my experiences have generally been positive even though they probably cost more than most people:

2017 - buying a new wrx
>MSRP - $500 subaru ambassador coupon
>financed for 5 years at 2.9%
>paid for extended warranty and GAP insurance and anti-theft etching
>paid it off in 5 months
it was my first time buying new. I figured out later that I didn't need GAP or etching, but still glad I did the extended warranty. the sales manager was a really cool guy and I was trying to find him again a few weeks ago to test drive a brz but he had left the dealership

2020 - buying a 2018 corolla
>bought for $14K cash with no haggling
I knew what I wanted and not buying new was a lot less stressful

2025 - buying a new gr86
I put the deposit down a couple days ago. I contacted a few dealerships about test driving and getting quotes but nowhere nearby had the config I want, so I ended up reserving one that's en route to a nearby dealer. it'll be a premium with performance pack at msrp. dealer added a $900 "preparation" fee which is stupid but I'll pay it to avoid driving hundreds miles to the closest dealers that might have one the lot