A lot of car salesmen ignore buyers like this. They see it as a waste of time to get pitted against each other. I’ve gotten the best results by starting with the dealerships with the lowest prices on TrueCar and then baiting them to invest time in me. Then they’re more committed and eager to close. Show your teeth later in the negotiation.
They're free to turn down the business, and only time will tell if it was the right call. Personally I believe revenue is revenue, and salesmen generally need a lesson in humility, but then again I've never successfully ran a car dealership.
Yeah this. I've tried this in various ways (not with cars, with other things) but usually they just hang up on me. I've never gotten deals that are better than what I could have gotten in other ways.
Depends on inventory and the value of the salesman’s time. This can work if it means they don’t have to waste hours selling you.
The problem though is the lack of real commitment. If you can guarantee you really are going to buy a car today and really will take the lowest offer, plenty of dealers would reply. Without a guaranteed commitment it’s just a negotiating tactic and they know it.
If I’m a salesman I’m OK making less on a sale if my time investment is practically nothing.
There’s a service you can use that has a $500 service fee that will bid it out for you. Dealers will reply because they know you’re serious (otherwise you’re throwing away $500). I can’t say if you get a good deal, but you definitely get quotes.
I like this approach. I check the inventory on a dealer's lot through their website, pick the car I want, learn what I can about it, and show up ready to skip the first steps. I ended up buying my current car from a no-haggle dealership since they had the best price even after factoring in negotiation (they had an overstock of the car I wanted and the new model year was about to be released).
