Is there a better way to buy a car that talking to a sales guy?

[Leros]

I spent a full day negotiating over my last car and I still paid too much. Surely in this day and age, there is some kind of middleman group that can help negotiate the best price on your behalf.

 

[gorcorps]

You think adding another layer of middleman will end in you spending LESS money?

I can't follow your logic. Either way, negotiating is easy. You know how much you want to pay. Tell them to meet that price and don't sign anything until they do. If they literally can't do it then wait until the price goes down

 

[Leros]

You think adding another layer of middleman will end in you spending LESS money?

I can't follow your logic. Either way, negotiating is easy. You know how much you want to pay. Tell them to meet that price and don't sign anything until they do. If they literally can't do it then wait until the price goes down

It took me half a day to get down to $1000 more than I wanted to pay (a bit below average price I saw on some car sale price reporting site). I spent another half day negotiating but they finally wore me down and I caved in.

I'm pretty good at negotiating most things like electronics and furniture, but the car guys don't seem to mind holding out for a few days. I just want to avoid that whole process if possible.

 

[Brovane]

I spent a full day negotiating over my last car and I still paid too much. Surely in this day and age, there is some kind of middleman group that can help negotiate the best price on your behalf.

Decided the car and options you want. Send out quote requests to multiple car dealers and pick the best one. If you are not getting the price you want just go back and forth via e-mail to get them down. This can take days but it doesn't take up much of your time because it is all done via e-mail.

The other tactic if you are onsite at the dealership is whenever the sales guy gets up to talk to his manager etc. about your counter offer. Get up and leave the table/office and go out to the lot. Don't wait for him in the office so he knows were you are. Basically make the sales guy come find you each time he leaves and comes back.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Negotiating skill has nothing to do with it. Whether you win or you lose is determined before you walk into the showroom. Do your homework and know the exact invoice price, the exact incentives currently running and the amount of dealer holdback on the model you're interested in. From there you can determine a fair price that you're willing to pay that gives them the profit they need and the savings you want. You could be the greatest negotiator on Earth, but if the salesman knows what the car REALLY costs and you don't he's going to kick your ass. The only way to win is to know as much as they know.

 

[eldorado99]

Last one I bought I told them I couldn't pay what they wanted and they let me leave. As I was driving away the salesman ran after me and flagged me down and asked if they could get the GM to approve the price I wanted would I still buy it. I said yes and then drove away. About 4 hours later I got a call from the GM saying he would give me the car for the price I wanted. It is pretty simple, the way I see it, the only leverage you have is walking away, but it seems to work every time.

 

[esquared]

Last one I bought I told them I couldn't pay what they wanted and they let me leave. As I was driving away the salesman ran after me and flagged me down and asked if they could get the GM to approve the price I wanted would I still buy it. I said yes and then drove away. About 4 hours later I got a call from the GM saying he would give me the car for the price I wanted. It is pretty simple, the way I see it, the only leverage you have is walking away, but it seems to work every time.

This^^^
That's your power, being to walk away.
If they still want to deal, they will call.

They actually count on those hours and hours trying to beat you down, so you just give up. It's a tried and true M.O. for them which is why they still use it.

 

[ponyo]

Are you a Costco member? Costco has auto buying program for its members.

 

[Majcric]

I really need to buy a car this year. I'm going to keep the walk away method in mind.

last time I tried buying a car I used the cash approach which seemed to fail. I guess they want you finance which is how they obviously make more money.

 

[ponyo]

I really need to buy a car this year. I'm going to keep the walk away method in mind.

last time I tried buying a car I used the cash approach which seemed to fail. I guess they want you finance which is how they obviously make more money.

Cash approach works with private sellers on used cars. I'm going to buy a car this year but I haven't decided if I'm buying new or used. If new, I'm using Costco auto buying service.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Decided the car and options you want. Send out quote requests to multiple car dealers and pick the best one. .

^^^
This. I have bought 5 cars this way since 2000. The last car I bought was a Mercedes. I sat in the backyard with a diet coke and went to the Mercedes website and configured the car I wanted. Then at the end it will ask you about getting a quote. I picked about 7 dealers around me, you might have to change the zip code in the website to get all the dealers in your area. The phone started to ring and the e-mails started to come in. I do NOT want to talk the dealer so anyone who just called was instantly ignored. You then just pick the best price and go with it. No fuss no muss. It is super simple and easy. My wife and I actually spent a pleasant afternoon just chatting and shopping for a car.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Are you a Costco member? Costco has auto buying program for its members.

The last time I tried the Costco program the dealer would not give me a price until I went to the lot. Nope, that is not how I want to buy a car, I just want to do it all via e-mail.

 

[HeXen]

1.Let them tell you what they are willing to take, never offer first.
2.Make disgusted face after that.
3.Tell them what you want to pay..obviously you have to be reasonable.
4.Talk about how many other auto dealers there are out there ( have a friend phone you to fake a lowball offer from another dealer after you give the signal)
5.When they reject it...silence....just a long awkward silence and a 5 mile stare. (got that one from that tv show but never did it)
Optional: violently threaten to walk out after every sentence the sales guy says. (this is what I do a lot )
6. Walk away...walk slowly. Just enough time for him to talk to the man with the fuzzy nuts.
and slowly get in car....most of the time, they'll come running back out after you. If not, fuck it and move on, tons of car dealers out there.

Or, if you are introverted, shy..etc, your fucked, just hand them your money.

 

[pontifex]

Negotiating skill has nothing to do with it. Whether you win or you lose is determined before you walk into the showroom. Do your homework and know the exact invoice price, the exact incentives currently running and the amount of dealer holdback on the model you're interested in. From there you can determine a fair price that you're willing to pay that gives them the profit they need and the savings you want. You could be the greatest negotiator on Earth, but if the salesman knows what the car REALLY costs and you don't he's going to kick your ass. The only way to win is to know as much as they know.

where the hell do find that?

 

[JulesMaximus]

What kind of car? I've found domestic brand dealerships to be the absolute worst.

If you have a credit union with car buying service try going through them or if you're a USAA member they have a pretty good car buying service too.

No way would I spend an entire day being jerked around in a dealership. Look, here's what I'll pay, this is what I want for my car, I always have financing arranged prior to setting foot on a dealer lot so that is never a problem.

 

[Jumpem]

The Subaru dealer that I go to only sells vehicles at invoice (or below). They don't haggle. It is as simple as telling them the vehicle you want and getting payment information.

 

[who?]

The manufacturers eliminated a bunch of dealerships recently to try to eliminate competition between their own dealers. I'm wondering how that's working out for them.

 

[Ichinisan]

Tesla?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm not a car guy but have reasonable expectations as to the cars cost. There are websites that show the dealers cost but don't assume they don't want to earn any money selling the car. To my understanding cars are sold pretty close to margin provided its not a high end car.

 

[Charmonium]

The last time I tried the Costco program the dealer would not give me a price until I went to the lot. Nope, that is not how I want to buy a car, I just want to do it all via e-mail.

This. That's how I bought my current car and that was 8 years ago. I didn't deal with anyone who wouldn't give me a price via email and if they required a phone number, I gave them one for a huge govt office complex where they could spend an entire day figuring out I didn't work there.

The car I wanted at the time was selling for over list so some of the initial offers I got were just absurd.

You can always try the technique of saying you found the car for $xxx at some unnamed competing dealer and that can work as long as you're not trying to bluff. If they call your bluff and you have to go back to them, you're toast.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

where the hell do find that?

They have this newfangled thing called "Google" now. If you went there and searched for something like "Make 'x' model 'y' dealer holdback" who knows what magic can happen. Most cars it's either 2 or 3%, so it's not a huge chunk of cash, but it's often somewhere between $400 and $1000 hidden dealer profit. On some makes and models you can negotiate down from the invoice rather than up because the dealer is making so much money from incentives/holdback that the invoice price could be well over the minimum profit they're willing to take.

 

[nk215]

When I bought my last three cars, I gave dealers my price and told them to call me when they can meet that price. All of them did.

I did not try to get the last $ out of them. In general I left them with around $1-1.5k profit (out of a $50+k cars)

I was under no pressure to buy because these were not my primary vehicle.



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[Imp]

Buy a Tesla?

Their dealership structure pissed off the older structure or something.

 

[dud]

I spent a full day negotiating over my last car and I still paid too much. Surely in this day and age, there is some kind of middleman group that can help negotiate the best price on your behalf.

If you were living in 1990 then probably not. If you are negotiating today then recommend that you stop. Last car I bought was too easy. Just go to OEM website and build your vehicle and notify them that you are ready to buy. They usually have a choice of stealerships closest to your address. I chose all within 100 miles. I received quotes from about 8 stealerships and ended up buying the exact car we test drove.

No negotiating, no hassles ...

 

[boomhower]

I emailed every dealer as far as I was willing to drive. Took the lowest offer and kept passing it around until I hit rock bottom. Got a great deal and didn't have to heckle with a salesman and his manager and his finance manager and... I will never just walk into a dealership again.