Many car dealerships count on generating a large percentage of revenue with the backend costs associated whenever someone buys a car such as financing and warranties. It’s not uncommon for car dealerships to haggle on a car’s price, just because they know that this could wear you down to where you’re much more easily persuaded during financing negotiations. It really is a chess game in those car dealership lots.
Take it from ex-car salesperson/Redditor u/Goopyteacher who wrote, "When I was in car sales I learned real quick that the actual car itself isn’t where the real money is at, but the backend is. So like warranties, getting work done, etc etc. Most dealerships will still put up a fight on the actual price of the car though because they know most people are focused on the car itself. This is also done to help wear you down so you’re less likely to fight on the backend when they say they’ll discount the car price down to X amount but you have to get a warranty or 2 with it. More often than not, most people will cave because they got 2-3k off on the car and don’t realize the warranties are adding on 2-5k and warranties are often straight profit. Different dealerships tweak the above strategy to their market but generally they all play it to some degree."
Related: 14 Ways You're Getting Scammed at the Car Dealership