Too bad you plonked him, brother Grunff. Other than (incorrectly) buttuming that you were a youngster (and who knows, maybe this fellow is 80?) he did not seem to get too heated in his argument.
I was reading along this thread, and I have to say that I agree that the relationship with the dealer and how you expect to be treated after "the deal" can be important *if* (added emphasis on *if*) you need to maintain that relationship after the sale for servicing the car.
I have a feeling that you (and I) are not cast from that mold and because we have no need to have someone else service our cars oput far less emphasis on what the dealer says or does.
For the average Joe, how they get treated by the dealer is the *most* important part of the buying process.
Case in point: My mum lives alone in a city 2 hours away, so she cannot rely on me to service her car. She must rely on a local professional mechanic. She buys only Honda cars (reliability) and buys them from a dealership that she knows and trusts to do the service work correctly, at a fair price and will not try to screw her because she is not terribly knowledgeable about things auotmotive. Yes, you might says she is "married" to that dealership. But it is a marriage of convenience and satisfactory for both parties... ;-)
Cheers, -Fred W
