Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Fitzgerald in Gaithersburg same

Fitzgerald is one of the most ethical dealerships around. If I was buying a Subaru or Hyundai I would definitely go there.

Do you work there? I was just in one of their dealerships recently and ended up walking out. It struck me as extremely high pressure traditional sales environment. They gave me all of the usual nonsense--you have to buy today or the deal is gone tomrorow. The last straw was when the manager refused to show to me a final price and only wanted to talk about a monthly payment where they could disguise what I was actually paying. They followed me out to my car and have called me several times since then. I'd rather pay a markup at Carmax than deal with this crap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Fitzgerald in Gaithersburg same

Fitzgerald is one of the most ethical dealerships around. If I was buying a Subaru or Hyundai I would definitely go there.

I wanted to buy a Hybid from Fitzgerald. The sales person told me they "don't get many." Didn't want to take my name. Other dealerships took name and several called me back. I had a car in weeks (no MSRP). I won't name them because even though the salesperson was fine, the F&I guy was an unscrupulous, lying d-bag (I was paying cash and he still managed to screw me by up charging factory accessories) so I refuse to help them sell cars.

That should have said, "no MSRP markup".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Fitzgerald in Gaithersburg same

Fitzgerald is one of the most ethical dealerships around. If I was buying a Subaru or Hyundai I would definitely go there.

I wanted to buy a Hybid from Fitzgerald. The sales person told me they "don't get many." Didn't want to take my name. Other dealerships took name and several called me back. I had a car in weeks (no MSRP). I won't name them because even though the salesperson was fine, the F&I guy was an unscrupulous, lying d-bag (I was paying cash and he still managed to screw me by up charging factory accessories) so I refuse to help them sell cars.

We had a much better time buying a used Subaru this year than last year (last year we gave up and sat on our hands because it was so hard). We actually also had some new options, though those were limited because you have to go with what is on the lot -- wait times for a new car you order are still pretty long.

But for used, prices were better and availability was way better. We had a very definite idea of what we wanted and a max number we would spend since paying cash, and were able to find it in just two weeks of looking. Last year we spent nearly two months and finally gave up.

We bought a Sienna last year and the only Toyota dealerships in the area that were not marking up vehicles were Brown’s (Now Safford Brown) and Passport Toyota. We were able to get one at msrp after about a 9 month wait.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Fitzgerald in Gaithersburg same

Fitzgerald is one of the most ethical dealerships around. If I was buying a Subaru or Hyundai I would definitely go there.

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Fitzgerald in Gaithersburg same

Anonymous wrote:

Gas powered sedans seem to be the best value right now, followed by small crossovers.

NP. This is great to hear as I'm after one of the smaller Subarus myself. I don't care if it's a few years old.

Subarus didn’t get strong discounts in the used market pre-COVID and I wouldn’t expect that to be the case now. However, you can find good deals on Imprezas. Crosscheck is a good choice if you want a crossover. It’s just a jacked up Impreza.

Gas powered sedans seem to be the best value right now, followed by small crossovers.

NP. This is great to hear as I'm after one of the smaller Subarus myself. I don't care if it's a few years old.

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys, how is car buying these days? I know it was absolutely crazy last year for new and used markets. Things any better? Dealers still selling with mark-ups? TIA

Used car prices still seem elevated but are dropping. In looking online, I saw a lot of cars with discounts on their prior extortionate prices but still not discounted enough.

I think you still get better value for new if you go that route, but it is only for certain types of new vehicles. Gas powered sedans seem to be the best value right now, followed by small crossovers. Honda looks like it has some good value at the moment for Civics, Accords, HRVs and CRVs.

Anonymous wrote:For in demand cars (EVs, hydrids, PHEV) some are still trying to mark up MSRP. You can find what you want without paying it if you look around. Still waits for those kinds of cars as they are sold as soon as allocated. ICE cars on on lots. Dealership still trying to perpetuate the narrative of shortages, but that's no longer reality.

What I did find was that salespeople are off their game. They've been order takers and operating with excess demand for so long that they suck even worse than pre-pandemic.

IMHO.

There is a lot of sleazy behavior from dealerships on EV markups right now, particularly for the VW ID.4. You could also say the same about the Hyundai Ionia 5, but Fitzgerald Hyundai has transparent pricing so they are a good option. There are a lot of EVs in production right now, so I think 2025 will be the golden year where the combination of competitive pricing compared with Federal tax credits will make it a no brained.

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

Toyota dealers took advantage of the opportunity to cash in, but--in my experience--Jeep dealers were the most outrageous in marking up over MSRP.

I think it depends on what type of car you are looking for. There were some dealerships that didn't mark up during the pandemic, even with 6+ mos wait and some that did to take advantage (Kay Jennings Toyota, looking at you)

For in demand cars (EVs, hydrids, PHEV) some are still trying to mark up MSRP. You can find what you want without paying it if you look around. Still waits for those kinds of cars as they are sold as soon as allocated. ICE cars on on lots. Dealership still trying to perpetuate the narrative of shortages, but that's no longer reality.

What I did find was that salespeople are off their game. They've been order takers and operating with excess demand for so long that they suck even worse than pre-pandemic.

IMHO.

Hey guys, how is car buying these days? I know it was absolutely crazy last year for new and used markets. Things any better? Dealers still selling with mark-ups? TIA