I expect this is obvious to most of the HN crowd, but the current answer to this problem is: Use The Internet.
Most dealerships now have dedicated online sales managers that workd more like fleet sales than a traditional salesman. You email, tell them what you want, and often get pretty straightforward answers. You can do the whole thing online, and walk in with a cashiers check the day you want to pick up your vehicle. Or often have them drive it to your doorstep.
It cuts through much of the bullshit of going to a dealership. This is really the only worthwhile way to buy a new car, particularly a special order.
Very true. The best way to buy a car right now is to figure out what the cheapest is that you can get for it. Particularly if it is a new car you can generally get down to somewhere around invoice pricing. Email a handful of dealers in your area saying "I'm shopping around and I'd like this car at x price with x features, can you do it? Yes or no?" and if they say yes, print it out and take it with you to the dealer. Carwoo seems to be very helpful with this process but at the time I was purchasing my car Carwoo didn't even have an option for 2012 vehicles.
After that it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open as they can sometimes try to change the price on you or some other cheap shot. The internet managers at dealers generally seem a bit easier to work with but beware of their managers that start pulling out all the tricks. I've even had a dealer finalize a price, hand me the papers to sign and they conveniently added a $2,500 fee that "they add to all purchases"
When you go from working with internet companies all day to old-fashioned car dealers suddenly the convenience of straight forward "honest prices, no surprises", zappos customer service and a generally painless sales process is gone.
Maybe I'm spoiled from buying too many things too easily on Amazon all day with 1 click purchasing at fair prices but even if I am, why can't car sales be this way? It even seems like less hassle for the dealership and the ethical thing to do.
You could do this with faxes even in the days before the internet was so pervasive- even getting dealerships to bid against each other in metropolitan areas.
Most dealerships now have dedicated online sales managers that workd more like fleet sales than a traditional salesman. You email, tell them what you want, and often get pretty straightforward answers. You can do the whole thing online, and walk in with a cashiers check the day you want to pick up your vehicle. Or often have them drive it to your doorstep.
It cuts through much of the bullshit of going to a dealership. This is really the only worthwhile way to buy a new car, particularly a special order.
Plus, you have a paper trail.