My first ever new car purchase was easy peasy. Of course, it helped that it was done through the Volvo Military Overseas Program. Custom ordered everything, received discount military pricing on a brand new model being launched in the US later that fall (2008 C30). Pretty sure I was one of the first people to drive a C30 around in the states.
Second experience (2010 GMC Terrain) was a complete debacle. I thought using military pricing would make it a breeze. How far from the truth that was. The sales rep I ended up with was a complete sleazebag (running credit checks without my permission, misleading statements)...I even ended up walking out at least once. For some reason, I decided to close the deal later at the same dealership, but I ripped them in the CSI survey I got later.
3rd purchase (2012 Chevy Volt), went fairly smoothly. There were big discounts on leftover '12s, so really didn't have to battle much at all on price. Only thing is the F&I guy pushed the extended warranty real hard....I ended up declining that, and the deal was done.
4th purchase was awesome! I never even set a toe in the dealership I ended up leasing the '13 Ford C-Max Energi from. Everything was done through email. After they gave me a joke first quote, I went "Are you kidding me?". Then the sales manager called me up and gave me a too hard to pass up offer. Made the 1st month's payment over the phone, then they had 2 guys drive the C-Max to my driveway, I signed the papers right there, and that was that. 5 stars.
5th deal was on a '16 Cruze Limited lease for what ended up being $44/month. Thought I had everything all lined up and confirmed (even asked the sales guy 3 times if the numbers were correct). I get into the F&I office, and suddenly my monthly payment ballooned over 20%! Turned out they had made a "mistake" with the money factor, and the correct one ended up with a 20% higher monthly. I obviously went off, telling them they were a bunch of liars that just wasted half of my day. I walked out, but the sales guy begged me to come back in.
The sales manager showed me the numbers on his computer, then offered to toss in $300 worth of visa giftcards, along with $1k cash out of their pocket to honor the original deal. I ended up taking it, but inability to properly add numbers almost blew that deal.
Deals 6-9 all went down pretty much the same way, all at the same dealership (Cruze/Spark EV/Volt/Spark EV leases). I hashed out the numbers over email, sales rep confirmed, I showed up, signed the papers, and drove away in my new car just as discussed over email in around an hour. Helps when the dealer knows you are serious about buying (and especially if you have leased multiple cars earlier in the year).
Run down of all my deals (before taxes/fees):
2008 Volvo C30 2.0 MSRP $32k - $27k via military pricing
2010 GMC Terrain MSRP $25k - $24k after after discounts/rebates (probably my worst deal of the bunch)
2012 Volt MSRP $44.5k- $5k off including factory rebates (and another $2k off due to MD sales tax credit..plus the $7.5k fed credit of course)
2013 Ford C-Max, MSRP $38,5k - 24 month/10.5k mile lease, $0 down, $334/month + $600 MD tax credit check
2016 Cruze Limited #1 MSRP $21,620 - 24 month/10k mile lease, $0 down, $44/month (after factoring $1k in gift cards)....ended up flipping through Beepi for $4.7k profit
2016 Cruze Limited #2 MSRP $21,620 - 24 month/10k mile lease, $0 down, $124/month, flipped lease into Volt deal)
2016 Spark EV MSRP $27,135 - 36 month/10k mile lease, $150 down, 150/month (+ free $500 Bosch L2 EVSE)
2017 Volt MSRP $35,010 - 36 month/10k mile lease, $0 down, $261/month (rolled ~$800 negative equity from Cruze #2)
2016 Spark EV #2 MSRP $27,135 - 36 month/10k mile lease, $0 down, $148/month (rolled in ~800 of negative equity from Spark #1...still came out cheaper + another free $500 Bosch L2 EVSE)...ended up selling privately and broke even.
And I'll be adding a 2017 Bolt EV purchase to my history shortly.