none really fit in my price range and my negotiating skills are nil, despite my new pretty credit standing. I stopped by a Toyota lot on a whim and spotted the new 2007 Toyota Yaris. Funny looking, but it was a hatchback, sporty, and great on mileage. I fell in love. I called dealerships as far as Walnut Creek to San Jose and finally located one in Daly City.

City Toyota. Finally my car was to be had. But they had inconviently forgotten to tell me that the only Yaris they had in stock was equipped with nothing. Not even a stereo. It had manual windows and I was lucky that it was an automatic. But I thought hey, I can buy my own awesome stereo and I took it for a test drive.

I loved how it handled. The console was odd because it was center mounted, but none the less I was hooked despite the lack of radio. Funny enough we didn’t make it back to the lot because it had run out of gas, all the way past the ‘E’. We walked into the office to talk numbers and I asked if they were going to fill it up. “oh we normally don’t do that but we will this time”
What? You don’t sell your cars with a full tank? Cheap bastards, but fine, I went with it.

I just about to hand over my down payment when the salesman came back into the office and said “Oh hey we have a certified used ‘05 corolla, fully loaded for less than the car you’re buying now”. I totally grumbled, I had done enough mind work to set myself into buying the Yaris but now you want me to what I thought at the time was a Granny car.

So I test drove the Corolla and went with it because it did have power windows and a CD stereo. And we’ve been happy ever since.

I’m happy with the car I have and I’m really glad I don’t have to go through all that again for a while.