Car shopping

saracelica

saracelica

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saracelica
Husband likes the new Corvette. I think it's kind of ugly but ok. Yes he's middle age. I like the Chevy spark. There is a Chevy dealer down the street... Yeah you can't go very far without passing a dealership. So I want to go over tomorrow and see both of them in person.

What's the magic words to be able to actually get a test drive in one? No not ready to get one tomorrow but I want to either put it on the real list or realize it sucks.

Do I ask about the Corvette afterwards or go to the other dealer?

I'm female for the record. Do I have to wear good clothes to be taken seriously?
 
All I know is good luck! Car shopping makes me cringe. I despise is so much.
 
I haven't went in 18 years!
 
Those cars (Corvette) they typically wont let you test drive unless you have the cash or credit filled out with them and they know you are serious and able to buy

You go in looking and be ready cause there goal is to get you inside sitting down and talking with a manager. That is there goal, they say 80% of people who are inside sitting will buy whether they were going to buy or not that day.

Get ready for the games. Ugh best bet is to play them via email against each other and already know the car you want.
 
saracelica said:
What's the magic words to be able to actually get a test drive in one?
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Before I got my GTI and was actively car shopping, it was really quite easy - just act like you’re interested but YMMV. They’ll make a copy of your DL and off you go!

Those salesman flock to you like leeches. They’ll do just about anything to make a sale.
 
This randomly popped in my feed today...good insight on the car buying process and tactics of today.

 
Not sure about a Corvette, but I’ve been able to get test drives on a few fun cars just by going in and acting like I was ready to buy one.

The worst thing you could do is tell them you aren’t ready to buy or that you might need to think about it. id probably check out the Corvette at one dealership and check out the spark at a different one.
 
Groundpounder said:
Dare I ask why you like the Spark?
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It's cute. I have a Celica now she'll be 18 in December and that was my fun car. My next car is going to get me from point a to b. Not looking to impress anyone with it.

Do you have any suggestions? I really liked the tiberon years ago. I drive a Cruze for work.
 
saracelica said:
It's cute. I have a Celica now she'll be 18 in December and that was my fun car. My next car is going to get me from point a to b. Not looking to impress anyone with it.

Do you have any suggestions? I really liked the tiberon years ago. I drive a Cruze for work.
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My cousin (19F) had a Spark for a little while on a lease. It was a gutless wonder to tell you the truth and it’s about the size of a roller skate. I’ll be curious to hear what you think after you test drive one.
 
I think the Corvette production is sold out for at least a year, so not sure how difficult it may be to find a demonstrator.
Any good salesperson will "qualify the prospect", so be ready to pass the scrutiny as to how probable you are as a buyer before you'll get a ride.
 
Model Y AWD Performance. You both will be super happy

or a P100D with the “They’ve Gone Plaid” mode unlocked.
 
Don’t know how you could be cross-shopping a ‘Vette and a Spark. Talk about nothing in common but having 4 wheels and being made by Chevrolet, lol. In any case, I assume you are talking about the 2019 Corvette since the 2020s probably don’t have a single example to even gawk at much less drive. The Corvette is a supercar that can be daily driven. The Spark, is, umm, fuel efficient.

The Tesla options Aggie write about are fine, but kind of a middle ground between your two choices in terms of performance and such.
 
GRG55 said:
I think the Corvette production is sold out for at least a year, so not sure how difficult it may be to find a demonstrator.
Any good salesperson will "qualify the prospect", so be ready to pass the scrutiny as to how probable you are as a buyer before you'll get a ride.
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None are in the wild yet. Still another week or two out.

It is strange that you’re comparing a car that is $25k loaded with a car that is $105k loaded
 
saracelica said:
It's cute. I have a Celica now she'll be 18 in December and that was my fun car. My next car is going to get me from point a to b. Not looking to impress anyone with it.

Do you have any suggestions? I really liked the tiberon years ago. I drive a Cruze for work.
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I'd buy a Kia Soul before I would get a Spark. At least it has some useful room. Or maybe a Kia Forte, it also would have more room than the Spark. And both of them would be more likely to last 18 years.
 
I always found it much easier to test drive a sports car if you arrive at the dealer in another sports car.

Never cared for Corvettes myself, I've always preferred the smaller cars like my Miata... Mazda took everything that was good about the classic British sportscars and made it something you can actually want to use as a daily driver.
 
We I in the market I'd be looking at a Fiat Abarth. Neat looking things. That said, I wouldn't buy a new Vette just now, at least not the one with the engine in the right place. I never by the first model year of anything, not that you even could. Yeah, interesting comparisons. I haven't bought a US car in decades. I like little cars that work.
 
The folks that make their living selling cars for any time at all have seen, heard, and pretty much done it all. They'll work your feminine charm against you. So forget that ignorance. Their sole goal is to put as much of your money in their pocket as possible. They'll say, and do, anything they need to reach their goal.

The young sales people at the larger dealerships are sent to school to learn the game too. So you already have the under hand, even with them. The best way to get what you want is to tell them up front what you want.
I want to drive a Vet. I want to drive a Spark. That's all I want right now.

As soon as they start to play the game, and won't give you want you ask, you simply walk away, and go to the next car lot. Don't worry about offending, they're used to it. If you don't know, or can't recognize "the game", bring along someone who does.

A smart way to cut through a lot of the sales game crap today, is to do your preliminary buyers work on line.
 
By the way, I've never had a hard time getting to drive anything I wanted at a dealership. That even induced a time I was just goofing off and not buying anything. And yes, I did test drive sports cars.
 
Groundpounder said:
I'd buy a Kia Soul before I would get a Spark.
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Agree. A friend of mine drives a white Kia Soul and it’s actually not too shabby. Kia also offers some pretty good warranties too (or at least they did).
 
I wouldn't consider Kias or Hyundais. Honda, Toyota or Nissan. Maybe Mazda or Mitsubishi.

Sentra rocks. It's kind of like Ted's (wife's) Jaguar, just a little smaller and a few less cylinders. But seriously, for as small as it is, it is very roomy on the inside and trunk area.
 
I just can't bring myself to buying something that has KIA on it. It could be the best car in the world, never needing repairs, maintenance and the first tank of gas lasting 100,000 miles, having Killed In Action on it is a deal killer for me.

Sort of like when GM introduced the Nova in Mexico..
 
For test drives, go to a local carmax and drive as many as you like. It wont help you with the new Vette, but for the commuter car you are looking for, thats a low stress way to drive a bunch of cars.
 
charheep said:
For test drives, go to a local carmax and drive as many as you like. It wont help you with the new Vette, but for the commuter car you are looking for, thats a low stress way to drive a bunch of cars.
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Test drive them at Carmax, but don’t buy from there. In my experience, they price their cars at top dollar and will not negotiate. They call it their ‘No Haggle Pricing’ which is just annoying.
 
Groundpounder said:
I'd buy a Kia Soul before I would get a Spark. At least it has some useful room. Or maybe a Kia Forte, it also would have more room than the Spark. And both of them would be more likely to last 18 years.
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I don't see many 18 year old Kias on the road.
 
schmookeeg said:
I don't see many 18 year old Kias on the road.
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I don't know that it's indicative of anything. Kia barely sold any meaningful amount of cars 18 years ago and had less than 1% market share, and they were priced in a range where the consumer was likely going to do bare minimum (if any) preventative maintenance on the car. In addition, 18-year old Kia, at the average annual mileage, would have 216K miles on it which is about the end-of-life for most any typical car without a diesel or collector-car status. They sold about as many vehicles in total as BMW sold 3/4-series, and I don't see many 20-yr old BMWs still on the road, either . . .
 
Ryanb said:
Test drive them at Carmax, but don’t buy from there. In my experience, they price their cars at top dollar and will not negotiate. They call it their ‘No Haggle Pricing’ which is just annoying.
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Yeah the no haggle pricing and true car pricing is just a way of saying you're getting screwed hahaha

And when it comes to the desirable American muscle cars the pricing wont change much because if you don't buy it someone else will. They will wait it out, trust me, I just went through it and didn't get the car.
 
steingar said:
We I in the market I'd be looking at a Fiat Abarth. Neat looking things. That said, I wouldn't buy a new Vette just now, at least not the one with the engine in the right place. I never by the first model year of anything, not that you even could. Yeah, interesting comparisons. I haven't bought a US car in decades. I like little cars that work.
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Lol, that Fiat offerings (Abarth-editions especially) have been largely regarded as a pile of junk. Unique looking? Sure. However, they've had a number of reliability issues as well as poor overall quality control. I'd run from a Fiat of any sort (Dodge/RAM offerings not necessarily included).
 
saracelica said:
It's cute. I have a Celica now she'll be 18 in December and that was my fun car. My next car is going to get me from point a to b. Not looking to impress anyone with it.

Do you have any suggestions? I really liked the tiberon years ago. I drive a Cruze for work.
Click to expand...

For a little car, my money is on a VW Golf or a Mazda 3 hatchback.
 
So went to my local Chevy dealer. Half mile from my house. They didn't have any Sparks in stock.
Claims the C8 Corvette is months out due to some sort of strike. The guy referred me to another dealer across town that had one. Groovy.

Get in my car call that dealer and confirm they have one. She gets my name and phone number which I reluctantly gave wasn't thinking just find fake number to give out. She says when you're here ask for Kelly. Ok. I get there and ask for her but evidently she's there manager and passes me to Clayton. We walk to the car that's inside since it's raining out. It's passion fruit color (dark purple) fine I just want to see it in real life. Get in and realize it's pretty roomy. Clayton is 6"4' and looks ok in the front seat. I said do you fit in the backseat I hear it's tight. Reluctantly he shows how he fits. I tried the horn to see if it's a squeaker or a good horn. Made several people jump. Snicker. Two sales people come over to see Clayton in the backseat and laugh. How's you get him to do that?! I'm the customer. Blah blah. What can I do to have you drive out if here today with this car? Nothing just was looking...a little new to this new car thing. Evidently some promo was ending today. If I had c more time I would've wasted more of his time with questions but I walked to the door and he says let me get some info from you. Nope bye.

Fast forward two hours and Kelly calls. I said I'm busy bye. I don't think I can go to the one across town again.
 
saracelica said:
Fast forward two hours and Kelly calls. I said I'm busy bye. I don't think I can go to the one across town again.
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They have no shame lying to you and harassing you. There is no reason you cant go back, test drive the car and waste as much of their time as you please.
 
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