In my experience (2 new car purchases in the last 4 years using email competitive bid approach) once I had the proposals, all communication was still over email until pick-up and paperwork time. In one case I picked the second lowest bid, since the dealer was much closer, asked them via email to beat the lowest by…

My last two cars I bought by emailing all dealers of that make within a couple hours drive (about 20 for each), describing what I wanted and requesting their proposed out-the-door price. Then I went for the one that had the best price (with some very minor allowance for proximity) which included paperwork. It was…

@kyngfish . . . a suggestion: I got my wife a 2014 Mazda3 S 2.5 Grand Touring, which she preferred over several luxury compact cars we looked at (and which I was also happy with). Fun to drive, great infotainment, great seats, solid reliability, cheap to maintain.

So true. Although I’m currently considering replacing my Prius, I certainly appreciate a lot of things about it as an urban daily driver, and I think a lot of those qualities have universal appeal.