A photographer in Texas recently garnered over 1.4 million views when she posted a TikTok asking someone to explain “why it still takes all day to buy a car.”
TikToker MJ Vanicek (@mjsphotography2009) posted a five-second clip of herself waiting to buy her car, sparking a debate about whether or not the wait was part of the salesperson’s scheme to get her to pay more.
Many viewers believed the wait was part of a ploy.
“To make you get so impatient that you will just take the highest offer and be done with it.. just guessing, but It makes sense,” one claimed.
“BC they are scheming in the back to make money off of you and playing games,” a viewer said.
“I went in at 11am walked out at closing they should have paid me for sitting there that long,” a third added.
“Because they wear you down so you’ll buy their warranties,” another remarked.
Others suggested newer methods for purchasing a vehicle.
“Thats why I love carmax, can pre-do everything online,” a viewer said.
“Carmax. All done online,” a second agreed.
“Not with Tesla you could do it in under like 2 minutes,” another replied.
Some offered tips to speed up the process.
“Get pre approved at your bank and it won’t,” a viewer recommended.
“I went at 3pm on a Friday and was out by 4:30 highly recommend,” a second advised.
“Go at the end of the month,” another added. “They’re trying to reach their volume numbers.”
@mjsphotography2009 ♬ Just A Girl – No Doubt
Though it may seem like a ploy, there is a good reason it takes “all day” to buy a car.
According to Complete Auto Sales, the financing process is the reason for the wait. The site explains that there are “three, four, different entities” working on the deal. “You got the sales guy who wants the commission, you got the sales manager who needs to make numbers, you got a finance manager who gets a spread on what’s made and then you got a bank that’s ultimately trying to make a deal.”
With so many individuals and departments involved in the process, it’s no wonder the process can take so long. However, Vanicek claims she didn’t do any financing, and “the wait still took 5 hours.” This raises the question: Why did it take so long?
Cartelligent.com reports that a “U.S. customer spends an average of 14 hours of online research and another three to five hours at the dealership.” The hours spent at the dealership may include a test drive and a walk-through of the car’s features. These are necessary steps to ensure that the car is what the customer expects. Unfortunately, it could also double as a sales tactic. A salesperson may drag out both experiences because “consumers who have spent a long time at a dealership can be more likely to buy.” This is because people don’t want their time wasted, and accomplishing the goal they had when they walked in can outweigh other considerations.
In the Reddit thread r/askcarsales, multiple people working at car dealerships broke down why it takes so long to buy a car. Most of the redditors claimed that there are at least “30 sheets [customers] need to sign.” Others claimed that the wait was dependent on how many people were already in the process of buying a car.
u/stuffeh, a finance manager, explained, “All customers are equally important, the deal in front of me is just as important as the next one. Just like at (some) DMVs, people who have an appointment still need to wait in line. Some deals takes half an hour, others take substantially more and have to be multitasked as stips and communications from the lender trickles in.”
So, even if you know how to answer the five questions every dealership asks like a pro, buying a car is a long process. Maybe bring something to entertain yourself while you wait.
The Daily Dot reached out to Vanicek via TikTok comment and Instagram direct message.
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