"usmc58555" stated: "Invariably females take longer. "
I must be an exception to the rule. I've never taken days to select a car at the point I've reached a dealer. I always do my initial research online, getting the parameters for the car I want. (Typically, I want a four-door sedan, compact to intermediate size, usually in the GM family line-up because I get GM rebate rewards to apply).
2010 - I purchased a Chevy Malibu. I visited two dealers; spent 20-30 minutes at the first one at most, didn't like his attitude ("buy from me even if I am $1,000 more for the car because I'm local and you should keep local companies in business"). Umm, no. $1,000 is not an inconsequential sum of money, and I am not obligated to keep you in business if you are substantially more expensive for the exact same product as your competitor. The second dealer, I had emailed my requirements before I got there; in less than two hours, I had a new car and drove off with it. I arrived with my financing in hand (less than 4% interest for 60 month car loan), knew the approximate acceptable range for the car I was willing to trade in (which they gave me more than the KBB trade-in value).
2003 - I purchased a Saturn Ion. My old car had literally died on a Wednesday night, nothing worth trading in. I narrowed down to a couple makes/models/trim lines, sent emails or faxes on Thursday to the local dealers for the car types I was interested in, and indicated I would close on a car no later than the upcoming Tuesday. It took me about 20 minutes at the dealership to pick out the car I bought. My then-spouse's car died the following weekend; I brought him to the dealer and it took him longer to pick out the car he wanted (ego - he wanted a car that cost more than my car, so spent a lot of time searching the lot for an Ion with an inexpensive option that I hadn't taken).
1986 - Bought a Mitsubishi from a dealer I will never again visit. I went with my then-spouse around dinner; we were intending for a quick test drive and then to go to dinner. We did the test drive; they got us to sit down to "work out some numbers" - and when closing time came, the sales manager and salesman locked the doors with us still inside with them. They literally wouldn't let us leave.
1994 - I purchased a Geo Prizm but wasn't sure if I wanted a Chevy or a Geo initially. I visited about six dealers, spent no more than 30 minutes at any dealer that I wasn't going to do business with. One dealer was downright insulting. I stopped in, told him my goal was to purchase a car within the next three days, that I would be price shopping, and I didn't want to play games - once I select a car & options, I simply wanted the best price he was willing to offer. We did a test drive, and then, even though he had my requirements, sat me at a desk and the first question out of his mouth "So what color would you like, pretty lady?". Good way to irritate me. Told him - as it said in my requirements sheet - Open to any color other than white, black and fire-engine red; let's move on to the important stuff, like automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, please. I already knew what the invoice price was for the car with the options. He acted real secretively, hiding some papers, and then pronounced the price at about $1,000 over sticker. I'd already had a telephone conversation with another dealer who had offered me any car at $200 over invoice. So I thanked him, and got up to leave. He blocked me from leaving, while his manager came running over to ask what's the problem. I simply stated that the price was significantly higher than a competitor for the same model, and therefore I was leaving. So now I had two men blocking me from exiting, and they were both saying that they could "work the numbers" to "see if they could better". I'd been through that kind of sales tactic once before several years earlier, and I had vowed it would never happen again. So I politely reminded them that I had asked for their best price upfront, and that I had no interest in sitting around while playing the numbers games for hours. I went to the dealer with the $200 over invoice deal, test drove the car, and purchased it.
Before I have reached a dealer, I know which options I absolutely want (ABS if not already included, for example; Automatic transmission if not already included); I know which options I do not want and won't pay for (sunroof, spoiler on the rear trunk, fancy wheel upgrades), and which are "yeah, okay if it has it, no big deal either way" options. As far as color, my basic rule is as long as it isn't white, black, or fire-engine red, I don't care what the exterior color is. Interior color, I prefer darker color (charcoal, black) rather than tan.
I bought my last car (chevy malibu) this past June, so that was only a few months ago. I narrowed down what I wanted to one of two models and two trim lines within those models. Wrote up my list of options for each model and trim line combination, marked which were required, optional and don't-want's, and sent that to a few chevy dealers via internet, with a note that I was looking to complete the purchase by June 30th and that I already had obtained financing for five years at a rate below 4%.
One dealer, about 30 miles away, responded with a firm quote for each of the spec sheets I had provided.I visited the nearest chevy dealer - less than 2 miles from my house - for price comparison and to give the "shop local" a chance; on an apples-to-apples comparison, he told me that "no one" could beat his price (the other dealer already had given a price quote that was more than $1,000 less than the local dealer for the model I was most interested in) and said the other dealer had to be either lying or making money on the finance end of the deal. I reminded the local dealer I already had financing in place (which he apparently didn't believe - he said no one is giving under 4% for 5 year car loans). Then he tried to guilt me into buying from him, with the "our cars might cost a little more ($1,000 isn't a a little to me), but we're local and you should shop local to keep us in business". As far as my trade-in, he said I'd have to make a special appointment for my car to be looked at. I walked out of there, and no, I didn't buy a car from the local dealer. That exchange took about 20-30 minutes, and I didn't even test drive a car.
I went to the dealer from the internet who had promptly responded to my inquiry. I went there figuring I'd test drive a car, ensure that the internet quote was valid, prep the deal and then make an appointment to have my old car checked for trade-in value. I got there, test drove two cars, worked out the final numbers which was off from the internet quote by only a few cents, literally, handed over my financing check and drove out in a new car. Took less than two hours from start to finish.
A few other dealers got around to responding to my inquiry in July and one actually waited until August. I told each of them I had already bought the car, as I had stated in my initial inquiry, I had put a date as to when I wanted to complete the transaction by, and they simply missed it.
Starting Score: 2014 775
