To get the best deal, whether you’re buying a new or used car, you want to avoid the “lion’s den”. In other words, don’t even go to a Dealer until you’ve already struck a deal.
That’s right. To get the absolute best price possible, you do not want to be sitting there in a Dealership negotiating back and forth with a salesperson. This is where they want you.
The Dealership is where they can wear you down or confuse you with their very effective selling techniques such as “the 4-sguare”, “going for a bump”, “using leg”, and many others.
Instead, you want to stay off their turf entirely by simply using the phone.
Call three or four Dealerships with similar vehicles and tell them you are buying a car in the next 48 hours. Also tell them the car you are interested in and that you are comparing final offers from four different Dealerships. Keep the call straightforward and short.
By doing this, the Dealers are forced to compete for your sale. Let them get back to you with their best “out-the-door” prices. If a Dealer’s quote takes them out of the running, let them know you’ll consider another offer from them.
Trust me, Dealers want your business. They’re not going to want to lose the sale, particularly when they also know you are buying a similar vehicle somewhere else.
The last Dealer standing wins. Only then do you go to the Dealership to look at and drive the car, and to then do the paperwork if you are satisfied.
This technique also works even better during the last two or three days of the month. Often, Dealerships have monthly quotas and their last few days “make or break them”.
By following this technique, you’ve been the one in control during the entire process.
Tags: Absolute, Bump, Buying A Car, Buying Car, Car Buying, Days Of The Month, Effective Selling, Few Days, Lion, New Car, Paperwork, Phone Call, Quotas, Salesperson, TurfRelated posts
Car Buying Tips: Five Things You Need To Know To Avoid Hidden Fees And Additional Costs
Before purchasing your next car, you’re going to want to check for hidden costs, add-on fees, and other charges. You could end up spending hundreds, even thousands, of dollars over the lifetime of your loan.
Once you’ve found the car you want, it’s time to sit down with your sales rep to negotiate the terms of your contract. After a little back and forth on price, figuring out your interest rate, and calculating your monthly payment, you’re ready to sign on the dotted line, right?
Not so fast.
When you read the fine print you may find that additional fees and charges have found their way into your contract including add-ons you didn’t necessarily ask for.
Most car buyers are so focused on getting the best interest rate and negotiating the most affordable monthly payment that they’re unconcerned with the fine print of the contract. By the time they get to the step where they review and sign the paperwork, if the sales rep is throwing industry terms at them that they don’t fully understand, they’re becoming exhausted from the entire process and just want to get it over with.
Here are a few insider tips to make sure you don’t regret signing those papers.
1.) Read the Fine Print
While this seems pretty obvious and self-explanatory, it’s amazing how trusting the consumer can be. Honestly, the last time you bought a car, did you read and fully understand the contract before you signed it? Probably not. Most people don’t.
Some unscrupulous car dealerships are betting on that. Because most people don’t read the fine print, some sales reps can slide in additional, undisclosed charges or extras with huge mark-ups to their profit.
Also, make sure there are no blank spaces on your finance contract that can be filled in later wherever there are blank spaces, write in “$0″ or “N/A.”
2.) Typical Extras
Most of us are familiar with learning about the standard features of an automobile and then figuring out which additional features we are willing to pay extra for, but here are some extras to look out for when reviewing your contract:
Rust proofing
Extended warranty
Fabric protector
Car alarm (including Lojack, a device police use to find your car if you report it stolen)
Paint sealant
Credit life insurance
GAP
Window etching
The value of such extras depends on individual customer needs and situations. If the sales rep attempts to tell you that some or all of these extras are standard for every vehicle on the lot, ask to order your car from the factory, or suggest the dealership trade with another dealer that hasn’t pre-packaged their vehicles.
Extra products can add thousands to the negotiated price of the vehicle. Most products fill a customer need that when priced and disclosed correctly and can add real value to the whole transaction.
The problems with extras occur in two areas. First, when the sales rep doesn’t spend the time necessary to determine which products fit the specific needs of the customer. Rather than suggest specific extras individually priced, the sales rep lumps all the products together and pushes you to buy them as a package.
Second, unscrupulous sales reps can add thousands of dollars to the amount financed for these products, but not disclose the price increase until the last possible moment, when the financing contracts are being signed.
3.) Documentation and Administration Fees
Federal, state, and local governments are pushing more and more of their regulatory cost onto the local dealerships. In an effort to offset some of these fees and services dealers are required to perform, most add, a documentation or administration fee to the total cost of the transaction. Depending on state and local regulations, fee adding $100 to $150 seem reasonable and cover most of these additional items. These services include:
Duplicate Title Fees
Notice of Security Interest (to perfect lien)
30-day Permits
Federal terrorist matching data bases
Federal information privacy requirements
State vehicle id verification
Highway Patrol Inspections for out-of-state titles
Registering leases at customer’s county of residence
Carfax
FedEx charges/Shipping charges
Additional title addendums
Truth in lending record retention
Some dealers have taken up the practice of marking up documentation and administrative fees and are now charging as high as $300 to $500 per sale. A few are even higher. The charge for most of these fees seems to be more based on getting a customer to pay extra after the customer has finished negotiating, not the average amount it cost to get most deals through various state and federal regulations, as implied.
4.) Ask for a Menu System Disclosure
The best disclosure method I’ve seen in years involved using a menu system. On a separate sheet of paper the rep produces a document that includes:
1.)The negotiated price of the vehicle or trade difference
2.)The additional price of suggested extras (these can be shown as various option packages that may save money when bought in combination and as individually priced options)
3.)New totals initialed by both parties
This procedure makes sure that any suggested extras are properly explained and disclosed. It also allows the customer time to consider each item separate from the longer and potentially confusing finance documents. The final numbers from the menu should get carried over directly to the finance document.
5.) Other Costs
When buying a car, remember that there are other “hidden” costs (or, costs that aren’t usually considered), that go beyond the dealership.
During the lifetime of your vehicle, you’re going to have to pay for registration and tags, taxes, insurance, oil changes and fuel every year, and periodically pay for maintenance and repairs. Older models (cars more than 3-5 years old) may cost less up front, but you will likely need to factor more maintenance and repair costs into your budget than if you bought a newer model. While new models need fewer repairs and maintenance work, you will have to pay more up front.
Your wallet does not have to go through the ringer the next time you decide to visit a new or used car dealer. You can protect yourself from blindly signing into an unfavorable car deal by doing your homework, going to a car dealership with a good reputation, being prepared, asking questions, and double checking behind your sales rep.
Tags: Best Interest, Betting, Blank Spaces, Car Buyers, Car Buying Tips, Car Dealerships, Dotted Line, Finance Contract, Insider Tips, Interest Rate, Last Time, Lifetime, Mark Ups, Paperwork, Purchasing Car, Sales Rep, Sales Reps, Sit, Thousands Of Dollars, UpsRelated posts
While we all like to think we wont be conned when buying a used car, thousands of people are every single year. The majority of these people have bought their used car from one of the popular free ads papers and have known very little – if anything – about what to look for in a quality car. If you fall into this category, then simply follow the top seven car buying tips outlined below.
First of all, look out for signs that the car may have been involved in a serious accident. Points to watch out for include slight gaps between the body panels and car doors that drop or that fit badly on their hinges.
Always give the gearbox and clutch a through test. To do this, make sure that you have the engine running then press down on the clutch. If there is any change in the sound of the engine then this could indicate the bearings are worn.
The gearstick should move smoothly without any crunching sound.
Make sure the brakes are in top order by breaking as firmly as you can without the car skidding.
When you start up the car make sure the exhaust fumes are white – any other colour could indicate problems.
Check the panels to make sure there are no lose screws. If there are this could indicate that the odometer has been tampered with and the car has done more mileage than it states.
Finally, always go over the cars paperwork thoroughly to make sure the history is correct. Generally the more history a car has then the better. Or invest in a vehicle data check, a service which can instantly check your proposed new cars history, including whether it has ever been stolen or involved in an accident or whether it has any outstanding finance on it etc.
The service does not cost a lot and could save you a fortune – as well as any headaches in the future.
Tags: Bearings, Body Panels, Buying A Used Car, Car Buying Tips, Car Doors, Cars History, Clutch, Exhaust Fumes, Free Ads Papers, Gaps, Gearbox, Headaches, Hinges, Mileage, New Cars, Odometer, Outstanding Finance, Paperwork, Quality Car, Screws