My Daddy Drives A Hard Bargain
Feb 28 '00
How will I buy my first car on my own?
I'm going to go to the bank and get a pile of money, stick it in a suitcase all nice, nice in rows and arranged neatly. I'll then open it up on the salesman's desk and look inside it often, pretending to count it to see if I have enough money. I'll be sure he can see it. The suitcase full of money ought to make him work all the harder thinking he will get that suitcase right away.
If we meet on price, I'm going to close the suitcase and toss him my Discover Card and tell him to go charge it. Then I will get 1% back on that sale from Discover card. I'll wander down to the local SEARS and pay that credit card, no interest, no financing and 1% back for me!
But until I do get a briefcase like that, and it is looking pretty far off after the new Epinions plan, I will share with you Daddy's methods
Who buys the cars in my family? Gee, I wonder, Is it my Dad?
That is correct. Why does he do it? Because he can be a mean man when it comes to his money.
I have been with Dad on the last four vehicles he has bought, My Z34 Lumina, Mom's Grand Cherokee, His Caddy, and My Brothers Saturn.
I shall share what I have learned from watching.
So what does he do? He won't take anything from any of them. He realizes he has the upper hand. They have something they want to sell us, not something we want to buy. (well, we do, but can get it elsewhere)
Make that salesman work. Show you are serious about buying a car but do not need to buy it either today, or from his dealership. The Salesman will work even harder because if you walk off that lot that is a commission that is gone. If you come back, are you seriously going to ask for the same salesman after he didn't get you the deal you wanted the first time? NO WAY.
Give that salesman a work out, the salesman is going to want to sit down and talk figures right away after the test drive. Cut right past the games, throw him a low figure, your, I wish I could steal this car for this price offer. Likely the salesman will laugh and ask for a serious offer. At that point Dad will normally say that is a serious offer, would you like a check for it right now? And he will begin to write out a check. If the salesman says he can't sell the car for that price (and he will) send him walking, tell him to go talk to his manager about it.
He will come back, possibly with a number, reject that number immediately as they rejected yours. Give another offer coming up very little and stay with your set maximum. Never go over your maximum. Yes, this is a stupid game but it is negotiation, and this is how the game is played. Leave your options open, do not be afraid to let the Salesman know you have other dealerships you have been to and have other cars in mind. You may even wish to state you have a deposit on another car at another dealership. I actually did have one on another car when I got mine.
The test drive. Complain about things. Nothing is ever perfect with a car, find something wrong with it. This will let you appear less inclined to purchase the car. You know exactly what you want out of a car, so drive it the way you will when you get it. Test out its performance. Just about every car feels the same going down the road at 40 in a straight line. The best salesman I ever had was in the car I didn't buy, he encouraged me to check on the cars power as I did not believe him when he said the Ford Taurus was a quick car. Before I knew it he had us over 85 on a bridge. I was impressed, even if I did think it was ugly. He then spun the car around before the tolls and went back the other way just as quick. Then he let me try.
The thing is, if you don't take the test drive in the car the way YOU will drive the car, you will not have a good idea if this car is right for you.
When to buy the car. Ideally you wait till the end of the year, or the end of a month, there are many factory to dealer incentives that a dealership will get for selling a set number of cars each month. The dealership will be looking to cash in on these so they are much more willing to deal at this point. If you are there before the last couple of days and haven't yet got the price to where you want it, go back on the last day of the month and try again. Chances are much more in your favor, not only do they get the dealer incentives, they avoid taxation on the value of the car for the month.
Are you This close to meeting on price?
We were $50 separating the price Dad wanted to pay and the price they were willing to sell at. I wanted this car more than any other one I saw, Bright Red and just asking for speeding tickets, I had to have it. I was so close to screaming, DAD I'LL THROW IN THE $50 ! you are not losing because you have not had the price you want to pay accepted!
Instead he took a creative way around this.
The service plan. Are you buying from a New Dealership? They all have service shops. Check on the service plans you can buy. See if they will throw one in at a greatly reduced price. I got the three year service plan for about 25% of what the asking price was in exchange for Dad coming up the $50 the two of them were bickering over. Dad then gave them a credit card and told them to charge it.
So be creative, perhaps you could even get a years worth of oil changes thrown in.
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mattjoe
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Member: Austin Danger Powers
Location: RED SOX LAND!
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Unable to be trusted how to spread my wealth around on my own.
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