PARKERVERSE: Car Buying Tips From an Ex-Salesman part 3

First I would like to apologize for not posting this Friday. I was at my parents, and could not find the time.

Tonight I am going to give you a step by step process to get a great deal on a specifically a NEW car. With that said some of this will be repeated from previous posts. But since I don't have a huge following yet it will probably be more beneficial this way.

The STEPS to get a great deal on a NEW car.

Internet research. You need to research cars that you are interested in. Go to manufacturers websites(http://www.ford.com/ or http://www.dodge.com/, etc.) to do so. Find 1 you are interested in. While there make notes of pricing and features. Be aware that dealerships do not always carry the exact car you look at so pricing may be off a little. Also dealers can trade cars with other dealers to get the exact one you want, however if this is done dealers lose markup and will not give you as much of a deal. Now, you know the car you want, the features you want and the pricing on the specific vehicle. Also make sure and note what kind of rebates are available and Bonus Cash. Your thinking the dealer has that info. Well they do but they do not have to disclose Bonus cash to you. Most dealers do but some will no mention it and keep it for profit. Now what?
Call the a local dealership and ask to speak to the New Car Sales Manager. If he is not available either tell them you will call back or ask him to call you. This is an important step. Once you get him on the phone tell him that you are interested in setting up an appointment to test drive a vehicle. He will most likely hand you to a salesman to set up a time(only set up a time when you are 100% ready to buy and tell the Sales manager that too) but the point of this is to let him know you are ready to buy. This makes him aware of you, pay special attention to you and he will think you have already been sold on the product. So when you come in, negotiate price and act tough with the salesman. He will assume they did something wrong. And try fixing it with bigger discounts. Now if you drive the car and don't like it, leave. Do not look at other stuff. No research means no control (you lose power when you let a salesman sale you something. If you want you can research several vehicles before you go to the dealership in the event you dislike the ride or something else. Just make it clear you are there to see a few vehicles. Now what?
So you just drove the car and you love it. You want to buy it. Tell the salesman you want to see what kind of price they can do. They will sit you down and fill out some paperwork. They will ask to run your credit, allow them at this point. Again you are letting them know that you are ready to buy by doing this. When the numbers come back he will go over them with you. Most likely you will see a discount, rebates and bonus cash, depending on availability. Lets say he put a rebate on there but no discount or bonus cash. Immediately following the presentation of numbers ask, wheres the discount? He may respond by pointing out the rebate or he may say at this time he cant do any better. If its the first say the rebate comes from the manufacturer what are you going to do for me. If its the second say well I'm sorry I wasted your time (start to stand) and tell him that you will have to wait. This will scare him because remember his boss gave him you and thinks this will be an easy sale. So he will respond to both of these by saying let me check with my manager and see what we can do. He may try to negotiate price with you him self, tell him to get a discount approved and you will go from there. Now He will leave for a few come back and make another offer. At this point if its not where you want it. Ask him for the price you want. Keeping in mind base model markup is around $900 middle of the road markup is $1500, and loaded markup is 3000. These are round numbers could be more or less. He will say ok or go and check with a manager. They may or may not accept your offer. If you don't you can try and leave and see if they change their mind. But this is very hard to do. Lets say they accept your offer. Now if their was bonus cash shown online mention that to them. Ask when they show the Bonus cash in the numbers? That's how you get the price you want. Now what?
Tell them your ready to see interest rates. It will take around 30 minutes most times to do this if they are busy you could be their awhile. When they are ready either the finance manager will come to you or the you will go to him. He will be the nicest and the best salesman they have. Why, because he sales you stuff you don't need with incredible markup. Warranty- I always buy warranty. Normally they will show you a price of $2400 dollars for it with a 600 dollar discount. Problem is they only pay around $1000 for it. Mention it seems a lot higher than you remember, ask for the discount. Gap- I also always buy gap. Normally gap sales for $600 dollars. There is not a lot of markup but you should be able to get $150 off, just by asking. Most pay $300 for it. Life- I never buy it. Its just expensive really expensive insurance. Turn the offer down every time. You don't want this. A&H- Another really expensive insurance. Turn it down. You don't want this either. If that negotiating went well you will move on to the note and interest. If you got all the discounts I have spoke about they will try and bump the interest. They have to make money some how. Consider rates on your credit card, they should be higher than your car rate. However rates do go up and down through out the year. An easy way to check rates is to apply for an auto lone online. This will give you an idea of rate. If its a little higher mention that you were offered a lower rate online and tell them the lender. Some times the finance manager will not send your credit to all lenders and may not have tried it yet and most will give it a try. If its lower take it. Now what?
SIGN THE PAPERWORK and drive it home. Then?
Come back to my blog and tell me about your experience.