I was a retailer who did both buying and selling for my business. I know every mind game in the book, and a few I invented. When I bought my van, none were played on me. I specified what I wanted via email, was quoted a price, countered with a quote from another dealer, they matched it, (invoice, by the way, and that's not bad since I was the third retail delivery of a Metris in the US) I called in with a credit card for a $500 deposit that I was frankly told was non refundable.
5 months later, my car came in, I was called, approved for financing, agreed to the 7/120 warranty at what I expected to pay for it, handed them the down payment, signed the papers, and drove off. I think I spent 45 minutes in the dealer total.
The only fee was the state reg fee, as specified by the state. Yes, there was a $995 destination fee. I doubt it costs much less than that to ship it from Spain to Ladson to NJ. I'm sure the dealer made money on me. I hope so. I've been very happily servicing my cars there for 15 years, although I have never bought one from them. I think I got a good price for such an early delivery.
