What is the chance you are going to be a good negotiator? To get a great car deal do you need to be a great negotiator?
According to Wikipedia, Negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. It is the primary method of alternative dispute resolution.
To answer the above question, YES!
Negotiation does not need to be a long drawn out affair. From the dealer’s side, the salesperson is suppose to get a commitment from you. Once the commitment to purchase at a certain price or payment is made the negotiation becomes easy for the dealer.
From the consumer’s side having the ability to make an educated offer using the dealer’s information leads to very little negotiation. The right starting point and the ability to show your offer comes from education and not “pulling it out of your ass” goes along way. If you knew:
- The true value of your trade
- The true value of the dealership’s car
- The amount of days the vehicle was in stock
- The Supply and Demand of your trade and the vehicle you were purchasing
- The break-even point for the dealer
- The buy rate for your financing
- The process of the dealer
- The few word tracks to lead them to close on your offer
- How to make an educated offer
- The right questions to ask about the vehicle you are buying
- The right questions to ask about the vehicle you are trading in
Do you think you could save yourself hundreds maybe thousands of dollars on your vehicle purchase? I know you would and I would be scared to be on the dealers side of the desk.
I think I would save a lot. I hate to admit this but when I want something I work hard and get it. Regardless of the price. Probably a big mistake when I can educate myself and save big at the same time.
Jose Escalante
http://www.joseescalante.com
Hi Car Guy,
oh yes, DO Negotiate. I couldn’t agree more.
What do you think of the Book, “Getting To Yes”? for assisting people in this skill or appreciating it in the car buying consultant they hire to purchase their next car at the best price?
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Single Boomer Dating Expert
As Herb Cohen used to say, “Everything is negotiable.” These are skills everyone should either master or hire, especially for buying a car.
Steve Chambers
Sales Training Speaker
You’ve done a great job of educating us on this topic so far. Looking forward to future posts. Why don’t you put all this in a mini-report – before someone else takes your stuff and does it?
Martin O’Connor
http://smallbusinessdesigncenter.com
For me, the attraction of engaging a car negotiator is more for their specific knowledge, expertise and experience than for their generic negotiation skills (which are important, but far easier to replicate). These specifics, which have taken (and would take) years to acquire, are where the value is.
http://www.martin-wright.com
We have the horse traders to thank for this
Scott Payne
http://www.scottpayne.me
I’ve never been that great of a negotiator/haggler and after seeing this, it’s probably because I haven’t confident in my knowledge of its real value. I’ll keep this list in mind for my next car purchase (which will hopefully be soon).
MissMentor
I think it was Saturn that had the “no-haggle” price. I wonder how they did with that compared to the dealers that negotiate. I used to have a Saturn!
Lisa McLellan
Child Care Expert,
Babysitting Services, Babysitting Tips, Babysitters, Nannies
Knowledge is power! Still I’d feel more comfortable as a man. Hey maybe you could teach a couple of people this stuff who live close to you and actually want to buy a car, and send them in with a hidden camera. Just a thought. I’d predict female would have a harder time. Like to be proven wrong.
Keri Eagan
Alternative Healing Insights
Lisa I think Saturn is now out of business as of this summer. So even though the no haggle approach was comfortable to some, it wasn’t enough to make a car company successful.
Katie
All companies would love to be able to pull off “No-Haggle” pricing. This is the same as “Pay Us our Full Price” pricing. Even Saturn would negotiate, but they didn’t let anyone know that.
Seize the Day,
Rob
Simple Survival Tips For Disasters and Emergencies
Sounds brilliant for dealing with dealers. Have you developed a system to do this? Have you tested the results versus normal buying patterns?
Mastery and Team Building, Kate McKeon
With that knowledge, successful negotiation is possible. Getting the knowledge is the challenge.
Health, Fitness for Working People — Darryl Pace
I know your asking $7500 but how about $2200? Sound familiar?
Scott Payne
http://www.scottpayne.me
This page is worth saving. Really good guide on what to research before buying a car.
thanks.
Bert (alter ego- Mister P)
MisterP.org/blog
Most of the time there is room for negociation. Knowing the right questions and filling in the blanks would definately save you money.
Vicki http://www.bridal-threads.com
Ok…. I’ll stretch to $2500 … final offer!
Scott Payne
http://www.scottpayne.me
I couldn’t an e-mail address for you so I’m sending this along here. I received this in an e-mail and thought it might have the making of a post for you.
I changed a lot of the wording.
By the way I read in a source I think reliable that not one dealer got the rebate money from the government that they discounted to the buyer.
In other words they took the discount as a loss.
Have you heard anything about this?
———————————————
IS THIS A GOOD DEAL OR WHAT?
You know that cash for clunkers deal Uncle Sam offered us. What’s your opinion on this?
If you traded in a “clunker” car worth $3500, you get $4500 off for a slight of hand “savings” of $1000.
But let’s read the small print, between the lines or whatever we want to call it.
You have to pay income taxes, however, on the $4500 next April 15th (something the auto dealer didn’t tell you). For those of you in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.
So, rather than save $1000, you actually pay an extra $350 to Uncle. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for, running and serviceable for several more years. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need and replaced one that was costing you less to run than the payments you will now be making.
But wait, it gets even better: you also got taken by the dealer.
For example, every Ford dealer in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the options including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for $12,500 the month before the “cash for clunkers” program started.
When “cash for clunkers” started, they stopped discounting them and started selling them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before. (Honda, Toyota , and Kia played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did).
So lets do the final tally here:
You traded in a car worth: $3500
You got a discount of: $4500
———
Net so far +$1000
But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes
on the $4500
——–
Net so far: -$350
And you paid more that the $3000
more than the car was
selling for the month before
———-
Net -$3350
We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the 5 years of interest on the car loan, but lets just stop here.
So who actually made out on the deal? The IRS collected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they “gave” you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. The manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. And the poor stupid consumer got saddled with even more debt.
Obama and his band of merry men convinced Joe consumer that he was getting $4500 in “free” money from the “government” when in fact Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege. PLUS….. all those great cars that was called “clunkers ” weren’t ” clunkers” at all but good to great driving cars and all had to be destroyed by the government rules of this game. The cars could have been given to needy people who could never afford to buy another car or given to a church that helped people when in need. Goes to show you how stupid we people can be if, yes IF we keep following the “pied piper”.
That’s a beautiful classic car. I would love to see more pics, especially the interior!
Greg Dougall, Literary Agent
It’s funny how I love your blog even though it drives me crazy! Ok but in a good way as I am always frustrated when buying a car. It’s suppose to be great that you have this new car but the buying process makes me crazy and frustrated. Good thing you’re around.
I always hate when you think you have looked up the value of your trade and then walk out with this book and come up with something a couple thousand less…
Jen Battaglino
The Harwood Group – Tinnitus, Chronic Illness, Fears, and Anxiety
This is great advice for when you are in contact with dealers and such like!!!
Thanks to you I’ve developed an interest in cars that I did have before. Thanks!
Martin O’Connor
http://smallbusinessdesigncenter.com
Here’s video you must watch.
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/10/action-alert-obama-to-cede-us-sovereignty-in-december.html
Martin O’Connor
http://smallbusinessdesigncenter.com
$2501 thats it!