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I used to work at a dealership. Selling cars. It was not at all fun, but that's just how the business works. As some of you have noticed, the best experience comes from internet sales or phone sales. Basically, you find a number of dealerships in your area and just pit them against each other. Let them duke it out while you're watching from the sidelines. Then you come out a winner. Another thing I learned is that invoice price is not really invoice price. Not only do you have corporate incentives (rebates from corporate that go to the dealership), they have volume kickbacks and financing kickbacks. If you want a killer price, one thing you can do is finance it through manufacturer financing even if you have the dough to pay cash. Once the loan goes through, just pay it off, and you'll be out the first month's interest plus a hard credit check on your record. It'll be more than offset by the extra money you get back from the reduced purchase price.

If you want to buy a used car, the best place to purchase is Craigslist. Cars are in much better shape, and they're cheaper. Used cars at dealers usually come from auction yards, and the quality are sub-par at best. Not to mention that dealers usually don't give a care how well the inventory is running. It's also a known fact that dealers make the least amount of money on new cars (I've known dealers in the red, actually), and the most on parts/service and used cars. Oh, do you need a loan to pick up a used car? Not to worry. Go to a bank or credit union, and pick up an auto loan for that car on Craigslist. Trust me. Effort well spent going that route.

On a random note, the most interesting experience I had at any dealership was me selling a car. I had this car that is very difficult to flip privately because they're so rare. I ended up just tossing it to a dealership I used to work next to. The owner of the dealership didn't even look at my car. He even forgot exactly how much he was going to pay me. I had to remind him what he told me over the phone. I handed him the signed title, and he made the bill of sale. Done. Never checked my ID either. He really didn't care about the sale whatsoever. I was literally in and out in 10 minutes.