We receive complaints from dealers all the time of course, and the argument is almost always the same; "You can't accuse all car dealers of being liars and cheats just because of a few bad apples."  Our response is, "Yes we can."

Going back into the early part of the last century car dealers have been repeatedly ranked at the bottom of surveys that evaluated how various professions were regarded by the public. It doesn't seem to matter how far back you go. The rankings of car salesmen has always been the same - at the very bottom.

One of the most recent of these studies was by the Gallup firm, the results of which were released just last December. It divided various professions into twenty-one categories and revealed how Americans felt about them. Nurses and grade school teachers were the most respected. Business people of one stripe or another and small bore politicians were rated across the middle and car salesmen were once again judged to be dead last. They were ranked lower than lawyers and congressmen.

How did car salesmen ever get such a bad rap? They earned it. They earned it by becoming infamous for habitually putting their customers at a disadvantage and lying about whatever, whenever, just to nail down the sale. And then assuming a wounded innocence when their chicanery was exposed. People need all the support they can get today because they know they're entering hostile territory when buying or leasing a car.

With the arrival of the Internet and freer access to information that was once closely guarded, car salesmen are finally having to face the consequences of their double dealing. Nobody trusts them now,  nor should they be trusted. Alert consumers have the upper hand today, and we say it's about time.

Our website can give you access to a package of information that simply hasn't been available before. We can't cover all the bases for you  but we can certainly help you avoid making a mistake when choosing your next car.

Don Vorderman
Editor and Publisher
CarCritic.com