Car Shopping

We've been car shopping with our friends Jenn & Josh this week and I've grown more and more wary of the whole process. I've got to the point where I don't even want the hassle of selling our car to buy a newer one, I'm more willing to spend out on getting ours fixed up. The process of finding a car you want is hard enough, but then when you find it, you have to decide if the price in the window is right or if the seller will drop any. Then you have to add tax (this isn't included in the price in Canada), the tax is different if you buy from a dealer or a private seller too so that adds another dimension to the issue.
It seems there are lies everywhere in this business, the price in the window is a lie because they will drop it...then add the tax and a whole ream of other fees. Then you have to believe that the history on the car is accurate. That sounds cynical but we have learnt the hard way with this. Yesterday we found a great car for Jenn & Josh, it was 10yrs old but had great mileage. The car had been in a small accident (which they were honest enough to tell us) but it ran really well and it looked great for its age. So they did a bit of "Wheeling and Dealing" (as my big bro used to call it when we played Monopoly!) and came out with a reasonable offer. We went home in a great mood ready to go back today with the money, Jenn got home and insisted on checking the VIN record to be sure they weren't getting scammed. I'm just going to pause the story here to thank God for the VIN recording people on this planet. The record came back saying that the car actually had double the km it was advertised at! I'm pretty sure turning an odometer back is illegal so we were not impressed to discover this "amazing find" of a car was actually another lie!
The first day we went shopping the guy in the dealership sat us down and talked through exactly what they were looking for in a car. I was encouraged by this because I figured he's writing everything down so we won't waste time and energy on unsuitable cars (and that's what the guy said). How wrong was I for believing him, the first car he took us to look at was nothing like the description we'd given! It was like he wanted to test their resolve by showing them something more expensive and a real "bargain". It just felt like another lie.
Is it just me or has anyone else felt this way when car shopping? The only thing I've learnt is that we should listen to those who are willing to give advice on this issue. Ryan phoned someone we trust and he told us to check out the VIN before putting any money down...wise words. Ryan and I probably wouldn't have done this extra check...just to save the cash. I'm sure we'll find a car for Jenn and Josh we'll just have to keep our wits about us!