This doesn’t fit my normal theme, but it’s so good I have to post it. I hate buying a car, but here are some good tips on car buying from a car salesman:
1. The best time to go is at the end of the day (about 2 hours from closing time) on a rainy or cold day. First the dealership will be empty so no wait going into finance. Second they likely have not sold many cars that day and are more ready to make a deal. The times we have discounted cars the most are those times.
2. You don’t get a better deal from paying cash or having a check ready from your bank. When you do this they don’t make any money from you financing with them. If you tell them up front is a cash deal, they know they have to make all their money on the price of a car. They will be more willing to discount the car if they know they will make money from you financing.
3. They are not always giving you as much as they say from the trade in. If they are not discounting the sticker price or if it is barely discounted, but giving you a lot on your car, they are really taking the discount and applying it to your trade in. My dealership doesn’t do this so people come in expecting an unrealistic trade in price and they don’t get it because we already discounted the price on the new car.
4. Save yourself time haggling by working the deal out online. You know when you are on their website and it pops up that you can chat with someone? Go ahead and do this because they will give you a great deal to get you in the dealership. Go ahead and work your trade in numbers then to so you aren’t surprised when you get there. When you do this, you simply have to walk in, test drive the car and the haggling is over with.
5. Some of the add ons they offer in financing are worth it and some are not. If you aren’t putting money down, GAP insurance can be great. If you are putting money down it might not be worth it. Do some research ahead of time to know what kinds of things will be offered.