Why is Buying a New Car Such a Painful Experience?

This is probably going to be a multi-part blog. I don't embrace or accept change easily, but it is rapidly becoming apparent to me that I need to go car shopping. My car is 11-years-old and isn't too far from hitting 200,000 miles. It's the first car I ever bought new, and although overall it's been a good car, I've had some issues with it starting the minute the warranty ran out. The biggest issue has been the check-engine light, but that's not what I was planning to write about.

When you set out to buy a home, you have a Realtor who guides you through the process so that by the time you start looking, you have talked to knowledgeable people who have helped you figure out what your price range is, and how much you can afford to borrow.  And yes, there is some haggling involved, but it's not an adverserial, heading-into-enemy-territory process like buying a car is.

When I bought this car, I had gone to my local bank and knew how much I could borrow and had an idea of just how much I could pay for the car. Unfortunately, I took a family member with me, and unbeknownst to me, the salesman asked him those exact questions, and my family member answered him. Guess what I ended up paying for the car? If you answered "TOO MUCH," you are correct!

I also got treated like a second-class citizen by the salesman - the car wasn't ready when promised (he was completely unapologetic) and he screwed up the registration by transferring my plates instead of getting new ones like he was supposed to, leaving me with an unregistered car. Okay, I know what dealership I am NOT going back to.

I started browsing local dealers' websites last summer. I wanted a quote for another Corolla, which is what I'm driving now.  I almost had to get a restraining order to get Toyota to leave me alone. I got daily emails and periodic phone calls for well over a month. All I wanted was a quote, I didn't want to start a relationship.

Another BIG local dealership has annoying pop-ups - "Hannah" wants to "live chat" with me, and no matter how many times I clicked "close," she kept popping back up. Back off, Hannah, I'm just browsing the website for now, and if you don't leave me alone, I'm not coming in for a test drive.

My questions for Patch readers are: Have you bought a car in the last year, and if so, how did you do your "due diligence" before heading to the dealership?  How do you find out what the dealer paid for the car and what a fair price is, based on that? What kind of car did you buy and are you happy with it? Is there some formula to figure out how low the price can go? I would love your input and advice to make this experience as painless as possible.