A Few Words from The Author
By reading this guide for buying a car like a pro on your own, my guess is that:
- You have the time, and the patience to deal with car dealers
- You would like to be fully informed and have the upper hand on the dealers when you are dealing with them
- You don’t wish to spend a dollar more than you need to for buying your next car
- And the desire not to have to spend any more than you must include not spending the few hundred dollars that myHopscotch charges to do it all for you
And, I RESPECT THAT.
How to Make Shopping for a Car Easier
But based on everything I know and learned during my 30 years in this business, ending up with the right automobile in this whole car shopping experience and negotiating a great deal (not just a good price) is nearly impossible for almost any car buyer. It’s sort of like Casinos, you hear the excited winner’s scream from all over the casino floor but everyone knows that the house always wins and most people leave the casino with less than they walked in with, regardless of how many small wins they may have had while they were playing. The Casino wins because their mathematical odds of winning are higher than the odds of winning for people who gamble and rely on their luck. Most people lose or claim they won by not losing too much.
Winning at car dealerships (ending up with the right car with the best value for your money, and at a great deal) without following an effective process that effectively covers every aspect of the purchase followed to the “T”, is no different than gambling in the casinos. The odds are heavily stacked against the buyers. Most people may feel like they won here and there. Maybe they got a good price, or they are proud of the trade-in value that they received, or…. . But if the whole deal was evaluated by a pro for best value for the total dollars spent against what a pro could have done, most car buyers lose and lose big.
Read this guide very carefully before you contact any dealerships for anything. Make sure you are willing to make the commitment to invest the time and show the patience and the discipline necessary for following every step. Shortcuts will cost you Money. And often much more than the money you are trying to save by investing your own valuable time to do this all yourself.
Please feel free to contact us at info@myhopscotch.com for any questions as you read on.
Eleven Rules of Negotiating a “Great Deal”
1. Choose the right salesperson
2. Leave the dealership immediately after the test drive!
3. You will deal with a total of three dealerships
4. NEVER negotiate based on your desired monthly payments
5. On a lease purchase, know what can be negotiated
6. Your Trade-In is a Separate Transaction
7. You can sell your car to any dealer—not just the one you buy your new car from!
8. Keep your wallet safe during document signing (after- market and extended warranty sales)
9. You can spend more at One Price dealers. They are a shortcut, not the way to “great deals”
10. Online services work for the dealer and their profitability—not for you!
11. Celebrate your great deal and drive safely!
Introduction to Car Buying
My name is Ali Omoomy. I am the creator and CEO of myHopscotch.com.
As a car dealer in my previous life, I gained first-hand knowledge of all the transaction details for millions of cars of all brands and models sold at my stores and other dealerships across the Nation for more than three decades. I am here to say that if I were to randomly pick any deal among the millions to see if a better deal could have been negotiated for the benefit of the buyer, the answer would have been “YES”. “yes”, a better deal could have been negotiated by hundreds and most often thousands of dollars almost on every deal, regardless of how happy and proud the buyers may have been about their negotiation skills.
What is a “Great Deal?”
A great deal is when you know without a doubt that you could not have spent any less in totality on the car you purchased. By total spent, I mean the total cash you put up front plus the total of all your monthly payments if you are financing or leasing.
As a car salesman and later as a dealership owner, I witnessed car buyers work so hard, and spend dozens of precious hours to hang on to as much of their money as they could when buying a car, all to fail in doing so, almost every time. I witnessed two people buying the same car within an hour of each other and one spending five or six thousand dollars more than the other only because the one who spent more wasn’t as good of a negotiator—or did not know how cars are sold to the public– as the one spending less.
Watching these scenarios day after day became so painful to me that I couldn’t take part in it anymore. That is why I sold my successful dealership, got out of the business as a dealer and started to consult with buyers to help them circumvent our archaic car buying system.
But what I just described is still happening hundreds if not thousands of times, everywhere in this country, every day.
We all feel violated or cheated when we invest so much time and energy to negotiate a great deal, drive away thinking we did well, all to find out later that we, in fact, did not. Nobody wants to find out three years after buying a car that they have ten thousand dollars of negative equity because they paid too much for the car to begin with or because the interest rate was too high or because they were sold a $900 extended warranty for $5000.
You would think that these days, with all the information on the internet, people have more tools to make great deals but in reality, most of the information online can actually create a false sense of confidence that causes buyers to let their guard down and end up with terrible deals. I will discuss this in more depth in the online services section of this book.
Negotiating a ‘GREAT DEALS” requires the buyers to have access to the same level of information and resources as dealers have, and know how and when to use the information.
In this book, you will learn a step by step buying process that if you follow, you will negotiate a “great deal.” for yourself and you will avoid having your time wasted.
Dealers are not bad people
Over my three decades in the industry I have come across hundreds of car dealers who play by the rules, provide employment, take care of their employees, contribute to their communities and are great businesspeople. The great ones make their business decisions based on the life-time value of their customers, not a one-time sale. By providing great training, holding their staff to the highest standards, and expecting the best from their teams, they take care of their customers because they want the repeat and referral business.
But for every good one, there are dozens of not so good ones and plenty of bad ones, which should always give you plenty of reasons to have their guards up at every car dealership. There is an old saying; “buyer be aware”. It sounds simple, but it is not at all.
Understand that it is a negotiating business and the dealer’s job is to sell you as many items as they can and for as much money as they can. Your job is to buy only what you need and want and spend as little of your money as possible.
The challenge is they are professionals and you are not. Most dealerships sell more cars in one day before lunchtime than most people buy in a lifetime. That doesn’t make them bad people. That just makes them better negotiators and with more information than most buyers will ever have.
So, don’t take anything personally. Having to negotiate when buying a car is here to stay. Dealers have their processes and you should have yours. Good dealers will respect you for having your process and will work with you. Don’t be shy about being direct and clearly communicating what you want. Not so good ones will consider your savviness as a threat to their profitability and may try underhanded tactics. But your buying process will protect you. If they don’t let you follow your steps at your speed, just walk away. All you are doing in that case is avoiding a disaster. What a blessing!
Is it really about money, the “game” or does it even matter?
Believe it or not, I have come across plenty of car buyers who enjoy the game. These types of buyers usually don’t mind the time that needs to be spent for all the preparation, communications and negotiations.
If you identify with this type of buyer, I am sure you will enjoy the material in this book as it will provide you everything you need to play an awesome game and win.
I have also come across buyers who just don’t care if they spend too much. If they are treated right, they will spend whatever. If you identify with this type of buyer, you probably don’t need to read any further. If you let your dealer know that you are willing to pay full sticker and will follow their lead, I am confident that they will treat you very well.
I am assuming you value your money, or you wouldn’t be reading this. So, let’s get to it.
Create a fair and equal playing field for yourself
There are four things that you need have in order to negotiate on an equal playing field with the dealers and end up with a “great deal”:
1.Information, and all of it
2.Time
3.An effective buying process that equalizes the dealer’s well practiced sophisticated selling processes
4.Patience, and discipline needed to follow your process
If you want that great deal, there are no shortcuts. Missing even one of these four items will diminish the value of having the others and can put you in the under-prepared but overconfident category. And it will cost you money and time. So, no shortcuts.
First, AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT Rules of Negotiating a Great Deal: Choose the right salesperson
Seeking out and working with the right salesperson is one of the most important steps in your buying process. Every part of getting a great deal is easier if you are working with the right salesperson and more difficult and sometimes not possible if you are working with the wrong one.
Characteristics of the right salesperson:
1.Has worked at the dealership for years–not days
2.Knows her way around the dealership
3.Has the respect of his/her superiors and peers, and they listen to him/her
4.Knows his/her products and inventory
5.Listens, cares and is respectful and professional
6.Follows up on his/her commitments and promises
Long hours, inconsistent schedules, highly competitive commission-based income structures make the dealership environment extremely demanding of salespeople and that causes a lot of staff turnover. Training new salespeople takes time. Really understanding the products can take months and many new salespeople quit and move on before completing such training. Most dealerships are always shorthanded and need salespeople, so they have no choice but to put new hires in front of customers before they are fully or at all trained to be able to professionally demonstrate and sell a high-ticket item like a car. I believe seven out of every ten salespeople in a given dealership are not qualified to be in front of you. Regardless of what the ratio is or is not, professional experienced great salespeople are hard to come by. But no worries, I will show you how to seek them out because working with one is extremely important to your pocketbook, time, peace and enjoyment.
The right salesperson will be a crucial resource for a great experience at the dealership and negotiating a
“great deal.” The wrong one WILL be the reason for horrible experiences and bad deals.
Before the Negotiations Even Begins—Take Effective Test Drives
Regardless of what has influenced you to consider any certain model or brand, you should always take a good test drive. You are about to make the second biggest purchase of your life. Do everything right.
An effective test drive is more than driving a car around the block- Figure out how you spend most of your time in your car. Is it a commute on the freeway? Or driving your three kids to school, to the park, and to sporting events? Is it just you or will others be in the car with you? You should test the car the same way for an extended drive at a minimum. Make sure you know how to use all the bells and whistles before you take the car for the test drive and use them during your drive.
Never, never buy a car on the day you go in for test drives. An unprepared shopper who is emotionally charged and has fallen in love with the car during a test drive is ripe for a disastrous deal and a lot of regret. Dealers have tried and true processes in place to turn shoppers and test drivers into buyers on the same day as the test drive. If I had a dollar for every time I heard “I didn’t come in to buy a car today. I can’t believe I just bought one” while I was a dealer, I could have probably funded my son’s first year of college. A newer car drives nice, smells nice and has all the technology screaming at you: buy me, buy me. The salesperson invites you in the showroom for a casual conversation after the test drive. They lure you with the phrases “let’s see what we can do,” or “let me show you a great deal,” or “let me give you some numbers to take home with you.” Next thing you know, you are signing papers and driving a new(er) car home.
Second Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Leave the dealership immediately after the test drive!
Your job, and one of your first opportunities to practice your discipline, is to immediately leave the dealership after the test drive. Thank the salesperson and say good-bye WITHOUT going back into the showroom.
You need a salesperson for your test drive and for the ongoing negotiations. One who is knowledgeable, professional, and a good listener who is willing to work with and for you. Your salesperson needs to understand that if he serves you well by listening to your wishes, he will have a good chance to continue working with you and eventually earn your business. So, let’s learn a thing or two about picking the right salesperson instead of getting picked by one.
How to Get the Right Salesperson
Contact the dealership before you visit a dealership. If you just drive into a dealership without a prior appointment with a salesperson that you chose, you will end up with one who happens to be available when you walk in. We don’t want that. So, this is what you are going to do:
Contact the dealership by phone and get the receptionist’s attention. Let him/her know that you plan to visit the dealership and would like to work with one of the most knowledgeable and professional salespeople on the floor. Ask the receptionist to make a recommendation. Who would she choose if one of her family members was going to buy a car at that dealership? Then, ask her to get that salesperson on the phone for you.
Introduce yourself to the salesperson and let her know that you plan to visit their dealership for a test drive. Let her know that you are serious about buying a car from her. But you would like to start by
visiting the dealership for a test drive and to get a feel for the dealership. Be very clear about your desire to leave after the test drive and that you have no intention to engage in negotiations or even discussing numbers. Let her know that if she respects your wishes, she will have a good chance to sell you a car in the very near future.
Review the 6 Characteristics of the right salesperson above and try to get a feel for him on those. Then, only if you feel comfortable with the phone conversation, make an appointment with him/her and go for your test drive. Let him know that you will be prompt and hope that he will be available when you get there. I would even offer my contact info and ask to get a call if anything changes with his availability. Then provide your email address and ask him to send you a short email that includes his contact info and the date and time of your appointment. This may seem to be a minor thing, but it is not. If you have picked the right salesperson, he will follow up with her commitments.
Otherwise, if you don’t feel comfortable with your conversation, hang up the phone, call the receptionist again and repeat the process. This may seem time consuming but trust me when I tell you it takes a lot less time than driving to a dealership and randomly ending up with the wrong salesperson.
When you meet your salesperson: Show kindness and respect to your salesperson and he will work hard for you. You are going to require a lot of patience from your salesperson and he is not going to make a big commission by the time you are done. It is shocking to know how much time a professional salesperson is willing to invest in selling a car to a client who he likes. Equally, it is just as shocking to know how quickly salespeople forgo their commissions, lose interest and not return your calls when their efforts aren’t appreciated.
Assure your salesperson that you are willing to fill out the manufacturer’s or dealer’s satisfaction surveys with the highest marks as a sign of your appreciation. Most salespeople’s commission structures these days are heavily influenced by the scores of their satisfaction surveys. One of the best ways to keep your salesperson engaged and working for you is to let them know that you will take the time to fill them out with the highest marks if she works with you.
Third Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: You will deal with a minimum of three dealerships
You will be repeating this process three times at three different dealerships. There is no shortcut for this step. In order to get the best deal, you need to have options and comparisons—and leverage.
Details of dealing with the Dealership:
Know what you want, follow your plan and be ready and willing to walk away– The first rule is not to ever fall in love with a car. There are hundreds of cars out there. If you follow your plan, you will end up with a great deal on a vehicle that you will be happy with. You will save money and you will be proud of yourself. Know your plan and follow it step by step. Walking away when or if you are unable to follow your plan is not a defeat, it’s smart.
Negotiate via phone– Once you have identified the make and model that you are most interested in, it’s time to begin the negotiations. You want to negotiate via phone as much as possible. I hope you have done the work to choose the right salesperson at least one dealership so far. Follow the same steps for the other dealerships that you will negotiate with. It’s really important.
Ask your salesperson to send you a short email confirming everything you discussed after every phone conversation- or you can send an email to confirm everything you discussed and ask him to confirm the content. Salespeople often use terms such as “What if I could……..?”. “What if I could…..” is not the same as “I will…..” but to people who are not used to negotiating, one sounds like the other. Having emails that confirm conversations will eliminate confusions that commonly arise from mistaking “what if I could……” with “I will……” from your salesperson.
A great price does not equate to a great deal Most deals contain several obvious and many not so obvious negotiable elements to them. Price, trade-in value, and interest rate for conventional loans or money factors on leases are some of the obvious ones. Dealer doc fees and all the products that dealers aggressively sell are not so obvious and not easy to prepare for. Dealers, even the ones who advertise very low prices or claim to have adopted a one-price method of selling are happy to give up profits on their car prices, all to recapture those profits and more on the not so obvious areas that are much more difficult for car buyers to prepare and negotiate for. That is why, to negotiate a great deal, your process must include preparation and negotiations for each element of your deal separately.
The only way to get that great deal is to fully negotiate every element of your deal at a minimum of three dealerships. Pricing on cars, trade-in values, loans and aftermarket items are completely subjective at each dealership. A dealer could offer a very aggressive pricing for the new car yet be brutal on trade- in value. Another dealer could have internal reasons such as inventory pressure for moving a certain car line and be willing to lose money on them to avoid carrying costs. That is why not negotiating your full and final deal with at least three dealers before you make your final decision is taking a short-cut and will cost you money.
Negotiating a “great deal” on a cash purchase of a new vehicles
It is common for car buyers to believe that dealers prefer cash deals. In fact, many buyers offer that as a negotiating leverage. “I am paying cash, so I expect a better deal than if I was financing.” The truth is that dealers prefer a deal that includes financing or leasing over a cash deal. Not only do they receive their full amount for the purchase within hours from the lenders, which is quicker than depositing your check and waiting for the funds to transfer from your account to theirs, but they will also receive anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars from the banks and credit unions for placing the loans.
So, the most effective way to represent yourself when you are negotiating for a “great deal” is to tell the dealer you are open to financing the car even if you intend to pay cash and just focus on negotiating that best price and other elements of your deal. When negotiations are finalized at all three dealerships, you can just pay cash if there are no incentives for financing.
New Vehicles:
Dealers like to offer a price after all rebates have been accounted for. For example, on a vehicle with an MSRP of $41,000, they would say “We are willing to sell you this car for $5000 below MSRP after rebates.” They make it sound like you are getting an impressive $5000 discount. While that seems to be
Impressive to a buyer, it wouldn’t be anywhere near a “great deal” if $4000 of the so-called discount is the rebate from the manufacturer that everyone receives.
You should always know what the factory invoice amount is on the vehicle you intend to purchase. Ask the dealership to show it to you. Make your first offer at an amount between 3-5% of the factory invoice below the invoice amount. Dealer invoice amounts have become public information. That is why many of the manufacturers provide dealers additional incentives that are not published. Dealers call such incentives “below the line” incentives. These incentives could be different amounts for different dealers within the same manufacturers.
Additionally, some manufacturers offer additional customer incentives, often between $500 to $1000, if you place your financing with their lenders. Even if you intend to pay cash, you can start your deal as a financing deal and take advantage of those incentives and then pay off your loan within 30 days of your purchase.
Let me emphasize again: To get “a great deal”, it is extremely important to negotiate the best deal you can with at least three different dealers. I cannot tell you how many times myHopscotch car negotiators have beat that so-called unbeatable deal that dealer A gave us when we went through our process with multiple other dealers. Negotiating with only one dealer is a shortcut and will cost you money.
Remember, the best time to buy a car is when you need or want to buy one. Don’t get caught up in the sale of the week or the hype. None of them mean anything other than marketing ploys to rein you in when you are not prepared.
Paying Cash for Used Cars
Find at least three vehicles that fit your needs and wants- The more flexible you are about what you are willing to buy, the more chances you have for negotiating a great deal. Do your search on-line. You don’t have to look in your immediate area. Dealers Nationwide are willing and happy to arrange out of State delivery. And in some cases, buying out of state is to your advantage. For example, four-wheel drive vehicles are in much higher demand in Colorado than in Arizona. So, if you live in Colorado and you are looking to buy a four-wheel drive, chances are you can find a much better deal in Arizona even after adding in the shipping costs. The same thing goes for buying cars in states that allow dealers to charge a large documentation fee. You can buy the same car in other states and have it shipped.
You can always have a car inspected by nationwide third parties like the Lemon Squad. They do a great job and you can hold them accountable if they miss something.
In any case, with everything that you are learning here, negotiate every detail on at least three vehicles and when you are done, you will know which one the clear winner is. Be ok if a car that you are negotiating for is sold to someone else while you are negotiating. It wasn’t meant to be. You will always find the one that’s right for you and you will negotiate a great deal. Have faith.
Know the Value of the Car You Are Buying
Know low and high Kelly Blue Book (or NADA) and auction values of the vehicle you intend to buy- Negotiating a great price on a used car or truck is a little trickier than negotiating for new cars. There are no MSRP or factory invoices. Instead, you need to know the low and high blue book and the auction values. Here is where the dealers have a serious advantage over you. Average consumer does not have access to any of that information. With a few exceptions, only dealers and banks have access to such information. The Kelly blue book values that you have access to by going online ARE NOT the low and high Kelly Blue Book values that dealers use when they value used vehicles. The values that you have access to are skewed toward the dealer’s benefit. A typical used vehicle is worth somewhere between low and high bluebook.
Your first offer should always start at the Low Blue Book bank value and hardly ever should you pay more than high Blue Book number. There are exceptions to these rules if you are buying specialty or rare vehicles.
Remember to take the time to get the right salesperson! Know what you should pay and be willing to walk away- Dealers hardly ever pay too much for a used vehicle and neither should you. They can end up owning a used car for too much and that usually happens by getting stuck with unforeseen reconditioning or repair costs or by hanging on to a vehicle for too long. In either case, what they paid to own their vehicle should be of no concern to you. You should decide what you are willing to pay solely based on Kelly Blue Book bank values and the auction values. Don’t fall in love with a car so much that you are not willing to walk away from it. You will never negotiate that great deal if the dealer knows that you are going to buy it one way or another.
Let the dealer know you are open to financing- As with buying new cars it is common for car buyers to believe that dealers prefer cash deals. In fact, many buyers offer that as a negotiating leverage. “I am paying cash, so I expect a better deal than if I was financing.” The fact is that dealers prefer a deal that includes financing or leasing over a cash deal. Not only do they receive their full amount for the purchase within hours, which is quicker than depositing your check and waiting for the funds to transfer from your account to theirs, but they will also receive anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars from the banks and credit unions for placing the loans and making margins between what they pay for the loan and what they sell the loan to you for.
So, the most effective way to represent yourself when you are negotiating for a great deal is to tell the dealer you are open to financing the car even if you intend to pay cash and just focus on negotiating that best price and other elements of your deal. When negotiations are finalized at all three dealerships, tell the winning dealer you are paying cash if there are no incentives for financing that would improve your deal.
Find out how long the vehicle you might buy has been in the dealer’s inventory-You should always know how long the dealer has had the vehicle that you intend to purchase in inventory. Aged inventory (over 60 days in inventory) can be a red-flag and also an opportunity. A red flag because the dealer paid what the car was valued over 60 days ago or longer and they are still trying to make a profit based on an aged value. You want to buy that car based on its current value and the spread could be a significant opportunity, because a good dealer wants to get rid of that car and replace it with a more current piece of merchandise. Knowing the vehicle is aged can give you leverage for negotiating. If you didn’t know that the vehicle is aged, you would not have that info as an additional negotiating tool.
Locating the right used vehicle
No two used vehicles are the same. Their condition and maintenance history are very important and should play a role in your decisions and negotiating strategies. If you chase the cheapest used car, you will most likely end up regretting your purchase. Try to focus on buying your used car from reputable new car franchise dealerships if you can. If you find one at smaller used car dealers, be sure to have it checked out by a reputable shop before you engage in negotiations.
There are good and bad dealers everywhere. The good dealers recondition every car as if they are preparing it to be sold to their own children and bad dealers put on a lot of lipstick to make the car look good and highly skilled in deflecting complaints after the car is sold. The problem is that the bad dealers give everyone a bad name. So, you need to tread carefully.
If you are buying a used car that is still under the original factory warranty, the only thing you need to be careful about is if the car has been in an accident. Carfax and AutoCheck are great tools but they may not be 100% accurate. You can ask the dealer to give you a statement in writing that basically states that they have inspected the car from end to end and can certify that that car has never been in any accidents. How the dealer reacts to that request will tell you a lot about who you are doing business with. Additionally, not all accidents are a bad thing. A bumper to bumper bump that generates an insurance claim will be reported to Carfax and Autocheck. If you know it was a minor accident, such reports are opportunities to make a better buy.
Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Cars
Certified Pre-Owned cars can only be purchased from new car franchises that sell their own used vehicle brands. To certify the car, such dealers are required to perform a comprehensive inspection of the car and basically bring the car up to an “almost like new” standard. Dealers will spend more for reconditioning and they pay a fee to the manufacturer for every car they certify. So, you pay more for a certified car than one that isn’t. However, there are some things to pay attention to:
It doesn’t always make sense to buy a very low mileage one-year old certified vs. not certified vehicle- If you intend to buy a current or one-year old model with very low miles (under 15K miles), certified pre- owned do not make sense. Since practically everything on a vehicle like that is still under factory
warranty, the only things you need to be concerned about other than making sure the car hasn’t been in an accident are the cosmetics, tires and brakes. The additional warranty that comes with such CPO vehicles is not worth the additional premium that you pay for that car. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but the bottom line is, I wouldn’t buy a CPO if I was in the market for a current or one-year old vehicle with very low miles because I can get a much better deal on a non-CPO.
Branded Titled Vehicles
There are two major reasons for a car to have a branded title. One is a car that has been in a major accident and was a total loss and got itself a “salvaged title.” A salvaged title car is typically worth one half of what it would be worth with a clean title. Banks do not finance them and unless you really know what you are doing, stay away from them.
Another category of branded titles is “lemon-law” vehicles. These can be opportunities. When someone buys a new car and takes it back to the dealer more than three times in a short period of time for the same recurring problem, the car can be categorized as a “lemon” and the manufacturer must replace it with a new one. One of the most common reasons for a car going back to the dealer for repair three or four times is an unqualified technician working on the car. This usually means the technician didn’t isolate the problem correctly and just threw parts at the car and didn’t test the car to make sure it was repaired properly before releasing a car. You would be surprised how frequently that happens.
When manufacturers take back the car, professionals look at the car, diagnose the problem and if the problem is repairable, they perform such repairs. Then they put a new car warranty on that car and send it to the auction for dealers to purchase as a branded title vehicle. The manufacturers disclose the initial problem with the vehicle and describe the repairs that they performed in detail to the dealers. And, the dealers are required to pass on such disclosures to the buyer.
Dealers can often buy these lemon-law branded title cars for several thousand dollars less than one that is not branded. Such savings can be passed on to you if you find one and know how to negotiate for one. We love finding these cars for our clients at myHopscotch.
Negotiating a “great deal” when financing your purchase—for both new and used cars
Fourth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: NEVER negotiate based on your desired monthly payments–
Most of us don’t pay cash for a car. We know what we can afford to spend each month and we all like the nicest car or truck we can buy for those payments. Going into a dealership unprepared and engaging into a negotiation by telling the dealerships that you will buy the car as long as the monthly payments fit your budget is a sure way to over-pay too much for the car, too much for interest rate, and too much for a bunch of products that you don’t need, and getting stuck in a loan that is too long in term. Dealers love negotiating only based on monthly payments, but you will not be happy after a few months. You may be happy for a few weeks, but you will not be happy when most of your income will be spent on paying for a car and finding out that you are stuck with several thousand dollars of negative equity after paying three to four years for a car because you paid too much to begin with. This is never fun, and it happens all the time.
The following dialogue is, unfortunately for the buyer, very, very common in dealerships between dealers and unprepared buyers. A buyer, who is super excited after test driving a new or newer shiny car, tells the dealer that she will buy the car if the payments are $400 a month or less. The dealer says, “the payments for this car should be $650 per month so I would have to make you a “great deal” to make your payments that low. But if I can make it work, will you buy the car right now?” The buyer says yes, and the negotiations begin. If the buyer asks about discounts, the dealer responds; “Don’t worry about the price or trade-in value or interest rate and all that. I would have to make you a great deal on everything to get even close to your monthly payment target. The buyer agrees and a disastrous deal on a long term loan is about to take place. Never negotiate based on monthly payments.
Find out how much car you can afford before you even start looking- There are tons of free monthly loan calculators online. Here is just one of them https://www.calculator.net/payment-calculator.html. Put in the monthly payment that you can afford in the calculator, add the number of months that you are willing to pay for a car and the interest rate that you think you can get and the calculator will show you how much you can borrow. The most common auto loans are 60 months, but you can finance a car for as long as 84 or even 96 months, but you should know that although extended term loans get you the ability to buy more expensive cars or lower payments, you will end up having negative equity—the car will be worth less than what you owe on it.
Secure your financing before you start negotiating with dealers
In most cases, you can secure automobile financing from your bank or credit union within minutes after filling out an online application if your credit score is just below or above 700. If your credit score is mid 600’s or below, make sure to read Negotiating a “great deal” with a challenged credit rating.
Dealers can often match or beat the terms of the loan that you are approved for and you will give them the chance to do that. But that is going to happen after you negotiate a great deal on everything else first.
Negotiate your deal as a cash deal even if you are financing- When you have a pre-approved loan, you are a cash-buyer as far as you are concerned. When the dealer asks you “how do you plan to pay for the car?” Just say “cash.” They are going to receive a check from your bank or credit union no different than if they were receiving a check from you. Follow every step described in “negotiating great deals when paying cash” with at least three dealers and contact the one who has offered you the best deal. Share the details of your pre-approved loan and let them know that you are prepared to do business with them TODAY if they can offer you a better loan. By now, you should have everything you need to finalize your “great deal” with your pre-approved loan even if they are unable to improve the terms of your loan.
Remember to re-read the super-important section on the right salesperson
If you choose not to secure a pre-approved loan- The only one of the three dealers you will talk about financing is the one who has given you the best cash deal. Do NOT tell the dealer that you need to secure financing on your vehicle until AFTER you have finalized your negotiations on price and trade-in value (if you have a trade-in). Follow this exact word-track; “I need you to arrange financing for me and if you treat me fairly, I will buy the car from you TODAY as long as you don’t mark up the interest rate any more than ½ point mark-up for your efforts. By law, dealers can mark up the interest rate anywhere from 2-3 points depending on the length of the loan. 2-3 points can add up to thousands of dollars in unwanted interest charges over the term of the loan and you want to avoid such mark-ups.
Negotiating a “great deal” with a challenged credit rating (below 600 credit score).
You are ENTITLED to negotiate the same “great deals” that someone with a perfect credit score can negotiate- Your credit score should have no effect on the price of the car, your trade-in value or the cost of extended warranties or after-market products, but walking into a dealership and asking them to help you with your credit is one sure way to overpay for everything. Be sure to read the section on negotiating a great deal when paying cash and negotiating great deals when financing your purchase. Your situation is no different.
The fact is that dealers have more resources for securing a loan for challenging credit scores, but you need to be smart about how you navigate through the negotiations if you have a challenging credit score. And smart means that you negotiate like a pro with discipline and patience. A challenging credit score has nothing to do with you getting a ‘great deal’!
Follow Negotiate as if you are paying cash process
Everything You Need to Know About Leasing a Car
Pros and Cons of leasing a car
Leasing Pros
1.Guaranteed no negative equity-If you purchase a new car with minimal down payment and decide to trade it in for a new model after three years, chances are you will have to deal with owing more on your loan than your car is worth (negative equity). Leasing a car eliminates that problem.
2.Most if not every brand comes with a minimum of three years of full warranty which is equal to the length of a three-year lease. From the warranty standpoint leasing a car is like eating the jelly out of a donut.
3.In states that have sales tax, such tax is paid on a monthly basis as a percentage of each payment when leasing a car instead of paying the sales tax on the entire purchase amount, all upfront on a conventional purchase.
Leasing Cons
1.If you drive more than 18,000 per year, leasing is not for you. standard leases are set up for 12K miles per year and if you have 36k miles or less on your car at the end of the lease, all is ok. You can and should however set up your lease for higher or lower miles per year. If you know you drive less, you can set up your lease for 10K miles per year. Some manufacturers even offer 7.5K miles per year. If you know you will be driving more than 12K per year, you can set up your lease for 15, or 18k miles per year. If you know you are a higher mileage driver, NEVER get talked into a lower mileage lease just to keep your payments lower. The cost of each mile above what you were allowed can be up to .35 per mile. I have seen people owing thousands of dollars at the end of their lease and not having the money to pay for it. It can get ugly.
2.If your lifestyle or the use for your car makes keeping your car in very good condition difficult, leasing is not for you. You are obligated to return your leased car in good condition and free of any major dents or scratches or damages to the interior. Leasing companies will bill you for any damages beyond reasonable wear and tear and you are legally obligated to pay for such damages.
3.Leasing a vehicle requires great credit. One of the downsides is that unless you have a credit score of over 700, qualifying for a lease becomes very difficult to impossible.
4.In most states, dealers can only lease new vehicles. Even in states that allow used vehicle leasing, the numbers hardly ever make any sense. That said, used vehicle leasing could have some benefits for high priced exotic and super cars.
Fifth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: On a lease purchase, know what can be negotiated
Negotiating a “great deal” on a lease purchase
Know what is negotiable on a Lease- Dealers would love to make the lease payments the center of negotiations. Negotiating the lease payments with dealers is a sure way NOT to end up with a “great deal” and you should avoid doing so at all cost. Leases have eight elements that affect the lease: Cap cost (price), Documentation fee, money factor, residual, drive-off, cap-reduction, allowed mileage and the term of the lease. To negotiate a “great lease payment” you must negotiate every element that is negotiable. Let’s cover some basics first.
Cap cost (capitalized cost)- on a lease is basically the same as the “price “of the car in a conventional purchase. It is the amount of the car’s value that you are financing.
Documentation fee- is what dealers are permitted to charge for doing your paperwork with the banks and DMV. This fee varies extremely from state to state and even from dealer to dealer in some states. In some states like California this fee is under $100 and it’s not worth a whole lot of attention. In other states like Florida, it can be several hundred dollars and different dealers have different Doc fees. In such states, the Doc fee must be considered when negotiating the Cap cost (price).
Money factor- in leases is the same as interest rates in conventional loans. Dealers can add a margin to the money factor as a source of profit. For example, Let’s say Audi offers a money factor of 2.25 on its A-4 model. Audi dealers, no different than any other dealer, can and will try to mark up the money factor by 2 points and sell it to you for 4.25. Obviously, you want to avoid paying such mark-ups. The money factor costs are not public information, so your only source for that information is your salesperson. We will go over how to get that information from the dealer a little later in this section.
Residual and residual factor- Residual is the amount that the leasing source guarantees the vehicle will be worth at the end of the lease and it is calculated by multiplying the residual factor (a percentage) to the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price). For example, if the three-year residual factor for a Ford Mustang is 50% and the MSRP is $30,000, the residual is $15,000. Residual factors are not negotiable, and they vary from car to car and brand to brand. The higher the residual, the lower the lease payment.
Drive-off- Is the minimum required cash that typically includes the first payment, the registration costs and acquisition cost.
Cap reduction- If you choose to offer more than the minimum drive off, the additional amount will act as a down payment and will reduce your monthly payments. Because money factors are quite low in our current economic conditions, I am not a proponent of putting more cash in a lease than just the drive- off.
Allowed mileage- is the number of miles that you can have at the end of your lease. A standard lease is 12k miles per year or 36k miles for a three-year lease. You can put 5k miles on your leased car one year and 20k miles on it in another year. It doesn’t matter, as long as you are at or under the total allowed mileage at the end of your lease. It is important to know the cost per miles for each additional mile BEFORE you decide on how many miles per year you choose to have in your lease.
Identify vehicles that lease best, first- If you have more than one brand on your shopping list, which is something I highly recommend, one of the first things you should do is to find out what the residual factor and the money factor is for each brand for a three year lease. If you end up liking all three brands equally, the one with the highest residual and the lowest money factor will offer you the lowest lease payment. With that information, you can engage in negotiations only with the one brand that you know will provide the lowest lease payments and save valuable time.
How can a lower price vehicle have a higher lease payment? Residual factors are typically reduced every three months within a model year. For example, the highest residual for a 2019 model year is offered when that model first comes out. For that reason, if you negotiate a great price for a 2019, the lease payments are often lower than the 2018 of the same models with a lower price.
If you are comparing a Mustang with a $30,000 MSRP and 50% residual ($15,000) a more expensive Audi with a MSRP of 35,000 and a 55% residual ($19,200), will have a lower lease payment even though, in this example, the Audi is a more expensive car.
Keep in mind the number, brands and models used in above examples are just for illustration purposes and are not the actual.
The bottom line is that a lower price doesn’t necessarily mean a lower lease payment. The lowest negotiated price, the highest residual and the lowest money factor, does.
39- or 36-months leases- Many of the manufacturers offer 39 months leases that offer you a slightly lower monthly lease payment. Although a lower monthly lease payment seems attractive, you should keep in mind that at the end of the third year, you will need to pay for DMV registration for a full fourth year and the related costs like smog in some states even though you will have that car for only three months between month 36 and 39, when your lease will end. Another factor is that in most cases your vehicle will not have any warranty for those last three months. When the risk and the additional expenses are factored in, extending the lease to 39 months may not make financial sense.
Negotiating a great lease- Now that you know all the ins and out, let’s go over how you negotiate a “great lease.” Once you know which make and model offers the best lease and works best for you, negotiate the cash price with at least three dealers. Remember to include the doc fee in your negotiations if you are in Florida or any other state that allows the dealers to set their own doc fees. You can tell them you may consider a lease, but you can also pay cash and follow the negotiation game plans that I have covered in the Negotiating a “great deal” on a cash purchase of a new vehicles section of this book. You can ask your salesperson to tell you what the money factor is for a three year lease before any mark-up is and I have no doubt that he will tell you what it is if you have followed the instructions on picking the right salesperson section of this book.
Once you have identified the dealer that you have negotiated the best cash price with, you can let them know that you are ready to buy or lease that car immediately if you can fairly work out the details of a lease. Let them know how many miles a year lease you want and that you want your lease factor without any mark-ups. But be prepared to accept up to a ½ of one percent added to the money factor if you must negotiate the money factor a little. Ask for the lease with minimum cash to cover just the drive-off. Now, you have negotiated a “great lease”. Now, the only way to lower your lease payments is to offer more upfront cash (cap reduction). Every additional $1000 reduces your payment by roughly around $25 per month.
Prepaid leases- are when you pay the total of all your payments upfront in one payment. The advantage of doing so is that most manufacturers offer a discounted money factor for prepaid leases which reduces the total cost of your lease if you have the resources. Prepaid leases are also a great alternative to paying cash for a car. The “why” is covered in the next section.
Leasing may be a good option even if you intend to keep the car for years– Over the years, I have met dozens and dozens of people who told me that they were buying a car with every intention to keep it until the wheels fall off, yet after three years or so they were back to trade it in for a different or new model. If you lease the car instead, you have only paid for a portion of the car in the first three years. If you still intend to keep the car until the wheels fall off, you have the option to pay for the unpaid portion (the residual) and keep the car. You can also see how the value has held up before doing so. If the residual (the unpaid portion) is $20,000 and there are other cars like yours in the used car market with similar miles than yours that you can buy for $15000, you will have the option to give your back and buy one of the used ones for $5000 less. On the other hand, if the used car market is hot and others like yours are selling for $25000, you will happily pay the unpaid portion (residual) and buy yours for $5000 below market value.
What to do 120 days before the end of your lease
Roughly around 120 days before your lease is ending you need to do a little bit of work to decide what you are going to do when your lease is up or sooner. The first thing you need to do is to get your pay-off number from the bank. The pay-off amount is the check you would need to write to the bank to receive the title and own your car out-right. After you have that number, you need to do a little bit of research to find out what your car is worth in the private market and as a trade-in. You can find more details about trade-in values in Negotiating a “great value” for your trade-in section of this book. If your car has low miles and it is in great condition, you may have equity in your car. In that case you may want to trade it in or sell it privately and benefit from your equity instead of just giving it back to the bank. If your payoff is higher than what your car is worth, you may choose to finish your lease and just give it back to the bank and move on to the next lease or purchase.
For example, let’s say you contact your lessor and find out that pay-off is $27,000. If after you do your homework, you find out that you can sell your car for $30,000, you will market your car and sell it for $30,000 and pocket the difference between what you sell your car for and $27,000. In this example $3000.
If you find out your car is only worth $22,000, well thank God you have a lease. You will just give the car back to the lessor and you are grateful for not having to absorb that $5000 loss
Sixth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Your Trade-In is a Separate Transaction
We all know that we can receive a higher value for our current car if we sell it privately, yet, we also know there are hassles involved with doing so. That is why most people choose to trade in their car. Selling a car privately doesn’t have to be a giant hassle. The gap between what you can sell your car for and the trade-in value can be thousands of dollars. In this section I will cover several details to help you decide which is right for you and how to get the most for your car regardless of how you choose to get rid of your car.
If you owe money on your car– the first thing you should do is to find out what your pay-off is. You can get that amount by simply contacting your lender and asking them for a 30-day pay-off. Then, with just a little bit of homework you can find out what other cars like yours are selling for in the private market. If the amount that you owe is more than what similar cars to yours are selling for, and you don’t have the cash to cover the difference, you need to trade your car in because some or all of your negative equity can be rolled into the car you intend to buy.
If what you owe is less than what similar cars to yours are selling for or if you own your car outright, you should try to sell your car in the private market for top dollar before you offer it to dealers as a trade-in.
If your car has significant mechanical issues or if you have not taken good care of it, you should trade it in. Disclosing mechanical issues makes selling a used car to a private buyer very challenging and not disclosing is basically screwing someone and I am sure you want no part of that!
But regardless of which way you choose to get rid of your car there are things you need to do in order to get top dollar for your car.
Preparing your car for receiving top dollar.
Get your car professionally detailed– I cannot emphasize what a big difference you can make in the value you will receive either from a dealer or a private buyer if you spend $200 to have your car professionally detailed. You can get this done in most of the prominent car washes these days. Make sure your engine compartment and trunk are shined up and detailed, too. It doesn’t matter if you have a three year or eight-year old car. If your car’s value is more than a couple of thousand dollars, getting it detailed will pay for itself.
Remove the door dings and minor scratches- There are several mobile services that can come to you to remove door dings and perhaps buff out your bumper and other minor scratches. If such services exist in your area, use them. They will pay for themselves.
Gather your service and maintenance records- If you have maintained your car well and have all the service records, get them together and be ready to offer them to prospective buyers (private or otherwise).
Take a dozen of great photos- of the interior and the exterior. Don’t take any short-cuts. Make sure the lighting and the setting are all as good as you can make them be. Include the nice and shiny engine compartment, trunk, odometer reading and all the additional options your car may have in your photos.
Write a compelling ad if you choose to give the private sale a chance- I have included a couple generic one’s for you to use. Your ad should scream your honesty, integrity and transparency. If you do so, you can expect and will receive the same from private buyers.
You should start with Craigslist for a week before trying Autotrader. Post your ad and all your photos. If your car is posted at a good price, you will receive calls and if it is not, you will not. In other words, if you are not getting calls, there is only one reason. You have priced it too high.
Seventh Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Getting a “great trade-in value.” You can sell your car to any dealer—not just the one you buy your new car from!
Trading in your car is a completely separate negotiation from buying your car. Treat it like that and you will make more money on the trade.
Here are the steps to getting the best trade in value for your car:
Know the bank Bluebook, auction and market selling prices– before engaging in negotiations with dealers. You don’t have to trade your car in at the dealership that you are buying a car from. You can contact the used car managers at several dealerships by phone. Let them know you are interested in selling your car. Insist on sending them the photos of your car before having any dialogues about values. After you have built a bit of rapport, ask them to share the bank bluebook value and the auction reports of your car with you. You may have to be a little persistent to get these values, but you will also earn their respect. These guys spend hours at auctions trying to buy cars for their dealerships. You just have to get their attention and be easy to deal with. They will tell you how cheap they can buy similar cars to yours at the auction and you will tell them how easy and painless it can be to buy it from you. You can remind them that they will have no travel expenses or auction fees. You can show them how much cars like yours are selling in your market. If you find the right used car managers, they will appreciate your knowledge and will reward you for it by offering you top dollar.
You should have three serious offers from three different dealerships before going in to buy your car. If you follow these simple steps, you will have back up values which gives you tons of needed negotiating leverage and confidence for getting the best value from the dealer that has provided you the best price for the car you intend to buy.
Remember that your trade-in represents the opportunity to make more profits to the dealer who is selling you a car. Don’t allow the dialogue to turn against you as if they are doing you a favor by taking your car in.
Final steps:
Eighth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Keep your wallet safe during document signing (after-market and extended warranty sales)
You have done your homework, invested the time and have negotiated a good deal on the price, your loan (if applicable), and your trade-in (if applicable) and you are ready to sign the paperwork and leave with your newly purchased vehicle. Not so fast. The dealership is not done with you yet.
In today’s environment, where there is so much pricing information, dealers rely on the heavy profits that they can make by selling extended warranties, maintenance packages and other after-market items. And all of that takes place during the documentation signing process. The F&I (finance and insurance) office is what most dealerships call the office that you sign your documents in. And the person who sits in that office is called the F&I manager. F&I managers are highly skilled salespeople. They work on commission and their performance is often measured by the amount of revenue they generate per client they visit.
They are always friendly, and very patient. They typically spend the first few minutes getting to know you with pleasantries and smiles. They start the paperwork and after the first few forms, they start their pitch.
The most common products that they offer are;
Extended warranties
Extended warranties cover the cost of mechanical breakdown. I am generally supportive of extended warranties especially when you are buying a used car that has no warranty. However, these warranties come with several different lengths and extents of coverages, and different deductibles. Some dealers sell self-insured warranties that are only valid at their own dealerships. These are warranties that you need to stay away from.
If you are purchasing a new car, you should know that you can purchase the warranties any time before the manufacturer’s warranty expires. Therefore, there is no need to buy such warranties at the time of purchasing the car and three years before you need it.
Maintenance packages
Maintenance packages cover the cost of routine maintenance, including brake replacements. These are mostly offered on brand new cars and are backed by the manufacturers and if the price is right, they can be of value.
Lease guard insurance-
Lease guard insurance covers damages beyond wear and tear up to a certain amount (typically
$3-$5k). Based on experience, you think there is a chance that your car will have any damages beyond normal wear and tear, and if you pay the right price, this product can be of value.
Alarms and Anti-theft systems-
The name speaks for itself and are often worthless
Tire insurance-
Tire insurance covers the cost of tire blow ups and replacements. I don’t support buying this product.
Gap insurance-
Gap insurance is used to cover the difference between what you owe on your car and what you will receive from insurance in case of having your car total-ed in an accident. If you buy your car (not lease) with minimal down payment and pay the right price, this item could be of value.
The most common pitch is to package several products together at a very high price and pitch it to you as value items that you need to protect your investment. Most buyers are worn out by the time they get to that point in the buying process so they either say no to everything at the start of the pitch. However, the F&I managers hardly ever take the first no for an answer and through several different effective selling techniques, they will eventually sell something or somethings.
There are two ways to make sure all the work you have done to this point to negotiate a great deal doesn’t get wasted by getting talked into buying stuff you don’t need and paying too much.
Do your homework before you visit the dealership to finalize your deal – Decide on which one of these products you may have interest in first. After you have identified who you want to do business with and before you go in to finalize everything and take delivery of your newly purchased car, ask your salesperson to put you in touch with one of their F&I managers. Let your salesperson know that you would like to talk to him about extended warranties and other products before coming in to finalize the deal. If you followed my process of picking the right salesperson, he will be happy to do so. don’t forget, by now, he has invested a lot of time and energy in selling you a car and will do whatever he can to see the sale through.
Let the F&I manager know you are about to buy a car from that dealership. Provide him the year and model and ask him to provide you information and pricing on the products that you have interest in. If you are interested in extended warranties and you are buying a brand-new car, make sure to INSIST on getting pricing and coverage information about warranties that are backed by the manufacturer, not some other third party. After you have the pricing, let him know that you have enjoyed working with everyone at that dealership thus far. But you intend to shop around for the best price of the extended warranties or after-market items, and you would appreciate it if he can provide you better and more aggressive pricing. Offer a profit of $200 for each product that you consider purchasing and ask if he is willing to show you his/her cost documentation and accept a $200 margin. Be kind, nice and professional, yet direct. They are used to it and may even appreciate it. If you run into any problems, contact your salesperson and ask for his/her assistance.
Don’t make any decisions if you have not done your homework- If you choose to go in to finalize your deal and take that car home before doing any homework on extended warranty and insurance products, you can still protect yourself against throwing all your work away and overpaying for products or buying things you don’t need.
Kindly, let the F&I manager know that you are not prepared to make any decisions on anything beyond what you have agreed to up to that point. In other words, you are not buying anything else on that day. He can give you the pitch and the best pricing. You will take the information home and will do your homework. Let them know you will return the next day if you decide to purchase anything. The F&I manager may tell you that he needs a decision right away for various reasons. But don’t worry, they will be happy to re-do the paperwork the next day and add whatever you decide to purchase to the paperwork.
Another way to handle that on the spot is to tell the F&I manager you are willing to purchase a product that you have interest in as long as he shows you the document that will support the cost of that product and charges you $200 over that cost. Understand that F&I managers are all about making as much profit as they can. It’s their job and nothing personal. Having said that, they typically prefer to sell you something even at a very small profit to improve their sales penetration numbers than selling you nothing. Use that knowledge to your advantage.
Ninth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: One Price dealers are a shortcut, not the way to “great deals”
From big name public companies, to smaller privately-owned dealerships and everything in between, there are a number of one-price dealers who claim not to haggle. They are easier to do business with because you know everyone pays the same price at that dealership. They are typically more focused on customer satisfaction and have better trained staff. But there are a couple of serious factors to take in consideration.
The industry is not “one -price”- It is nice that a dealer clearly posts their lowest prices for every car and doesn’t negotiate but that doesn’t mean that you can’t buy the same car for less anywhere else. In fact, the chances are that you can, and sometimes for a lot less if you follow your buying process with discipline, time and patience.
You still have to negotiate at one-price dealers- As you know by now, unless you intend to pay cash for a car without a trade-in or the desire to purchase any warranties or aftermarket protection and insurance products, you will still have to negotiate for your trade-in value, the loan interest rate and terms, lease money factor, and everything else other than just the price. You must be very cautious and not drop your guard or you can end up paying one high price for everything.
Not all one-price dealers are one-price- A dealer once told me that he has a “soft” one-price philosophy. He said, we post a discounted price as our one-price, but we won’t lose a deal if someone makes a reasonable offer below our one-price. You will come across this type of philosophy quite often and you should treat your deal no different than a good old negotiating dealer.
To summarize, now that you have a buying process and until the day that the entire industry gets into the 21st century and away from haggling you are better off working with a dealer that negotiates everything.
Tenth Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Online services work for the dealer—not you!
There is a plethora of online services that claim to be serving car buyers. Some show what others have paid for the car you are trying to buy in your area, others claim to be showing you what a good and bad deal is on an advertised used car, as well as dozens of other variations.
All these services generate their revenue from the car dealers. They are either lead generators and get paid every time they deliver a buyer to a dealership or they get paid for displaying dealers’ inventories.
Their customer is the dealer, not you. They are super focused on keeping their very high paying customers very happy. They do not care if they make you happy. None of them remove the need to negotiate with the dealers entirely. And, as I have mentioned before, dealers are more than happy to post a super aggressive price online. If they are giving up any profit at that price, they will get multiples of it back in negotiations for everything else.
You can use these online services for the information they provide but don’t ever rely on them as the final solution. And don’t ever provide them your contact information unless you are ok with a bunch of salespeople calling or emailing you for months to come.
Eleventh Rule of Negotiating a Great Deal: Celebrate your great deal and drive safely!
You’ve done your homework. You have followed your process with attention to detail, patience and kindness. You have cared more about keeping your money than wanting to get the whole thing over with or pleasing the salesperson. You have honestly evaluated your transportation needs and found the perfect car. And you did it—you negotiated the best price on all aspects of your deal. Now it’s time to celebrate! Congratulations! Enjoy your new vehicle!
Feel like this is too time consuming or too much work?
Click on the link below to hire myHopscotch and let us do all the work for you!
You’ll join thousands of others who made the same choice and who have all said they will never buy a car in the future any other way! Don’t just take our word for it, see what they have to say on Yelp.