Great advice. I essentially do this but in a slightly different manner. I pick out the model I want before ever visiting the dealerships. I research holdbacks, dealer incentives, etc. off the Manufacturers List price. I try to get a good fix on what the minimum price they will sell the car for. I also research the best price possible for my tradein (if I have one). I then compute sales tax on the net price difference, add in license plate fees, throw them a $200 bone for "document preparation", and give them the bottom line, out the door price (i.e. the size of the check I am going to write). I entertain no other fees/addons. I only visit dealerships that have several of the exact car I want (you can check inventories on the internet). I won't even look at the car (or drive it) until they agree on the price. This saves time. After the price is agreed on, I will then pick the exact color I want (from their inventory) and test drive it. If there are no issues, I write the check. This is not the way they like to operate. I explain my "process" to them and ask if they can work in this manner.
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Originally Posted by Jgg7933
I have never sold cars but I am a professional buyer and "haggler" and I ALWAYS get the deal I want. Remember YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER WITH THE MONEY. Your there to buy a car IF THEY GET REAL ON THE PRICE!
1. You will always get the BEST deal the last 3 days of the month. Dealerships want to meet their quotas and if they are behind they are more willing to give up some cash.
2. When they ask if you have a trade ALWAYS SAY NO even if you do! If you say YES at the start Dealerships know that gives them a lot more leverage to manipulate either the price of the NEW car OR the trade price.
3. You know that little dealers sticker usually to the right of the Window Manufacturers sticker that Jacks the price of the car up $3000.00-$4000.00 that state their is a ADM (additional dealers markup) on this vehicle and paint protection and undercoating and scotchgard etc..... If this sticker exists on the model you are looking at advise the salesman right from the start that you "will not pay a dime of those costs for this vehicle". Those stickers "in most cases" are for people that have BAD credit or upside down on their trades. These stickers were on many cars I have purchased I tell them right from the start that I will not pay for ANY of these worthless items and if they want to find me a car without these items they can do that and I can wait for the car. They have always disregarded these items and sold me the car without charging me for them AFTER I negotiate my best price off the Mfrs stickers price.
4. Rule of Thumb is negotiate 10 - 15% off the Mfrs sticker price. This is typically doable (depending upon if the model you are seeking is in high demand or not).
5. Sales men usually first ask what type payment you are looking for... Don't fall for that one. Tell them you are interested in the best price for the car and will not talk in terms of "payment per month"! They can always get the car in your "PAYMENT RANGE" since they finance for up to 72 months now and hey would LOVE to lend you money for that long at ??%
6. Use their money! If 0% financing exists and you qualify, NEVER pay cash! Take the ZERO% and be sure you pay it off within the ZERO% timeframe.
7. Since at this time you have now negotiated the best price on the car and you are happy with it, advise them you have decided to trade after all. Oh Boy...now they are in trouble because before you ever came to the dealership you have already checked with kbb.com, Edmonds.com and NADA.com to determine the trade in value for your current vehicle and you know what you should get for it.
8. Be prepared to WALK AWAY from the table when they will not meet the value for your current vehicle. Leave them your phone number JUST IN CASE they decide that they can meet your price in a few days.
I follow all these steps when I buy my cars and in ALL cases I have gotten the vehicle for the price I wanted. Yes it takes work and time, but to save several thousand dollars I feel its worth it. The last car I bought (my current vehicle) after the negotiation on the NEW car price they were only willing to give me 15k Trade and I knew it was worth 16,500. There were 3 days left in the month. I gave them my number and told them if they decide they want to sell me a car and give me 16,500 for my trade call me. They called me on the last day of the month and they miraculously decided to give me the 16,500 on my trade if I came in right away and purchased. This stuff works. I know, since every car I have bought I have followed these same steps. Good Luck car shopping.
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