Ask the Best and Brightest: Is Cash for Clunkers a Rip Off?
Are consumers receiving a government “rebate” for their clunker paying LESS for their new car than they would have without the rebate? I know that seems like a no-brainer, but never underestimate the perfidy of car dealers. Or, to quote Shakespeare, there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip. Equally salient (if less erudite), the laws of supply and demand can not be denied. With Cash for Clunkers hoovering-up the supply of applicable new cars, why would dealers give their best price on said new car? The statistical data on the question is out there, with hundreds of thousands of transactions logged at US DMVs. A new website and future TTAC partner is on the case. TrueCar.com will share the results of their data dive ASAP. Meanwhile, how about some anecdotal evidence or baseless conjecture from TTAC’s Best and Brightest? Did Cash for Clunkers participants get a better deal than they would have if the program had never existed?
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@ Pch101 No doubt. I'm meaning the Debt3 have created for themselves an army of Price Motivated Buyers. The transplants have more successfully made "The Product" a focus in decisions. Haggle away in the USA!
OK, here's a question - do they haggle in all other markets as well? That is, do the Germans, Japanese, Italians, Koreans, Dutch, Brits, etc. all haggle. Is "horse trading" universal?
Good for some laughs: C4C Anectdotes at CNN Money