Are you thinking about buying a car? Trying to uncover the best car dealership secrets?
If you’re thinking about buying a car you should make sure that you’re prepared to negotiate with a car salesman to get a great price. If you’re not careful, you may end up paying more than you have to for a new set of wheels.
Luckily, we’re here to help. Below we’ll tell you how you can negotiate with car dealers to get a vehicle for the best price.
- Get Financing First
Before you go to a dealership to buy a car you should think carefully about your financing needs. It’s ideal to have your financing secured very early on, before you go look for a car to buy.
Securing financing from a local credit union or a bank that you’re comfortable with before you go looking for a car will help you avoid the hassle of dealing with the less-than-ideal loans available at a dealership.
Like it or not, a salesman may try to convince you to accept dealership financing. In reality, dealership financing often comes with bad rates and you’ll likely be better off securing financing on your own instead.
- Time It Right
It’s also important to know that there are certain times when you’ll have more sway during negotiations with a car dealer. When salespeople are trying to meet their quotas and meet selling goals you’ll have a better chance of getting an attractive offer.
You may want to follow up with a car dealer or buy a vehicle at the end of the day on a Saturday or Sunday or at the end of the month, quarter, or year. Doing so during these times will make it more likely that a salesperson will be easy to sway and that they’ll be happy to sell you a car for a great price.
- Learn to Negotiate
If you want to get the best deal on a car, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for the price that is right for you. Barter with a salesman and see if they’ll take less than the listed price.
You may want to ask to see the dealer invoice for the car so that you’ll know what a good price is to start with when negotiating with a salesman. A dealer won’t want to go under this price if they want to make a profit.
It’s also best if you keep your trade-in deal apart from your new car negotiation. Make sure that a dealer doesn’t give you too low of a price for your trade-in when you’re buying a car.
- Prepare to Be Assertive
Before you walk into a dealership you need to be prepared to be assertive and you should be ready to stand up for yourself.
Don’t just take a price that a salesman offers you right off the bat and don’t let anyone push you around. Don’t buy a car at a price that isn’t right for you or that includes extras that you don’t actually need.
Be prepared to say the words “No” when speaking with a salesman. If you’re ready to say those words and walk away at any time you’ll have a much better chance of negotiating with a salesman to get exactly what you want out of a purchase.
- Watch Out For Extras
If you want to get a great price on your vehicle, you should beware of salesmen who try to convince you to get a lot of extras for your vehicle that you don’t actually need.
Once you’ve set a price for the vehicle you’re thinking about purchasing, the negotiations are only just getting started. A salesman may try to tag on a lot of extras and will make convincing arguments for each of them.
Be sure that you’re prepared to look out for these add-ons before going to a dealership. The extras can add up a lot and if you’re not careful they may cost you more money than you’re prepared to pay.
- Look Over the Paperwork
Another thing you should do when buying a car is to make sure that you don’t skimp on reading the paperwork. Ther’es a chance that a dealer may have stealthily placed some add-on fees in an official document or even made changes to the offer that you agreed on verbally.
You can never be too careful when it comes to reading the documents you’re signing when buying a car, so make sure that you take the time to look over it carefully. It may be a great idea to have a friend or family member accompany you to the dealership to get an even closer look at the documents and to get a second opinion.
- Do Your Research
Before you go into a car dealership it’s always a good idea to do your research. Be sure to study up on what cars the dealer has available before you go and also look up what the market value of the vehicle you’re considering really is.
Edmunds.com can be a great help if you’re buying a new car while the Kelly Blue Book can be helpful if you’re buying a used one. You should try to get a significant discount off of the market value and it is doable with a bit of negotiating. However, always be willing to walk away if necessary.
By knowing what a car is worth before going into a dealership, you’ll have the knowledge you need to negotiate well.
Getting a Great Deal With These Car Dealership Secrets
If you want to negotiate with car dealers successfully, you need to know about these car dealership secrets. By paying attention to the above tips and using them when it’s time to buy a car you’ll be able to save money and won’t pay any more than you have to get on the road again.
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