Car Dealers Don't Want Cash Customers

[newideas2013]

The ideal customer is somewhat naive.

The ideal customer doesn't care so much about the price of the vehicle
The ideal customer cares more about how much it deducts from their paychecks each week
The ideal customer takes their vehicle to the dealer shop for any and all service
The ideal customer finances with money down
The ideal customer brings a trade in

[MrsPete]

The ideal customer is somewhat naive.

The ideal customer doesn't care so much about the price of the vehicle
The ideal customer cares more about how much it deducts from their paychecks each week
The ideal customer takes their vehicle to the dealer shop for any and all service
The ideal customer finances with money down
The ideal customer brings a trade in

Add this and I'll say your list is excellent: The ideal customer becomes emotionally attached to the idea of owning THIS PARTICULAR new car and begins to care about owning that car more than he cares about the cost. 

[clarkfan1979]

I had a similar experience 14 years ago. I was deciding between a Kia and Hyundai. When I was at the Kia dealership the salesperson was telling me about all their great financing opportunities because I was pretty young at the time (21). When I told him that I didn't need a loan and was going to pay cash he was really turned off. His response was, "why are you paying cash, do you have bad credit?" I ended up not buying a Kia so it didn't go much further than that. However the disappointment on his face was obvious when I said that I didn't want a loan, even though I was seriously considering buying the car.

[OldDogNewTrick]

Don't be fooled by their 0.9% (or whatever) financing numbers. Ask what the cash discount is then add that to your total interest costs and figure out what financing is really costing you.

I walked in to a Kia dealer when they were advertising 0%. Paying in cash got you a $4000 incentive. Still think it is costing you nothing to finance?

I sell software. When clients tell me they don't want to pay extra for A, B, or C, I smile, and assure them we NEVER charge extra for those items. Odd thing, though, their 5 year cost of ownership is exactly the same as the other poor sap who did pay extra for A, B, and C.

There is no free lunch.