Wow. I had no idea buying a car was this unpleasant to so many people. Edmunds.com did some huge survey about how Americans felt about buying a car, and the answers weren't pretty. Like give-up-sex and sit in a middle airplane seat. Come on, really?
Yep, 21% of Americans said they would forego getting laid for a whole month to avoid haggling over a car price. Here's what they say in the press release:
One in five Americans (21%) would rather say sayonara to sex for a month than haggle over the price of a car; 44 percent would give up Facebook for one month and 29 percent would turn over their Smartphone for a weekend if it meant avoiding the haggle
One in three Americans (33%) would rather go to the DMV, do their taxes or sit in the middle airplane seat than go through the process of buying a car
Based on other data, it appears what Americans really, really hate is haggling:
Nine out of 10 car shoppers would be more excited to purchase a vehicle if it had a set price they felt good about, rather than having to haggle.
That's pretty overwhelming. I always thought the haggling part was kind of what made the process fun, but I guess most people don't like playing stupid mind games about money with pushy guys in bad suits. Don't feel bad if you are a car salesperson reading this, in which case I think your suit looks fantastic on you. Who's your suit guy?
Too bad Saturn's cars were so boring, since they had the no-haggle dealer thing down, at least.
Another interesting bit from the study: friends give the worst car-buying advice, according to other friends (or ex-friends). I don't believe that. My pregnant-with-twins friend with the bad hip loves her Miata, I'm happy to say.
Also, an aside: Edmunds also released a big PDF about car shopping habits, and the design is kind of a big crazy mess. Look at this page here — can anyone tell me why the car's badge is the om symbol? Or why they're using Cooper Black, a typeface almost exclusively used for fuzzy iron-on letters in 1979?
Anyway, Americans. Come on. Haggling's not that bad. No need to give up fucking or trap yourself in the DMV. Just think of it as a game, be ready to walk, and remember, at the end of it all, you have a new car!