I don't think you read the last paragraph nor the corresponding links.

People have a unrealistic vision of the advise given by professionals. A common uninformed, maybe even naive, person gets this advise and they figure “well, this guy does this for a living, so he must know”. I constantly tell my kids that they will be greatly disappointed by adults when they get into the work force.  

People are looking for an easy way out of a bad situation, the dealer is offering them that. Often these folks lack the thinking skills to question the details.

I think most of us understand that “Big, Dumb” SUVs are sometimes needed for families that aren’t particularly small in number and/or size, I think the author’s annoyance is that if your family is between 1-3 people perhaps you and our underserved roads/bridges, non renewable resources, pollution levels, etc don’t…

Weird. My 6'5.5" self, my 6' father, and my 6'2, 6'5, and 5'11 brothers all crammed in a ‘12 Mazda 3 hatchback for a 9-hour drive to Buffalo years ago. 

“I also said that his store was the most convenient and that if he sent a competitive quote there was a pretty good chance that he would get the deal. I also said that if he didn’t give me numbers there would be a 100 percent chance he would lose the deal. He opted to let the other store get the business.”

Proving again that your service is invaluable.  I can’t imagine how you haven’t stroked out performing your services day in and day out.

That’s a fine ride, friend!  I recommend root-beer brown.

Exactly. I think that there can be a ‘correct’ number of buttons somewhere between Tesla Model 3 and Buick Cascada.

There are always people who can’t afford the cars they buy...

I assume D+ is going to offer a two-tiered subscription system. A standard plan that includes every season of the Simpsons, and a premium plan that only includes seasons 1-9.

beyond how we reliably travel into the future at a rate of one second per second.

In my extensive new car buying experience, I’ve gotten good deals as a repeat customer of a particular salesperson, but just being a repeat customer of a dealership hasn’t meant jack shit. 

Someone in Vegas should’ve checked with Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook to see how well Musk’s schemes worked out there.

Letter 3:

Tom, you must be a better man than I. Which really shouldn’t be surprising given that this is your line of work. But I’ve never gotten a dealer to give me an itemized listing before walking in the door, and I’ve probably tried 25 dealers or so over the last few times I’ve bought a car.

I just tell them I’m a daredevil in a sarcastic manner when they try to scare me into buying the extra crap I’ve refused. So far, they’ve gotten the hint. Maybe next time I’ll give the Pee Wee Herman “rebel” speech.

The extended warranty pitch was always an odd one to me. Especially on new cars. They would tell you you’re buying a GREAT car, congratulate you, great purchase, thumbs-up.

Some dealers must get really good commissions on extended warranties and the like. When my wife was buying a Kia Soul a few years back, they just kept offering some extended warranty. She kept saying she didn’t want it, so they kept quoting her a lower price until it got to $1/mo. She said yes to that, and then we…

I find it kind of sad that the F&I guy won’t just accept “No”, and has to continue with higher and higher pressure tactics to try to get you to agree.