Car Buying

I am looking to buy a new car. I am buying just like I did the last one by using Edmunds. With Edmunds you can price out a car with options and see the sticker price, the invoice price, and what the average cost people are paying for that car in your area. You can then have area dealers call or email you their best price. Today I filled out the info and sent it to all of the Atlanta area dealers for this particular maker.

I ALWAYS put that I only want to deal with them via email and today I even included that in the comments section in bold and all caps. After getting the prices, I email the dealers that respond that dealer X is offering that car at a price of $Y. You get them to lower their prices usually and after doing this a couple of times you end up with the best price.

So the emails are starting to come in. One dealer sent me an email asking what it would take to get me to come in and just talk out a deal. I responded that if his EMAILED price was the lowest in the Atlanta area that I would come in, write him a check and leave with the vehicle. What does he do? He calls me to tell me that if I just come in he'll show me why he has the best prices blah blah blah blah. I politely tell him that I dont work that way and if he wants my business to just email his best price and if it is the lowest I will come buy the car from him. He asked me what price I was looking for and I replied the best that I can get it for. He kept questioning me and instead of verbally assaulting the sales guy for not following directions (I must not be feeling well today... HA!) I tell him here is the price I am looking for and quoted him a price LESS than the invoice and inform him that I expect that to include tax, tag, and title. He said he would see what he could do.

Here's where the story gets mildly amusing. The last time I bought a car, I had contacted via Edmunds all of the area dealers of this particular vehicle. The same owners of this dealership referenced above also own a dealership for the vehicle I currently own (different manufacturers). They contacted me to just come on down and talk instead of using the internet like I wanted to do. They had the exact model with options I was looking for but they wouldnt play by my rules. I agreed to buy the car from a different dealership that would play by my rules. Where I was going to buy the car didnt have the exact one in stock so they transferred one in from the dealership that wouldnt play by my rules. I have a funny feeling that this may happen again.

I'll let you know what happens.