Buying a new car - question about Fitzgerald

[Anonymous]

Complete novice in new car buying here, hoping this is not too stupid of a question. I read a lot about negotiating on price with dealers. Fitzgerald, which seems to have the best posted prices, advertises its "no haggle, no hassle" pricing. Does that mean you really can't haggle with them? My husband loves to do that (although hasn't ever with a car dealer, because we usually bought our cars off Craigslist). Anyone have experience with Fitzgerald and can advise? In general, I'd appreciate any advice on how to go about buying a new car.

[Anonymous]

They are set in price- no haggling.

[Anonymous]

If you want to haggle and are actually good at it, you should not go to Fitzgerald, Carmax, or anyone else would set pricing.

That said, we bought a car there, did very well because my husband actually is a haggler and we were able to talk them into giving us their price on the particular car we wanted that was at another dealership in Pennsylvania, because they didn't have what we wanted.

Their service and bodywork places have been awesome.

[Anonymous]

If you're doing a trade-in, you can use that as a place to negotiate a price.

[Anonymous]

Fitzgerald is great if you like no hassle. If your husband enjoys haggljng go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

We bought at Fitzgerald. We paid the posted price, but took the car to a trusted mechanic befor paying who said that a few problems needed to be taken care of. We haggled about this and they ended up doing the repairs at no extra cost, which was the right thing to do. They initially said that the problems weren't really problems, but since we had a backup opinion, they caved.

[Anonymous]

Fitzgerald is odd. I emailed 4 dealers asking for quotes for a specific car on fitzgeralds lot. Another dealer beat their price, for their car. They did whatever trade or whatever, brought it to the other dealer, where I picked it up. So clearly they are overcharging by enough that it makes sense for another dealer to earn a profit by selling fitzgeralds inventory at a lower price.

That said, we take it to Fitzgerald for service because their service department is great.

[Anonymous]

I don't find their prices to be particularly low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't find their prices to be particularly low.

Duh. Places who offer no-haggle aren't particularly low.

[Anonymous]

So they don't haggle on price, but they do haggle on trade and finance? There are so many hidden places to haggle...delivery fees, doc charges, dealer prep fees, whatever.

They key is always off the lot price.

[Anonymous]

So how do you go about haggling with a car dealer? Do you just walk in there, name your own price and see what they say?

[Anonymous]

I felt I got a good deal on my car with Fitzgerald - the one in Germantown, it was the lowest price I had seen for that make and model (and I've had it a few years now with no issues). The salesman was nice and not pushy. The car I traded in was such a lemon so I didn't bother to haggle on that aspect. When I felt that the car could use a bit more cleaning, they were good about taking care of it.

[Anonymous]

When we bought a while ago their sales price was good. The price for service was pretty expensive though, so once we were out of warranty we found somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

I also thought I got a good deal at Fitzgerald. The salesman actually seem to know a lot about the cars they sell and a lot about the brand.

I went to some competing dealerships while I was shopping around and it was almost a joke. I knew more about the cars than they did. It was hard to negotiate with sales people who weren't well informed.

[Anonymous]

I've bought two new cars at Fitzgerald, and the process couldn't be easier. I know that I got a great price, and they didn't try to bring in a lot of extra fees and such at the end.

Fitzgerald service, however...they are crooks. They tried to convince me that my car needed a part which, 50k miles later, still hasn't needed to be replaced. I will only use their service department for the free oil changes and recalls, but I go straight to my other mechanic if Fitzgerald recommends any other service.