Car Buying Guide – How to Out-Tactic Car Salespeople and Get the Best Deal – Written By Salespeople!
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Car Buying Guide – How to Out-Tactic Car Salespeople and Get the Best Deal – Written By Salespeople!
Car Buying Guide
Car salespeople are expert at “dealing”… their goal is to make as much profit from you as they can whilst making you think that you’re getting a good deal. My old salesmanager (yes, I used to sell cars at a main dealer) used to say that “there is nothing immoral in profit” – but they would screw every last penny of profit from each car deal they did, and then laugh about it in the pub that night.
To get the best deal, you need to understand:
• What price you really get for your car
• The clever tactics dealers use to fool you
• How to “out tactic” them
• What to say and what not to say
• How to say “No” and ask for a better deal
• How to spot and avoid bad finance deals
• Zero percent finance isn’t real… it does not exist!
There are many ways that a car salesperson can fool you into thinking you are getting a good deal – however THE easiest way is by “giving you a good price for your part exchange”.
Forget this… it doesn’t happen… you get the TRADE price (sometimes called “bottom book”) that’s it… no more!
The fundamental fact is that: if you trade in your car you will only ever get the Trade price for it – it doesn’t matter what your car is, how good it is, how few miles it’s done, what dealer you go to, whether it’s the main dealer for your make of car, or whatever – you will only ever get the Trade price for your car in a part exchange deal.
If you don’t understand this you leave yourself wide open to being fooled, misled, conned, ripped off – whichever way you want to put it!
FIND OUT that trade price for your car. Then, tell the dealer that’s what you want for it – that really takes the wind out of their sails. In any “negotiations”, always assume that is what you are really getting for your car so that you can more accurately tell what is going on.
What makes a car “deal” complicated is that you are selling something (your old car) AND AT THE SAME TIME buying something (your new car). The dealer has an amount of profit in the car they are trying to sell you and they can use that “amount of profit” to pull all kinds of cunning stunts: their favourite is to “over value” your part exchange.
None of us want to think that we lose loads of money on our car – you want to (think!) that you get the best price possible for your old car. You don’t, you get the trade price, period.
However, if the dealer appears to be offering you a “really good price” for your part exchange, more than the other dealer down the road, you feel good and are more likely to buy from them.
But sadly, they lie! What are they hiding? How much profit do they have in the car they are trying to sell you? Was that car overpriced to start with? How much of that (possibly inflated) profit are they “giving” you? All tactics to fool you.
They will lie about anything and everything – how much they want your car, they have got someone else interested in their car, your car has this fault or that problem etc etc.
Then, how good/bad is the finance deal they are providing? Are they charging over the odds? Quite possible. Are they offering zero percent? Forget that too. It does not exist! No finance company will EVER lend money for nothing – not even the finance company owned by or representing the car dealer – they are out to make money too. If you get a “zero percent loan” you can rest assured that they have extracted money/profit from you another way in order to “pay” for that loan. This is just another tactic to make you feel that you did well – when in all likelihood they have really profited from your deal.
So – if you don’t know what you are doing:
• What you get for your part exchange car – a grey area.
• How much profit they have got to play (you) with – a grey area.
• What you pay for your new car – a grey area.
• How good a finance deal you get – a grey area.
You don’t know the answer to these… but the car salesperson/salesmanager does! You buy a new car once every what, 1, 2, 3 years? They are doing deals every single day. Just by weight of experience: the odds are stacked against you.
Start moving the odds more in your favour:
• Accept that you will only get the Trade price for your car.
• Use that price as the basis of any negotiations.
• Have a range of reasons to say “no” and push for a better deal.
• REFUSE to have “zero percent”.
• Check any normal finance deal you are being offered.
• Assume that everything and anything they tell you is, lies!
They have got loads of profit in the car they are selling you, and: they really, REALLY want to sell it to you. Hold out, say no, and push and push and push for a better deal – you need to have several reasons why you won’t do a deal at the price they are offering, you need to give yourself as many negotiating tactic as they will throw at you! If you do this right, you will be surprised how far they will go and what a really good deal you CAN get!
