Many of us have been at the car
dealership and have been drained by a salesperson during price
negotiations for the purchase of a new car. Most people give in too
easily or do not negotiate at all to avoid the dreadful act. This only
means more money in the car dealers’ pocket, while you are out of
several thousand dollars! Yes, they make that much in profit per car.
This article unveils the dealer’s selling tactics
and how you
can get around them. But before we dive into the new car buying tips,
we need to understand what makes up the dealer’s profits.
In addition to the MSRP (manufacturer suggested
retail price),
which is the dealer’s cost for the car plus an additional 20-25%
profit, a dealer also gets financial incentives from the manufacturer
when a new car is sold. This is called Holdback.
Depending on the car, dealers can make hundreds on
each car
through holdbacks. Dealers also get additional incentives and bonuses
on selling a car before the end of the month and/or quarter.
A shrewd dealer can make several thousand on a new
car even by
selling it at invoice price. This is how new car buying can become
tricky for the consumer.
Ready to learn how not to put a dent in your
wallet on your
next car purchase? Here are four tips to get you started. Each one is a
dealer tactic to watch out for.
1. The Guilt Trip
As you may have noticed, every desk in a
dealership has photos
of the salesperson’s family, instead of photos of cars. Midway in the
negotiation, the sales person will bring them up and make it look like
his little commission check can hardly pay for his daughters college
and little Bradley’s braces.
A seasoned salesperson will soon have you feeling
guilty for
driving the price down and hurting his commission. Watch out not to
fall for this tactic, since you already know about holdbacks and
incentive programs from manufacturers.
2. Wearing You Down
Come prepared to spend half a day at the
dealership or pay
whatever the dealer asks for. Car Dealers are trained to delay and tire
you out to the point where you give in and accept their price just to
get out of there.
After you make your offer, sales people typically
claim they
would have to run it by their manager. You may then have to re-start
negotiating with the manager, who is also a seasoned salesperson. This
dance goes on for a while until you give in.
Remember, there are multiple dealerships in a
city, so they
need you more than you need them. Demand to speak to the manager after
a certain time period or threaten to leave.
Because you are devoting a lot of time to bargain
with the
dealer, they know you are a serious buyer, so they will not let you
leave. The earlier you can speak with the manager, the faster you can
leave.
3. The Test Drive
We all enjoy a good test drive and look forward to
it. Although
it is essential to test drive a car before you buy it, remember to not
show your absolute love for the car to the salesperson. Their goal is
to get you emotionally attached to the car, so it becomes a must have
for you. I have learned it the hard way.
To hide your emotional tears from the salesperson,
mention the
features of a competing car in the same class, like the new shape,
light, leg room, resale value etc. This will make the salesperson a
little vulnerable.
4. Monthly Payments
This one is to confuse you. Dealers will start
talking about
monthly payments rather than the total price of the car. They will
start by asking how much you are willing to pay per month and how much
of a down payment you are willing to pay. Since people don’t want to
look like they cannot afford a certain car, they will usually give a
higher number. Big Mistake!
You have left little room for negotiation when
this happens.
Always steer the conversation to the total price of the car and do NOT
mention any trade-ins at this point. Only after the total price of the
vehicle is completely negotiated then talk about interest, monthly
payment and trade-ins.
General Rule;
As a general rule, remember to only focus and
negotiate on the
Total Price of the vehicle. Everything else is pretty much the car
dealer’s trough.
If the above new car buying tips seem like a lot
of hassle, yet
you still want to get the best price in town, there are some websites
that do this for you. www.autoauctionbids.com
for example is a great website for this because you can collect price
quotes from multiple local dealers for a particular car as well as its
competing car models (like Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Ford Taurus)
and compare them.
The website then allows you to send back the
lowest quotes
received for each car make to all participating dealers in your area
through the website itself.
Dealers view this price and continue to submit new
lower prices
over a 3 day period. By putting local car dealers in such a price
competition allows you to avoid the dreadful face to face negotiation
and yet gets you the lowest price in town for up to 3 competing car
makes.
The best part about AutoAuctionBids.com
is that it is absolutely free for you and there is no obligation to buy
after the new car auction is over.
About The Author
Chris Fox
For more information on cars and car auction visit
http://cheap-car-auction-portal.com.