"How To" on Buying a New or Used Vehicle With Trade In

[Susan G]

I know with 110k Villagers from ALL walks of life we must have TOTV'ers that were once in the automobile sales business.

Wouldn't it be great to share the "inside" points of negotiations and purchasing a car from the many dealers in our areas, i.e. Best time of month, Mfg Suggested vs. Invoice, Dealer Holdback, etc.??

The reason I ask that those familiar with these transactions jump in with suggestions is that my neighbor just went through "Car Buying Hell" ... You know, several sales people/managers involved and raking her over the coals till she was totally confused and almost selling her an inferior used car with high miles for a high $$. I personally don't have a problem negotiating as I trade often BUT in talking with others, (men or women) they would rather have a root canal without novocaine than to visit a dealership.

So come on all you guys and gals that were in the automobile sales field and give us the information needed to properly negotiate a GREAT deal!!!!

Thanks in advance ....

Susan G

[asianthree]

I will start with the question. If our drivers licenses out-of-state and do not want to change to Florida. Can I buy a car in Florida and plate it with an out-of-state license. Or can I get a plate from my home state and then eventually bring it back.

[RickeyD]

I will start with the question. If our drivers licenses out-of-state and do not want to change to Florida. Can I buy a car in Florida and plate it with an out-of-state license. Or can I get a plate from my home state and then eventually bring it back.


Yes & yes. The dealer can get you any state tags you desire if you can produce an address. State licensing makes no difference.

[MikeV]

Use a site like kbb.com to find what your trade is worth (wholesale) and to find out what the car you want to buy is selling for in your area. Go from there. Be prepared to walk away from a sale. That is your greatest tool. I sold cars in the 70's but not much has changed about negotiating a car sale except of course the prices are much higher.

[Jgg7933]

I know with 110k Villagers from ALL walks of life we must have TOTV'ers that were once in the automobile sales business.

Wouldn't it be great to share the "inside" points of negotiations and purchasing a car from the many dealers in our areas, i.e. Best time of month, Mfg Suggested vs. Invoice, Dealer Holdback, etc.??

The reason I ask that those familiar with these transactions jump in with suggestions is that my neighbor just went through "Car Buying Hell" ... You know, several sales people/managers involved and raking her over the coals till she was totally confused and almost selling her an inferior used car with high miles for a high $$. I personally don't have a problem negotiating as I trade often BUT in talking with others, (men or women) they would rather have a root canal without novocaine than to visit a dealership.

So come on all you guys and gals that were in the automobile sales field and give us the information needed to properly negotiate a GREAT deal!!!!

Thanks in advance ....

Susan G

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.

[biker1]

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.

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.

[Susan G]

Thanks so much Biker1 and Jgg7933... Your methods are precisely what I use as I trade every 2-3 years. I also always negotiate at the end of month and "walk out" - usually only get a few miles away before they call my cell.

It gets very interesting when I walk in as a female ALONE... They don't see it coming HA!

One other item I always take with me is a large red Sharpie - for crossing out their price and adding my own. I always have the biggest marker....LoL

Keep those suggestions coming - we are helping our fellow Villagers regain control of buying a vehicle...

[JMEZARIC3]

[QUOTE=Susan G;1116529]I know with 110k Villagers from ALL walks of life we must have TOTV'ers that were once in the automobile sales business.

Wouldn't it be great to share the "inside" points of negotiations and purchasing a car from the many dealers in our areas, i.e. Best time of month, Mfg Suggested vs. Invoice, Dealer Holdback, etc.??

The reason I ask that those familiar with these transactions jump in with suggestions is that my neighbor just went through "Car Buying Hell" ... You know, several sales people/managers involved and raking her over the coals till she was totally confused and almost selling her an inferior used car with high miles for a high $$. I personally don't have a problem negotiating as I trade often BUT in talking with others, (men or women) they would rather have a root canal without novocaine than to visit a dealership.

So come on all you guys and gals that were in the automobile sales field and give us the information needed to properly negotiate a GREAT deal!!!!

Thanks in advance ....

Susan G[/QUOTE
I never used his services but he is a relly nice guy on the pickleball court.Bill Palli THECARDEALNEGOTIATOR.COM
He charges a fee but claims to save you $$$'s

[Trayderjoe]

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.

Before reading on, please note that I LOVE to negotiate buying cars and if you don't like to negotiate, you might look for a no negotiating dealership, but either way you need to do the pre-work that biker1 recommended. You might also check with your credit union (if you are a member) to see what arrangements they have for cost over dealer invoice-they might offer for a small fee a printout of the dealership invoice which is always good to have.

You should note that NO ONE at the dealership (save the dealership owner), not even the General Manager knows the bottom line cost of a car at the time it is sold since the owner of the dealership gets "incentives" (read kickbacks) from the car company based upon sales volumes for the year. Your target should be $100-$300 over DEALER invoice, not to negotiate down from the Manufacturer's suggested invoice. The earlier in the model year and the choice of cars and the options (e.g. is it a hot model or a slow seller) will impact the negotiation. If it is the end of the model year and you are willing to take what is on the lot or something they can trade for from another dealer, you will get the best overall deal with not too much negotiating. If you really want to have fun, ask the sales person, "What are YOU going to do to convince me to buy this car today?" (but only if you are serious about buying the car that day and if you did your homework and know your pricing which you should). Remember that the sales person has a goal to make friends with you in order to facilitate the deal and they bring in someone else (this is the "finance" person) to close the deal and to try and cross sell you the underbody coating and other extras that are pure profit for them. DO find out what loan options they offer and compare to what you already have in hand (or should have in hand). Do NOT fall in love with a car, be willing to walk out. You want their best price while you are at the dealership-this should be the same price if you go back next week, not a today only price. However, if you know your pricing, if they land in the "zone" you want, and you like the dealership, buy the car-you don't need to wait. If they want to let me drive away and call me to come back to the dealership, I might go back (are there other dealers I plan to visit or is the last dealership that I am checking) but then I knock money off of the last agreed upon price since they wasted my time and my "transportation costs". Even if it is $25, make them pay for your time/effort to return since they turned you away initially, probably hoping that you would be in love with the car, relent and take their deal.

I also never agree to THEIR documentation fees and if they tell me it is a law that they do it, I won't necessarily abort the deal if I have the best overall price, but will put them on the spot to show me. I KNOW they can't and I will knock another $25-50 or so off of the agreed (but not yet contracted) price as a penalty. When I hear something like, "are you going to let $50 prevent you from making the deal? My response is no, I am willing to pay you $xx,xxx for the car, it seems to me that you are letting $50 stop a $xx,xxx deal. Approach it for what it is, a business transaction, not new found friendships. They are trying to empty your wallet, and you are trying to give them a fair profit (the $100-$300 over dealer invoice BEFORE they get their kickbacks). I will agree to a $20 or $25 documentation fee just so that I don't need to go register the car myself, but keep in mind that they send one person over with paperwork for ALL of the cars sold, so the documentation fee is PURE profit for them.

Lastly, I advise them that there is to be no dealer "badging" on the car when I pick it up. The dealer badging constitutes free advertising for them and it is not required to be on the car no matter what they say. It is really funny when they bring up the need to cover advertising costs when you are negotiating the purchase price, and you hit them with the no badging requirement at the end (on the one hand they want you to pay for advertising and on the other, they want you to give them free advertising). If I am happy with the dealership and the service, I have no problem telling people (and I tell the dealership that), but I don't want to offer free advertising especially if I get a great deal, but have bad service.

Good pre-work, a good night's rest, a nice meal (don't go on an empty stomach) and last but not least, take your time- will all help you to negotiate the best deal. I am lucky because I also get to have fun while I am negotiating........

[Susan G]

Great info Trayderjoe ~ Love the "transportation costs" idea...
Keep those ideas coming guys ...