I went to a Toyota dealer last March (2020) to buy my wife a Camry (I make car sales men crazy) I had shop and priced the option package we wanted, 3 dealers had it in her color. This is is the end of March, think Covid lock down. Each had a bottom line 22k - 23.5k. I had my wife to write a a check for $19,000.00 unsigned. I called my prefered dealer (closest) told the salesman I would 19K no more. He said come on in I think we can work with that. I got there they tried the dock fees , undercoating all the bs I showed him the check, said "you want this check, I want that car". They screwed around for 45 minutes . I started to leave. (they wanted to sell a car) The salesmgr, F&I and the salsman were trying to stop us. I said "you want this check, I want that car". They got us in the F&I office, they said ok we'll take 19k , just write us a check for dealer prep. Itold my "let's go". Finally after 2 hours, they said ok we'll wave the dealer prep. I didn't let her sign the check until all the title work and sales contracts were signed by themand they put the keys on the desk. New Camry 19k
Thats a good percentage off. I'm in the market for a new camry. 2021s are starting msrp at around 26k. (If i remember right) I'm going to buy with their low interest tho. Any advice?
I was a repeat customer to a salesman at a Ford dealership one time when I wanted a Ranger (back in the 90's). I told him what I wanted over the phone, and that I wanted the best price he could give me. He called me back a few hours later and told me the deal, I said OK and he did the paperwork in advance for me. I was in and out of the dealership in less than 30 minutes! I had purchased a few other cars from this guy, and we had a good trusting relationship going - as far as a relationship can be anyway with a car salesman. I avoided all the B.S., stuff like undercoating, paint sealant, fabric protection, extended warranty - that is what saved the time.
Been there! Talk to a car salesman over the phone. Asked him for the "out the door" price for a particular car. He gave me a competitive price, so I went down to buy it. I sat down and he placed the paperwork in front of me. Sure enough the price he quoted was there, but, also there was the added processing charges, undercoat fee, paperwork fee, yada, yada, yada. I ask him if he knew what "out the door" meant. He said, he did but...apparently not. I stood up as if to walk away. He told me that he'd talk to his boss to see if he could lower the price. I waited. He came back and told me he couldn't lower the price any. As I left, he pitifully followed me all the way to my car, telling me that he could work something out. I politely said no thank you! And (as you said) I will never return to that dealer again. Moral: Be willing and ready to walk away. Don't let emotion guide your purchase.
I was trained to do that, once. In the salesman's cubicle, you will be subjected to what we called "In the Box" tactics as you described. Following you to the car was stage two. You left -- congratulations. You should have.
Stage three must have been the phone call. He had my number and called me for the next two or three days. He finally said that he would give me the quoted price that I wanted. I still refused. My dad raised me to be honorable. He was a military man. So, I try my best to expect honor out of everyone I work with.
It's always better to buy a car when you don't need one. It makes walking a lot easier. We were $500 apart on a deal for my last car. As I started towards the door the manager said "you're going to walk for $500"? I said are you going to let me and went out the door. 2 weeks later the car went on the internet for $1000 less. I called and asked if I could get the same deal and they agreed. I don't know who got the best of who but I got the car I wanted.
Bought the wife a car last summer and we were at this one dealer two days in a row, looking at the same car. Told them I had financing arranged through my bank and all I needed was to do the paperwork. Sales manager comes out, asks what rate I had since they can go through the same bank, my rate was lower. So we waited to talk to the finance officer to get the paperwork completed, after an hour they come back and say it will be another 2 hours. Looked at my wife, Ready?, yes. Out the door we go and as we're walking across the lot we hear "they're walking after all this time? they're walking?". Bought the same car elsewhere the next day. Gotta love it, it feels good doing things like this.
Steve. As usual very helpful. At 68 years old and having bought many new cars, its unfortunate that my baseline assumption when I walk into ANY dealership is “they are going to screw me”. And in spite of my vigilance on occasion they do. And in an infinite number of clever ways. Sometimes its for as little $200, which, on percentage basis alone tells me its sport for some of these people. Thee dissonance I have with your scenario is going to more than one dealership can be problematic time wise. They take FOREVER to get back to you with a price so one mist be patient 1. Be patient 2. Don’t fall in love 3. Be pre approved or, better yet pay cash 4. Throw the trade in after the deal is made 5. Be George Costanza - I once got into a screaming match across a showroom floor as I was walking out. Guy knocked on the window in the parking lot and said “OK”. Keep up the good work, its News You Can Use
"I am buying a car today" is exactly how I buy new cars. There are 7 Ford dealers within 40 minutes of my home. It works. I shop and decide what I want and the best price wins. One particular dealer has won the last 4 new vehicles I purchased. I now make him the last stop.
I once a bought a used Alfa Romeo spider that was extremely low mileage and at a extremely low price. Since it was going to be stripped for parts. After checking the car out i wondered why this car was so cheap and the owner admitted that the car had a rattle that couldn't be found. So I figured I'd try to fix it if not I could still part it out after a monthly I still couldn't find the rattle. So after id stripped it down to the body i decided to cut the body panels off to sell since they were rust free. I had everything off except for the drivers side quarter panel. When you got it cut off and removed it I finally found the rattle. Behind the quarter panel inside the structural members where the crumple zone between the trunk and passenger area there was something I never dreamed id find inside a unit body car, a empty wine bottle. Of all things to find a empty wine bottle that was 5 years old.
True story... bought a new Chrysler from a very reputable dealer many years back, salesman was great. Years later I was shopping to replace that car (then 7 years old and time for a new one), the Chrysler dealer sold out since and I walked into a Pontiac dealer where I found the salesman from 7 years earlier. I stopped shopping right there and bought the Bonneville off the showroom floor. No need to keep shopping - excellent transaction and I was very happy with the car for many years. It takes a special kind of person to be a good car salesman and I wish there were more of them.
A good salesperson makes you excited about buying a new toy, whatever it is and lets you forget about (or get over) the money, its awesome to find one because you can tell they enjoy what they do, are good at it and dont need to BD to make a better living then most of the guys on the sales floor.
I just bought a new car, two weeks ago. I'm terrible at playing the car buying game, so I probably didn't get the "lowest" price. However, I am happy with the purchase, and I'm happy that I now have a car that is better prepared for road trips with a comfy dog.
Some time in the early 1990s I was with my girlfriend in Greenwich Village in New York City. We walked into a boutique store and we saw a coat that she liked. I asked the salesperson how much the coat was. They responded "are you looking to buy it now?" I responded that it depends how much it costs. I was told that the cost depends on whether I was going to buy now or buy it later. Needless to say I told the salesperson that no matter how much the coat is or what was going to be, that they not only lost the sale but they lost any further business that I might be thinking of giving them. Sometimes making a purchase is such a hassle.
I did something similar two years ago with Kia. I walked in after three weeks of research I knew exactly what I wanted and what I wanted equipment wise. And what my deal breakers were. I wanted new, with manual transmission with a max price of $15,900.00 I was upfront with the salesman what I wanted to spend and that manual trans was my preference and that I wanted new not used. Well he got on the wrong foot by trying to get me into a used model of the same car at eight grand more. I quickly said thank you no and went t walk out the door. Well the sales manager asked me to stop and asked what was my deal breaker so I told him and dropped my top end down a couple hundred as a stupid penalty for trying to sell me what I said I didn't want in the first place. Sales manager , cocked his head at the salesman and promptly said, "I can make that deal or within $250 of it. Will you sit and talk with me? I ended up getting what I wanted for $150 below my original top end and I am still driving it. No complaints thus far.
I bought 4 Saturns from the same salesman at Saturn of Plymouth. He's awesome! And had no issues with any kind of noise with any of them either. I still have the last one - a 2009 Saturn Aura - that I bought new and have put 250k miles on it.
You're right, the top sales people have repeat customers. Why?... because they are HONEST, and have something called INTEGRITY (doing the right thing even when nobody is looking).
Rocking a MC5 shirt. That's a lawyer you can trust. A tip that I have used from a good friend of mine when buying a new car. go into the Stealership several times kick the tires leave. Then go in right before they're about to close on a Friday night dilly dally kick the tires. they will offer you a way better deal just to get you out of the door so they can go home. but before you even step in there do your homework. when I did this to buy my Toyota Tundra the next day when I came up to give the down payment one of the service manager said I never seen one go for this low of a price. Don't be afraid of walking out the door.
I wanted a certain car and I contacted three dealerships and told them however had the best price at the end of the day would get my business. I spent my Saturday watching football and drinking beer. Throughout the day I was fielding calls with dealerships lowering the price. Then I said with the winning dealership, I am going to spend 25min to sign the papers and drive off. Best experience.
I used TrueCar the last few times I bought cars. I made the mistake of putting my real phone number in the first time, after that I used the number of the most annoying dealer that called me. The dealers are supposedly entering their best prices in true car but even the worst case it gives you a good idea for what multiple dealers are willing to sell the car for and you can start there in negotiating.
A: How much for the car? B: 25000 but I can give it to you for 24,190 A: My name is Steve Lehto. I am a lawyer B: On the other hand, today is wednesday so we can sell it to you for 21,400 A: I'm doing an investigation (for client) B: but because your customer number 15 today, you won an additional 5000 off
Man I would leave that dealership just because of the pressure. I'm happy that in the Ann Arbor area the sales people seem to have been taught that people don't like pressure. We just bought a Toyota but we looked at both that and Honda, and neither sales person had a problem with us shopping around. They just said "Well call if you have questions, hope to see you soon."
I've never sold anything but I was a mechanic at a number of dealerships and spent time around many car salesmen. Everyone should understand that car salesmen who really know anything about the cars they are selling are rare. Many of them were selling tmeshares last month and shoes last year. And they only tell you their "talking points" regardless of whether they are true or not. Never believe anything they tell you. Do your own research and know all about the cars you are looking at before ever entering a dealership.
Purchased my last car using Costco's car buying service. If I had stone cold haggling skills, could I have gotten a lower price? Maybe, but the no hassle, low price, peace of mind was well worth it. I'll be using this service for our next car too.
Wish I could go with you on your vehicle-buying excursions..... I enjoy helping people find a car. It's actually sort of disappointing though, when you're trying to help your niece get a new (used) vehicle, and in the middle of the FIRST vehicle test drive, she blurts out, "I'll take it!"
went to a dealer several years ago. They had a truck I liked. I talked with sales guy for a bit and he tried to sell me everything that I had no intent in buying. The price was high and he kept talking about financing. I finally got out my checkbook and wrote a check. I told him that this check includes the truck, title, license, taxes, and any fess. I signed the check and said "take it or leave it" and left it in front of him. He took it. and I was out the door 20 mins later.
Car dealers' efforts to prevent someone from leaving are always amusing to me. I get the "don't let the sucker leave till they sign a deal" strategy, but that pressure just shuts down people like me. The more I'm pressured the more I want to resist (and/or flee). What most salespeople fail to understand is that if the product is the right fit for the buyer, and the price is fair, then there is very little "salesmanship" needed to make buyers like me want to close the deal.
They like your trade in. Once you give the keys to have it checked. (They already know what they are giving...just try to leave.) Oh, they'll be done shortly. Or I have to find the guy with your keys. BS!.
Great story. This one, too. The Daughter who had been a new car seller for years went along as native guide when Mom went car shopping. In the money phase the salesman wrote the price on a piece of paper and passed it across the desk face down. She rolled a corner up and peeked. Then tore it in half and pushed it back to him. "I thought we had an understanding," she said. He was visibly shaken and soon came to an acceptable price. You have to make sure that they want to sell it more than you want to buy it. You should never love anything that can't love you back - like a car. And, the salesmen are a lot hungrier the last days of the month. They can be highly motivated, in fact.
Hate dealing with car dealership sales people but loved your video. Thank you! There was a time I went to a dealership and there were at least 6 sales people standing around outside the showroom door. A sales person showed me into his office then left. After 10 minutes of waiting with no one around, I left right back out the front door past all the other sales people (they looked stunned) and I never returned to that dealership.
I used the process recommended in the book, "The Millionaire Next Door "to buy new cars 21 years ago & 13 years ago. Worked like a charm. I no longer buy new cars. Best thing to do, is start looking for a used car 3-6 months before you plan to buy and feel the market out. In 2008, I bought a loaded Dodge Ram 2500 pick up, 1 year old with 20k mi for about half the MSRP. I'm still driving it. New cars are for those with a net worth of 1 million + (Dave Ramsey) I get it now, and am so much closer to that milestone. ;)
Great tactics and I've got to say it's fun once you learn how to negotiate with buying power. I'm in procurement and once you get comfortable with it then you get competitive with yourself.
I live in the Portland OR area and was shopping for a particular car and a dealership in the Seattle area had the best advertised price by far on a base line model car I needed for driving to work (cheap model - and I wanted a manual transmission that was uncommon). So I drove up an old van we ran the crap out of that I wanted to get rid of. My thoughts is they couldn't screw me by going below zero on the price of the thing - it just wasn't worth much. I test drive the new car and liked it, they take the keys to van to look it over, and we start talking price on paper. They were playing their games - they couldn't sell for the advertised price because I couldn't qualify for the discount (I wasn't a vet). But the price they quoted me was still far better than what I had gotten quotes from in dealers in my area (they also offered a price on the van that I expected). This was an obvious bait and switch, which is something that I experienced before, but I knew this was the best deal I was going to get from these idiots and I had no more time - so I just kept my cool. Plus they knew I drove up from a long way and was less likely to walk (a tactic I considered but seemed less effective given the circumstance). So I knew I was going to buy at that point, but I break off the negotiation and tell the sales guy there was a Mexican restaurant across the street, and I was just going to walk over there and grab a bite to eat, and we can finish the deal in about a half hour. I was in fact hungry. But the sales guy didn't want me to leave his sight (from what appeared instructions from the manager - it was obvious this was what they were talking about). This was really funny because they had the keys to my van and I wasn't asking for them back (and so where was I going to go?). So I said sure, come along. We walk over, he babysits me the whole time I eat my burrito, we walk back, and I then sign the deal. The psychology games these folks play is amazing. I ended up paying $500 more than their advertised price, but maybe $2000 less then what dealers were offering me locally.
In the market for a new truck, I went to several dealers and asked for their best price. Every one of them told me get a price and they will beat it. So, starting in different city, I made up a price (low) and said that was dealer "A" s price, and then increased it until a dealer would match it, I got that in a quote and went to my local dealer and they knocked off another two hundred. It took me three days, but I saved $3700.00 off their "no haggle price". Best pay scale I have ever earned.
A smart friend like yours played that same game recently, with the salesman that said this is the Best price we can give. I was with her to check out the vehicle. She told him she would only pay less , and it was the same deal , " I have to ask my manager". He then looked at her trade in vehicle and gave her a good price on the new one and wrote up the deal , but low balled her on her trade in. I said to Laura , " I will give you more than that ", and the salesman was stuck with selling her the new one for his quoted price and Not getting hers for cheap. We went in there knowing that I was going to buy her trade in , because I needed a pickup and I knew her truck was worth at least 2 grand.... They were going to give her 900 bucks for a trade in, so they knocked a grand off the agreed purchase price of her new one before she told them she was not going to trade in her pickup.
It's a lot less unpleasant if you forego negotiating at the dealership and just do it online. I knew which car I wanted, so I just hit all the local dealership websites, spending a few hours over the course of a few weeks to get a feel for what was a good price and what wasn't. Eventually, I found a really good price online, but on a color I didn't like. I wrote them an email and said I wanted that price but on a different car in their inventory (they were comparable cars). They said yes without hesitation, and a few minutes later I went in to sign papers and pick up the car, paying exactly what we negotiated. I was half expecting them to spring surprise hidden fees on me, but that never happened.
when we built our home, shortly after moving in we decided to add a deck on the back. a salesman from a local company came out to give us a bid and he started at $15k and absolutely would not leave until he 'closed' us. The price went down and down and down and the more it went down the more mad I was that he tried to rip us off at all the higher prices. I would not have gotten a deck from them for free and I eventually had to threaten to call the cops because he would not leave.
I worked in the auto sales business for 20 years and It is an always changing business with good and bad. The internet has forced some of them to change with the times to succeed. One Dealership I stayed at for a long time is one of the largest Ford dealerships in the country. They had a 47% customer retention, Presidents award for service dept and that is a very hard level to achieve on both counts. They use a different type of sales system where the "greeter" does not talk numbers but only helps you find what your looking for and test drives. A "sales manager" goes over numbers and it is a best price upfront type system so you don't get jacked around and then payment is based on best available financing. We would sell + - 1000 used cars a month and work on volume and that is why so many employees are still there.
Steve, thjey DID beat her deal, because when you factor in that subjective quality assessment of it being a "better" car, combined with the manner in which they provided their pricing, she received the "better" deal although it was a couple hundred more than the other place. Purchasing from a dealer that takes care of their customers after the sale, to me, is more of a decisive factor than the initial capital outlay of the purchase itself. I've been in situations where the dealer's after-sale support sucked, and I swore I'd try to avoid that if at all possible. As usual, this is a great video, and your instructional/conversational tone makes what would normally be banal and dry material interesting and worthwhile. Please continue making these. :)
I had two experiences with getting better than expected prices on new cars. One was similar to the story you related in this video, except that I had about a two-week shopping time frame instead of one day. In the end it was down to one make and model with two dealers competing for my business. When I was pulling into the parking lot of dealer A, ready to sign the papers, my cell phone rang, and it was dealer B, trying one more time (too late) to get the sale. He was ready to beat the price by a hundred bucks, but it wasn't worth the extra stress at that point. The other time was a Saturday evening of Washington's Birthday weekend. I was shopping for a car, and had done my homework, knew the exact model I wanted, checked the invoice price, bonuses, rebates, and such, and had a figure in mind that would cinch the sale. I asked the salesman to see the basic model I wanted, and he steered me to a higher trim line with fancy wheels, high-end stereo, and other goodies. His story was that this car was going to be in tomorrow morning's Sunday paper, with a super low holiday sale price, but he'd sell it to me now. I assumed this was all salesman B.S., but I asked him what he wanted for it, and to my shock, it was well below what I would have paid for the basic model. Sold! Even more shocking, I checked the Sunday paper, and saw the ad he mentioned, showing my new car, exact match, right down to the VIN number. Sometimes they tell the truth. Who knew?
Oh perfect!! Cause now when someone comea in for the newspaper car they can honestly say they sold it instead of hiding it in the back lot lol, but seriously that's really lucky!
I can't find a YT link, but "King of the Hill" S12E13 is about Hank going to the same salesman for many years, only to find out the 'best price' was full sticker price.
Steve, you'd think that after spending 25 years working as a mechanic between 2 Ford dealerships and another dozen years as a fleet mechanic, I would be well armed when going to buy a new car. That couldn't be further from the truth. I do have the advantage of knowing a sales person can not lie to me about what a car is capable of. And most don't attempt to once they understand I have the experience to know otherwise. Both times I have gone with my wife to buy her a new car (yes, my wife gets the new cars) it's been an unpleasant experience. I am no match against professional sales people because that's what they do well. In the end, I do feel we got the best possible deal using the credit union through my employer. They handled the negotiating with the finance manager. If I could offer any advice it would be to talk to your bank or finance manager BEFORE car shopping. Let them negotiate with the finance manager. In the end my wife was happy. That is 99% of the battle
In my opinion they DID beat the other guy's deal. She was more satisfied dollar for dollar, so she got a better deal regardless of the numbers on the check she wrote. Good for her.
I was buying a fun car a couple years back. I didn't need it, but I wanted it. The car in question is made by two different makes where the only real difference is the badge on the front and a few cosmetic things. The first dealer I went to tried to push all the add-ons and touted this as doing me a favor. The kicker was that they claimed they wouldn't give me the deal unless i financed it through them. The paper they gave me quoted a payment instead of a price and the sales rep said it was a 3% APR loan. A bit suspicious i pulled out my calculator and ran the numbers which turned out to be an 8.25% APR loan. I walked out the door, across the street in plain view of that sales rep to the other dealer. They got me a car wholesale from the factory with exactly the options i wanted. Apparently this was a dealer that makes most of its money from volume of sales which worked in my favor. Never got to see that salesman's face, but driving off the lot across the street after taking delivery felt good.
I posted a story about buying an SUV (on a couple of other videos of yours) I won't again, BUT walking or threatening to walk is the best thing a car buyer has in their arsenal! It is the bomb that wakes up the salesman (in fact the entire sales staff)
Eons ago a friend was graduating and was car shopping. I told him how. Get dealers bidding against each other. So he visits the local dealer and gets an offer. He calls 60 miles west and gets a better offer. He calls 60 miles east and gets a better offer. He repeats this process and soon the western dealer drops out. Ultimately he got the car for $13600 when it had a MSRP of over $18000. I went with him to pick it up a couple days later and while he was doing paperwork I was just milling about and started talking to a 60yo salesman. He spilled some details... "Your friend got the best deal on that car I've ever seen made. He got it because the salesman he was talking to is the GM's son and the kid hasn't made but 1 sale in 6 weeks. No other salesman would have been allowed to go that low." So yeah... do that.
I’m from Pennsylvania Dutch stock learned young if you can’t walk away you can’t make a good deal. Looking to replace my 12 year old car in 2020 and have already pissed off salesmen. One told me they don’t negotiate on new cars, I couldn’t believe it, that takes all the fun out of the car buying experience/advised I let him put in a bid if his car was in the running... Enjoyed the video, thx
Yes its a terrible experience buying cars. I just accept it and do the best I can. The last deal I got I went into a dealer with a price quote from the paper. It was 3 K under MSRP. I did not haggle at all. I told the salesmen if you find the car equipped in the color I want and deliver it to the lot I will buy it. I came in two days later with my credit union pre-approved loan for the exact amount I was going to spend. They tried to sell me extended care and other useless junk but I turned everything down and paid exactly what I wanted to pay. End of story.
Car buying this weekend. Told me a price and I told him I was a Costco member, he said that was the only way to buy . Price was $4k under sticker plus some other things throw in to sweeten the deal. Didn't have to go to Costco for paperwork just showed the Costco card and he put it in their computer.
My tactic is to decide on exactly the car first, then ask the salesman for the best price. When I get that I tell him I’m going to three dealerships getting their best price If your price is best I’ll be back It’s always a nightmare
My tactic was not to have a trade in, previously test drove the car, then found 37 dealers and rang each one and what’s the best price and told them I’m going to ring the other 36 and get thier best price. Worked wonders.
I recently went to a lot. I have a good idea of what I want and know I cannot afford knew. The only benefit I got to being accosted by a salesman was I got to drive a new car and get a feel for it. He also unlocked a couple cars for me. But he seriously pushed for me to buy that new vehicle and like right now, right that very second. Despite me telling him multiple times I cannot do new and I still have some things to work out. I do not understand why they push so hard especially with someone who knows they cannot do something. I liked the financial guy I got to talk to inside. He gave me some ideas and was way more understanding.
I researched the last car I bought in January and knew exactly what I wanted and wanted what features I wanted my test drive was me just making sure nothing wrong as I knew everything about it and liked the car and bought it that night was the last sale of the night walked owning the car and had a very pleasant experience. I walked from 3 other ones with no remorse.
The most pleasant car buying experience I ever had was in San Antonio Texas at Gunn infinity. They are a one price dealership. I know I did not get the rock-bottom price, but the stress I didn’t have to wind tour was worth every penny that extra dollars that I paid. They treated us like kings Siri I bought another Infiniti from a dealership in Corpus Christi Texas Ed Hicks Infiniti. I was in and out of there in 45 minutes. It wasn’t a one price dealership but the experience was much the same. I agree with you on all this in your video as it pertains to new carbine. As for used cars, only buy from a private seller do not go to a lot.
I help people buy cars and do this frequently. With the internet and much more available data the sales process has gotten better. Unfortunately, the finance office is often terrible with hard sell on junk add-ons.
Steve, my 1999 saturn sl1 has over 300K miles and still runs well. Quality control went down after that model though but saturn S series was fantastic.
Saturns are what they were. A hodgepodge of GM parts thrown together and rebadged to sell more cars. And TBH. some of them were actually superb for what they were. Simple basic affordable economy cars with great fuel efficiency, great power to weight ratios, reasonable styling (some were nice), easy to maintain and repair. A used Saturn is the kind of car I would buy for a young teenager to drive and teach them how to take care of it. I'd also be sure to let them know "Just to let you know, statistically you are very likely to crash, so you need to know this is also one of the most deadly cars on the market. Now, I took out a life insurance policy on you. If you die, I will be paid a lot of money, and I'm going to give that to your sibling (who they hate). If you don't want your sibling to get all that money, drive safe, and don't die. ;) "
This reminds me of something that had happened to me in 1999. The new Volvo trucks had just hit the market and I was able to view one up close while dropping a load off in Florida. I called my salesman in Indiana to discuss the matter with him and he stated that he had only one Volvo on the lot that would come even close to having all the "bells and whistles" I wanted. I informed him that I was on my way out to Washington State with a load of Ambulances, would hopefully pick up an immediate return load and come East but that it could take me as much as possibly a week and a half before I could get to Indiana. He said no problem for this being my fourth truck this year I was thinking about buying, he would hold it for me. As it was I picked up a school bus that had been manufactured to the wrong specifications in Portland, Ore that had to go back to the plant in North Carolina. I must mention here that I have a touch of "OCD" so any truck I owned was always kept serviced and VERY clean. I am proud to say that in nearly 2 million miles of driving, I never once received a D.O.T. violation while being inspected, even in California. Well I pulled off the exit off the Indiana Throughway and decided, since it was about that time, to have lunch at the truck stop that was nearby. On display, for sale, at that truck stop was the most beautiful bright yellow, oxblood red leather interior, equipped with a then new KTA-600 Cummins and an 18 speed Fuller. It was instant love at first sight. After some time I found the salesman who quite frankly, rebuffed me as someone who could not afford such a piece of art. I informed him that I was buying a new truck today and that I would like it to be his. I assured him that while I was going to the Volvo store for a previous appointment, before I bought anything, I would come back to him. I looked at the Volvo but was not impressed, certainly not after viewing the Western Star but I did feel an obligation towards my salesman at the Volvo Store because he had marked the truck he had as sold for such an extended period of time. He assured me that my happiness was his only goal. I hated the Volvo almost from the second I took it on a test drive. But my truck had one problem with it that for me, at the time, was insurmountable. The Interior was baby blue and every time I saw it, I came close to losing my lunch. I went back to the coveted Western Star where the same salesman told me he had been unable to get in touch with the sales manager. "Must be at lunch" he said. I looked at him genuinely mad and said to him something like your stupidity and unwillingness to do a little work is going to cost you the easiest deal you ever had. When he looked at me with that blank stare, I said the financing has been approved, to any amount, my truck was paid for and I was not too concerned what the trade in was going to be, I just wanted a new truck and I really would have liked it to be this Western Star even though there is nearly $40,000 difference in the price tag from the new Volvo I'm now going to buy. I turned around, left and bought the new Volvo. Before I got across the Ohio Turnpike some 60 minutes later I hated that Volvo so bad that I called the dealer back and told him I was bringing it back. Fine he said, no problem, but we've already sold your truck. I kept it so clean and well serviced that the first person on the lot after I left, bought it. As to the history of the new Volvo? I had nothing but problems with it. It being in the shop some 23 times in 11,00 miles for warranty work. Volvo finally, after a verbal tirade from me at the visitor's center at Volvo's manufacturing plant bought it back and I bought instead another WIA64TES which I loved and drove for many years. The only trouble it ever gave me was the instrument cluster which had soldered joints that would vibrate and crack, thus losing contact. The boards were like $1,200, I ended up replacing two of them over the many years I owed that truck. But that's the day I could have had a high horse power Canadian King of the road in bright yellow had the salesman not prejudged me and been so lazy.
My brother worked at a dealership years ago. There was a lady who came in twice a year and bought a car with a check. They loved her. She paid msrp every time, no care about the price.
I've bought only one new car in my life, but I too am a Salesman. I went into my local Pontiac/GMC dealer to trade in a Pontiac 6000 for a GMC mini Pickup. I negotiated the price to $12,500 and then brought up the trade. I said I wanted $500 for the car, even though it was old, it had VERY low mileage. It was my Grandmother's car. They said they couldn't give it to me and they really didn't want the car. I said c'mon, you're just going to give it to a wholesaler, and I felt the $500 was like a Pontiac loyalty reward. They then came back with $12,250 and I could keep my trade. I told them I was leaving, then the manager asked me, "Are you really going to leave over $250?" to which I answered, "Are you really going to LET me leave over $250?". The next day I was in my friend's shop whose employee was looking for a car. He offered me $500 so I went back and took the $12,250 gladly.
My dad was a salesman at the same dealership for his last ten working years. His only salesman experience. He maintained that when a couple came in looking for a car that he would all but ignore the husband. He said you sell to the female because in the end she is the one thats going to the decision. He might wear the pants but the wife picks out which pair he wears today. He also maintained that he had to make physical contact with the wife. It could be just touching her hand or putting his hand on her shoulder. He said that this brief a second or two of contact gave the wife a feeling of trust in what he said. I guess it worked because he always had a good paycheck every week.
I worked a deal on a new truck last year, $14,000 off MSRP on a base model pickup. But this also tells us how much markup there must be on these things, not to mention the profit on the more expensive trim levels.
This approach also applies to insurance companies. Shortly after I bought my Ford Excursion ( which would not fit in any normal garage ) we had a bad hail storm. The insurance company sent an appraiser who looked at all the damage and left with a big promise of what he was going to do. A few weeks later I get a check in the mail for $1500.00. My next door neighbor had a Ford F-250 pick-up, about the same year model as my vehicle. He parked his F-250 outside about 20 feet from my Excursion and got $3,000.00 in hail damage. I sent the $1500.00 check back to my insurance company with a letter expressing my disbelief. The insurance company sent a new appraiser to inspect the damage and shortly thereafter I received a check for $4500.00. I deposited the check and waited for the Texas sun to do it's magic in July and August. Most of the smaller dints are gone and the few big dents left are mostly on top where no-one is tall enough to see.
I worked in the service department of a dealership and there were great sales people and not so great and when someone ased me about buying a used car I always tell them to watch the old movie "Used Cars" with Kurt Russel.
Was in the market for a new car. Test drove the 4 cars I was interested in. But now that we have the internet, no need to make the deal at the dealership. I was getting quotes hourly it seemed from 10 different dealerships. This went on for about 2 weeks and finally got the deal I wanted. Never stepped into a dealership to negotiate. Going on cars.com and looking at dealer invoice and options was a great help. Now when I went to test drive the car and decided to buy it, they tried to hit me up with all kinds of add ons, dealer financing, incentives and on and on. Tire warranties and pin striping..it was nuts. Said no to it all. Next car I buy I will also do it on line. Best thing about doing it online is no sales pressure, intimidation, no BS, no checking with the manager. I basically did what the women did in your video. Just that it was all online.
100%, online is the best way to negotiate, you can reference links to other dealers and they cant play that card where they tell you to go to the other dealer as a way to csll your bluff (where we all know you will waste more time) Print out the negotiated deal, get a test drive and ask for the sales mananger to get you the finance guy, anyone else is a waste of time IMO.
My dad usually call multiple dealerships to get the best price on new car. He just made up random numbers that is not too unreasonable low and see if the dealerships can match it or go lower. I remember one dealership said that other dealerships put in "Bad oil" in brand new car.
Just a little thing to think about. After I negotiated a price I was happy with, I said "I'll buy this car at this price if you throw in an extra electronic key for free". It costs them pennies but worth having. Deal done. Very much enjoy your podcasts Steve.
I live in Japan. My wife and I bought two new cars in the past two years. In both cases (different makes and dealers) we test drove the car we were interested in at the dealer. The sales person introduced himself and gave us his business card. We provided some contact information also. He followed up by bringing relevant brochures to our home and explaining options. When we decided what we wanted, he came back and filled in paperwork for us AT OUR HOME as well as offering several financing options. The car was then ordered from the factory and when it was ready, the sales person personally delivered it to us. For every service the sales person comes to pick up the car and leaves us a loaner if we want, then delivers it back. We visited the dealership ONCE. Will we call those sales people when we want a similar car in the future? OF COURSE WE WILL. US dealers just don't get it.
I have heard of this practice before. Japan is different than usa and usually each continent or region has different ways of doing things. For example the shipping and handling tax (usually 1000 usd in usa) is stupid and never heard of in europe. Hey buddy, we are talking full retail price here, not interested in bullshit taxes. If you do not have the car on your lot, why the hell should i buy from you in the first place. I can go to anyone in this country and find the best price, and they will deliver the car to me.
You think it would work flipping the order around? Go to dealership X with a printout of a car you want at that dealership and dealership Y. Tell X that you already negotiated a better price on the one at dealership Y, but that you won't tell them what it is, they just have to beat it. Get up and walk out after the the salesman gets back from talking to his manager and gives you the sucker price (regardless of how good it is).
I buy Honda/Acura using Carfax and pre-purchase inspection. I have had great results in the last 20 years. Bought 4 cars this way. Saved several thousands of dollars.
Best advice I ever got on buying a car is don't fall for "what do you want your monthly payment to be"? Have your financing set up & be ready, like this lady was, to get a decent deal on a new car...
Settling on the price of a new car is just the beginning you still have to negotiate dealer prep destination charge and anything else they decide to sneak in the price. Like extended warranty pinstriping Etc
Hey Steve - great MC5 T shirt! I grew up in Detroit in the 60's, and loved the MC5, who (believe it or not) actually performed at my high school a couple of times (Wylie E. Groves).
I've been so annoyed by the idiotically poor treatment at car dealerships, I don't go to them anymore. I buy used cars from private sellers, usually low mileage older cars. I enjoy repairing cars and do almost all my own work. The goal here is independence, from car sales people and auto mechanics. I cut costs way down and I have a satisfying sense of control over my fate and my transportation. The problem is, I enjoy it too much. I now own 17 cars, simply because, for me, it's so affordable to buy many cars from the '70to to the 90's that I dreamed of owning. These days, the only people I'm not free from is the insurance agent.
My wife had her heart set on a particular car in the 90's we tracked one down at a well known dealer in the metro area, first the asked for our Keys so they could valet park our car. We saw the car she wanted and and negotiated a good price, but we had already called another (whom we had used before). They had to bring the car she wanted from another of their lots. when we told the guy we had one more to look at, he said he wouldn't let us leave the lot because he knew if we left we would not buy the car there. we had to threaten to call the cops to get our keys back. Needless to to say, we bought the car from the other dealer, even though it was a different color then she wanted and had a bit more milage. Not sure why dealers think that kid napping is a good tactic to sell cars.
The other version of this is "let me have your keys so I can have my guys inspect your car and give you a fair trade-in value". That's like the first thing Carmax does. Just go in planning not to do a trade-in; you can always "change your mind" later. Of course, you should really sell it yourself and get a better deal.
@@bloodgain yeap, best to leave the trade part for later when dealing with finance, leave the sales people out of that, they just start to BS twice as much.
I know several people who were fiercely loyal to Saturn because the buying process was easy, and the dealers were nice. GM should learn from this. We put the deposit on our Tesla using Apple Pay and an app, and the of the process was laid out on our account portal. Got a loan from our credit union, walked in with a check, and drove away with our car... the whole process took less than 30 min. Our room mate also bought a Tesla, and they delivered it to our house! That handoff also took less than 30 min.
Good advice. But regarding car salesmen (and it does seem to be men in particular) the long-time survivors may just be honest enough but still playing games. I guess the games work on some people. We bought a VW years ago and as always we paid cash, no trade and knew what we wanted. It took a couple of hours over a couple of visits to "do the dance" but we got an OK deal and the car, color, and options we wanted at a fair price for both of us. A year later, I went back to the same dealership to buy a new Audi (for me) and talked to the same salesman. He started the same dance all over again and I thought "I don't have time for all this crap" so politely left, went to the larger city in the next state, walked in on a busy Saturday and said "I want to buy this car on your lot and this is what I'll pay you." I was done in an 30 minutes.
I always recommend people before they buy a car, to find out who rents the car they are looking at and rent one for a weekend. Toyota rent a car is a smart idea. I wish other auto makers did this.
We have been lucky in that we get employee pricing at Ford so there's never any pressure. The salesperson comes up, we say "Z plan" and they say "OK let me know if you need anything. Eventually we just hand them the specs we want and they order the car. Now that Ford isn't making sedans anymore we bought a Toyota. But there wasn't any real pressure there either. Possibly because they're selling every car they can build before they leave the factory so there's no haggling - if I asked for a buck off there are 10 people behind me willing to pay full price. I have a rule though, in any buying situation, if a salesperson is any sort of pressure at all, I walk and don't come back, but I do email the store/dealership and tell them why they're not getting my business.
I always secure my financing with my credit union first for a top dollar amount so when i go to the dealership i negotiate like it is a cash deal. I always sale my current car independently first so they can't use that as a part of the negotiation.
In 2007, my Oldsmobile died and after a week of research, I discovered a new Toyota Corolla for $13,995. I knew that was what I wanted. My brother wanted me to test drive the Ford Focus first. Out of courtesy for him, I went to check it out. I went to the local Ford dealership and the guy wanted for me to pay MSRP for the car. I was amused as the usual selling price was $2k LESS. Also, he did not bring up the manufacturer's incentives.At that time, I was fleet manager for my company and was buying 10-20 cars a year. I was amused. The next day, I took a newspaper ad to the Toyota dealership. I tossed it on the sales manager's desk and asked him if he had any of these left. I ended up with that price and bought a car in less than 20 minutes. I guess I could have talked hin down a little BUT ... that price was $500 less than the other four Toyota dealerships in the area.
If someone gives you the deal as advertised without the hassle or telling you that car is parked 20 miles away for a tent sale event they were having bla bla bullshit, that's awesome. Why is it that every other industry sells items at advertised prices but most car dealerships struggle with that?
What you described is, in my opinion, the way to handle buying a new car. I would add to that, know what a reasonable price is, prior to going into the dealership. I use Kelly Blue Book, but most of the other car value sites will do the job. Sadly, I live in Miami, the land of lies. There is not a dealership in this town that will tell you the truth, even if their life depended on it. The last car I purchased from "Heep", not the real car company name, was a buying nightmare. Today, they try to save weight on a car, so they do not give you a spare tire, or so they tell me. I told them, I wanted a spare, yet, when I got the car home, no spare. I went back to the dealer as I had to have some other things fixed, told them I was supposed to have a spare, they said no problem. I get the car back, no spare. Oh, and they kept the jack, because, well you don't have a spare, so you don't need it. And that is just the 1st of many problems with that dealer and company. It goes on from there. Even though I get a huge discount on those cars, I will NEVER walk into one f their dealerships again. I had been buying them for over 30 years. Oh, and it turns out, they have a known problem with the transmission working with the third party engines, that they were never able to fix. Long story and I am sure Steve already knows about it. If I were in Steve's state, I would be using his services.
I have only ever owned vehicles of one make, because I have a family member that works for that company and gets me the equivalent of that company's "A Plan". The next time I am in the market for a new vehicle though, I plan to at least try this process, just to see what the outcome is.
I spent 6 hours at a car lot, I wasn't going to budge. They finally caved in, after they turned out all the lights in the building. 8pm before I got of there.
I went to a Toyota dealer last March (2020) to buy my wife a Camry (I make car sales men crazy) I had shop and priced the option package we wanted, 3 dealers had it in her color. This is is the end of March, think Covid lock down. Each had a bottom line 22k - 23.5k. I had my wife to write a a check for $19,000.00 unsigned. I called my prefered dealer (closest) told the salesman I would 19K no more. He said come on in I think we can work with that. I got there they tried the dock fees , undercoating all the bs I showed him the check, said "you want this check, I want that car". They screwed around for 45 minutes . I started to leave. (they wanted to sell a car) The salesmgr, F&I and the salsman were trying to stop us. I said "you want this check, I want that car". They got us in the F&I office, they said ok we'll take 19k , just write us a check for dealer prep. Itold my "let's go". Finally after 2 hours, they said ok we'll wave the dealer prep. I didn't let her sign the check until all the title work and sales contracts were signed by themand they put the keys on the desk. New Camry 19k
Thats a good percentage off.
I'm in the market for a new camry.
2021s are starting msrp at around 26k.
(If i remember right)
I'm going to buy with their low interest tho.
Any advice?
I was a repeat customer to a salesman at a Ford dealership one time when I wanted a Ranger (back in the 90's). I told him what I wanted over the phone, and that I wanted the best price he could give me. He called me back a few hours later and told me the deal, I said OK and he did the paperwork in advance for me. I was in and out of the dealership in less than 30 minutes! I had purchased a few other cars from this guy, and we had a good trusting relationship going - as far as a relationship can be anyway with a car salesman. I avoided all the B.S., stuff like undercoating, paint sealant, fabric protection, extended warranty - that is what saved the time.
Been there! Talk to a car salesman over the phone. Asked him for the "out the door" price for a particular car. He gave me a competitive price, so I went down to buy it. I sat down and he placed the paperwork in front of me. Sure enough the price he quoted was there, but, also there was the added processing charges, undercoat fee, paperwork fee, yada, yada, yada. I ask him if he knew what "out the door" meant. He said, he did but...apparently not. I stood up as if to walk away. He told me that he'd talk to his boss to see if he could lower the price. I waited. He came back and told me he couldn't lower the price any. As I left, he pitifully followed me all the way to my car, telling me that he could work something out. I politely said no thank you! And (as you said) I will never return to that dealer again. Moral: Be willing and ready to walk away. Don't let emotion guide your purchase.
I was trained to do that, once. In the salesman's cubicle, you will be subjected to what we called "In the Box" tactics as you described. Following you to the car was stage two. You left -- congratulations. You should have.
Stage three must have been the phone call. He had my number and called me for the next two or three days. He finally said that he would give me the quoted price that I wanted. I still refused. My dad raised me to be honorable. He was a military man. So, I try my best to expect honor out of everyone I work with.
It's always better to buy a car when you don't need one. It makes walking a lot easier. We were $500 apart on a deal for my last car. As I started towards the door the manager said "you're going to walk for $500"? I said are you going to let me and went out the door. 2 weeks later the car went on the internet for $1000 less. I called and asked if I could get the same deal and they agreed. I don't know who got the best of who but I got the car I wanted.
Bought the wife a car last summer and we were at this one dealer two days in a row, looking at the same car. Told them I had financing arranged through my bank and all I needed was to do the paperwork. Sales manager comes out, asks what rate I had since they can go through the same bank, my rate was lower. So we waited to talk to the finance officer to get the paperwork completed, after an hour they come back and say it will be another 2 hours. Looked at my wife, Ready?, yes. Out the door we go and as we're walking across the lot we hear "they're walking after all this time? they're walking?". Bought the same car elsewhere the next day. Gotta love it, it feels good doing things like this.
Steve. As usual very helpful. At 68 years old and having bought many new cars, its unfortunate that my baseline assumption when I walk into ANY dealership is “they are going to screw me”. And in spite of my vigilance on occasion they do. And in an infinite number of clever ways. Sometimes its for as little $200, which, on percentage basis alone tells me its sport for some of these people.
Thee dissonance I have with your scenario is going to more than one dealership can be problematic time wise. They take FOREVER to get back to you with a price so one mist be patient
1. Be patient
2. Don’t fall in love
3. Be pre approved or, better yet pay cash
4. Throw the trade in after the deal is made
5. Be George Costanza - I once got into a screaming match across a showroom floor as I was walking out. Guy knocked on the window in the parking lot and said “OK”.
Keep up the good work, its News You Can Use
6. Take a good book :D
"I am buying a car today" is exactly how I buy new cars. There are 7 Ford dealers within 40 minutes of my home. It works. I shop and decide what I want and the best price wins. One particular dealer has won the last 4 new vehicles I purchased. I now make him the last stop.
I once a bought a used Alfa Romeo spider that was extremely low mileage and at a extremely low price. Since it was going to be stripped for parts. After checking the car out i wondered why this car was so cheap and the owner admitted that the car had a rattle that couldn't be found. So I figured I'd try to fix it if not I could still part it out after a monthly I still couldn't find the rattle. So after id stripped it down to the body i decided to cut the body panels off to sell since they were rust free. I had everything off except for the drivers side quarter panel. When you got it cut off and removed it I finally found the rattle. Behind the quarter panel inside the structural members where the crumple zone between the trunk and passenger area there was something I never dreamed id find inside a unit body car, a empty wine bottle. Of all things to find a empty wine bottle that was 5 years old.
True story... bought a new Chrysler from a very reputable dealer many years back, salesman was great. Years later I was shopping to replace that car (then 7 years old and time for a new one), the Chrysler dealer sold out since and I walked into a Pontiac dealer where I found the salesman from 7 years earlier. I stopped shopping right there and bought the Bonneville off the showroom floor. No need to keep shopping - excellent transaction and I was very happy with the car for many years. It takes a special kind of person to be a good car salesman and I wish there were more of them.
A good salesperson makes you excited about buying a new toy, whatever it is and lets you forget about (or get over) the money, its awesome to find one because you can tell they enjoy what they do, are good at it and dont need to BD to make a better living then most of the guys on the sales floor.
I just bought a new car, two weeks ago. I'm terrible at playing the car buying game, so I probably didn't get the "lowest" price. However, I am happy with the purchase, and I'm happy that I now have a car that is better prepared for road trips with a comfy dog.
Some time in the early 1990s I was with my girlfriend in Greenwich Village in New York City. We walked into a boutique store and we saw a coat that she liked. I asked the salesperson how much the coat was. They responded "are you looking to buy it now?" I responded that it depends how much it costs. I was told that the cost depends on whether I was going to buy now or buy it later. Needless to say I told the salesperson that no matter how much the coat is or what was going to be, that they not only lost the sale but they lost any further business that I might be thinking of giving them. Sometimes making a purchase is such a hassle.
I did something similar two years ago with Kia. I walked in after three weeks of research I knew exactly what I wanted and what I wanted equipment wise. And what my deal breakers were. I wanted new, with manual transmission with a max price of $15,900.00 I was upfront with the salesman what I wanted to spend and that manual trans was my preference and that I wanted new not used. Well he got on the wrong foot by trying to get me into a used model of the same car at eight grand more. I quickly said thank you no and went t walk out the door. Well the sales manager asked me to stop and asked what was my deal breaker so I told him and dropped my top end down a couple hundred as a stupid penalty for trying to sell me what I said I didn't want in the first place. Sales manager , cocked his head at the salesman and promptly said, "I can make that deal or within $250 of it. Will you sit and talk with me? I ended up getting what I wanted for $150 below my original top end and I am still driving it. No complaints thus far.
I bought 4 Saturns from the same salesman at Saturn of Plymouth. He's awesome! And had no issues with any kind of noise with any of them either. I still have the last one - a 2009 Saturn Aura - that I bought new and have put 250k miles on it.
Steve, I love your humour, perspective, humbleness and quality points!
✊🏾
You're right, the top sales people have repeat customers. Why?... because they are HONEST, and have something called INTEGRITY (doing the right thing even when nobody is looking).
Rocking a MC5 shirt. That's a lawyer you can trust.
A tip that I have used from a good friend of mine when buying a new car. go into the Stealership several times kick the tires leave. Then go in right before they're about to close on a Friday night dilly dally kick the tires. they will offer you a way better deal just to get you out of the door so they can go home. but before you even step in there do your homework. when I did this to buy my Toyota Tundra the next day when I came up to give the down payment one of the service manager said I never seen one go for this low of a price. Don't be afraid of walking out the door.
I wanted a certain car and I contacted three dealerships and told them however had the best price at the end of the day would get my business. I spent my Saturday watching football and drinking beer. Throughout the day I was fielding calls with dealerships lowering the price. Then I said with the winning dealership, I am going to spend 25min to sign the papers and drive off. Best experience.
I used TrueCar the last few times I bought cars. I made the mistake of putting my real phone number in the first time, after that I used the number of the most annoying dealer that called me. The dealers are supposedly entering their best prices in true car but even the worst case it gives you a good idea for what multiple dealers are willing to sell the car for and you can start there in negotiating.
A: How much for the car?
B: 25000 but I can give it to you for 24,190
A: My name is Steve Lehto. I am a lawyer
B: On the other hand, today is wednesday so we can sell it to you for 21,400
A: I'm doing an investigation (for client)
B: but because your customer number 15 today, you won an additional 5000 off
Man I would leave that dealership just because of the pressure. I'm happy that in the Ann Arbor area the sales people seem to have been taught that people don't like pressure. We just bought a Toyota but we looked at both that and Honda, and neither sales person had a problem with us shopping around. They just said "Well call if you have questions, hope to see you soon."
I've never sold anything but I was a mechanic at a number of dealerships and spent time around many car salesmen. Everyone should understand that car salesmen who really know anything about the cars they are selling are rare. Many of them were selling tmeshares last month and shoes last year. And they only tell you their "talking points" regardless of whether they are true or not. Never believe anything they tell you. Do your own research and know all about the cars you are looking at before ever entering a dealership.
Purchased my last car using Costco's car buying service. If I had stone cold haggling skills, could I have gotten a lower price? Maybe, but the no hassle, low price, peace of mind was well worth it. I'll be using this service for our next car too.
Wish I could go with you on your vehicle-buying excursions.....
I enjoy helping people find a car. It's actually sort of disappointing though, when you're trying to help your niece get a new (used) vehicle, and in the middle of the FIRST vehicle test drive, she blurts out, "I'll take it!"
She should have asked the first car salesman to take a polygraph to see if that was the best price he could do. Lol
He's a car salesman. I'm sure he can beat the poly.
Polygraphs are not admissible in car dealerships because they work. You're a blimp commander; how do you not know this?
If a car salesman says the sky is blue, you'd better go to the window and look out because he's probably lying.
went to a dealer several years ago. They had a truck I liked. I talked with sales guy for a bit and he tried to sell me everything that I had no intent in buying. The price was high and he kept talking about financing. I finally got out my checkbook and wrote a check. I told him that this check includes the truck, title, license, taxes, and any fess. I signed the check and said "take it or leave it" and left it in front of him. He took it. and I was out the door 20 mins later.
Car dealers' efforts to prevent someone from leaving are always amusing to me. I get the "don't let the sucker leave till they sign a deal" strategy, but that pressure just shuts down people like me. The more I'm pressured the more I want to resist (and/or flee).
What most salespeople fail to understand is that if the product is the right fit for the buyer, and the price is fair, then there is very little "salesmanship" needed to make buyers like me want to close the deal.
They like your trade in. Once you give the keys to have it checked. (They already know what they are giving...just try to leave.) Oh, they'll be done shortly. Or I have to find the guy with your keys. BS!.
Great story. This one, too. The Daughter who had been a new car seller for years went along as native guide when Mom went car shopping. In the money phase the salesman wrote the price on a piece of paper and passed it across the desk face down. She rolled a corner up and peeked. Then tore it in half and pushed it back to him. "I thought we had an understanding," she said. He was visibly shaken and soon came to an acceptable price.
You have to make sure that they want to sell it more than you want to buy it. You should never love anything that can't love you back - like a car. And, the salesmen are a lot hungrier the last days of the month. They can be highly motivated, in fact.
Hate dealing with car dealership sales people but loved your video. Thank you! There was a time I went to a dealership and there were at least 6 sales people standing around outside the showroom door. A sales person showed me into his office then left. After 10 minutes of waiting with no one around, I left right back out the front door past all the other sales people (they looked stunned) and I never returned to that dealership.
@@grandetaco4416 i love that line "what do i have to do for X"... you could have started by being professional and honest, sorry.
I used the process recommended in the book, "The Millionaire Next Door "to buy new cars 21 years ago & 13 years ago. Worked like a charm. I no longer buy new cars. Best thing to do, is start looking for a used car 3-6 months before you plan to buy and feel the market out. In 2008, I bought a loaded Dodge Ram 2500 pick up, 1 year old with 20k mi for about half the MSRP. I'm still driving it. New cars are for those with a net worth of 1 million + (Dave Ramsey) I get it now, and am so much closer to that milestone. ;)
Great timing, I'm accompanying my mom to buy a car today...
Car sales people ALWAYS say, "Let me talk to my manager," when negotiating and the single best thing a buyer can do is start to leave.🤣🤣🤣
They can't take off the price without doing so. They'd get fired.
Great tactics and I've got to say it's fun once you learn how to negotiate with buying power. I'm in procurement and once you get comfortable with it then you get competitive with yourself.
I live in the Portland OR area and was shopping for a particular car and a dealership in the Seattle area had the best advertised price by far on a base line model car I needed for driving to work (cheap model - and I wanted a manual transmission that was uncommon). So I drove up an old van we ran the crap out of that I wanted to get rid of. My thoughts is they couldn't screw me by going below zero on the price of the thing - it just wasn't worth much. I test drive the new car and liked it, they take the keys to van to look it over, and we start talking price on paper. They were playing their games - they couldn't sell for the advertised price because I couldn't qualify for the discount (I wasn't a vet). But the price they quoted me was still far better than what I had gotten quotes from in dealers in my area (they also offered a price on the van that I expected). This was an obvious bait and switch, which is something that I experienced before, but I knew this was the best deal I was going to get from these idiots and I had no more time - so I just kept my cool. Plus they knew I drove up from a long way and was less likely to walk (a tactic I considered but seemed less effective given the circumstance). So I knew I was going to buy at that point, but I break off the negotiation and tell the sales guy there was a Mexican restaurant across the street, and I was just going to walk over there and grab a bite to eat, and we can finish the deal in about a half hour. I was in fact hungry. But the sales guy didn't want me to leave his sight (from what appeared instructions from the manager - it was obvious this was what they were talking about). This was really funny because they had the keys to my van and I wasn't asking for them back (and so where was I going to go?). So I said sure, come along. We walk over, he babysits me the whole time I eat my burrito, we walk back, and I then sign the deal. The psychology games these folks play is amazing. I ended up paying $500 more than their advertised price, but maybe $2000 less then what dealers were offering me locally.
In the market for a new truck, I went to several dealers and asked for their best price. Every one of them told me get a price and they will beat it. So, starting in different city, I made up a price (low) and said that was dealer "A" s price, and then increased it until a dealer would match it, I got that in a quote and went to my local dealer and they knocked off another two hundred. It took me three days, but I saved $3700.00 off their "no haggle price". Best pay scale I have ever earned.
A smart friend like yours played that same game recently, with the salesman that said this is the Best price we can give. I was with her to check out the vehicle. She told him she would only pay less , and it was the same deal , " I have to ask my manager". He then looked at her trade in vehicle and gave her a good price on the new one and wrote up the deal , but low balled her on her trade in. I said to Laura , " I will give you more than that ", and the salesman was stuck with selling her the new one for his quoted price and Not getting hers for cheap. We went in there knowing that I was going to buy her trade in , because I needed a pickup and I knew her truck was worth at least 2 grand.... They were going to give her 900 bucks for a trade in, so they knocked a grand off the agreed purchase price of her new one before she told them she was not going to trade in her pickup.
It's a lot less unpleasant if you forego negotiating at the dealership and just do it online. I knew which car I wanted, so I just hit all the local dealership websites, spending a few hours over the course of a few weeks to get a feel for what was a good price and what wasn't. Eventually, I found a really good price online, but on a color I didn't like. I wrote them an email and said I wanted that price but on a different car in their inventory (they were comparable cars). They said yes without hesitation, and a few minutes later I went in to sign papers and pick up the car, paying exactly what we negotiated. I was half expecting them to spring surprise hidden fees on me, but that never happened.
when we built our home, shortly after moving in we decided to add a deck on the back. a salesman from a local company came out to give us a bid and he started at $15k and absolutely would not leave until he 'closed' us. The price went down and down and down and the more it went down the more mad I was that he tried to rip us off at all the higher prices. I would not have gotten a deck from them for free and I eventually had to threaten to call the cops because he would not leave.
I hate that type of sales. They are trying to hit the lottery every time they pitch a estimate.
I worked in the auto sales business for 20 years and It is an always changing business with good and bad. The internet has forced some of them to change with the times to succeed. One Dealership I stayed at for a long time is one of the largest Ford dealerships in the country. They had a 47% customer retention, Presidents award for service dept and that is a very hard level to achieve on both counts. They use a different type of sales system where the "greeter" does not talk numbers but only helps you find what your looking for and test drives. A "sales manager" goes over numbers and it is a best price upfront type system so you don't get jacked around and then payment is based on best available financing. We would sell + - 1000 used cars a month and work on volume and that is why so many employees are still there.
Steve, thjey DID beat her deal, because when you factor in that subjective quality assessment of it being a "better" car, combined with the manner in which they provided their pricing, she received the "better" deal although it was a couple hundred more than the other place. Purchasing from a dealer that takes care of their customers after the sale, to me, is more of a decisive factor than the initial capital outlay of the purchase itself. I've been in situations where the dealer's after-sale support sucked, and I swore I'd try to avoid that if at all possible.
As usual, this is a great video, and your instructional/conversational tone makes what would normally be banal and dry material interesting and worthwhile. Please continue making these. :)
I had two experiences with getting better than expected prices on new cars. One was similar to the story you related in this video, except that I had about a two-week shopping time frame instead of one day. In the end it was down to one make and model with two dealers competing for my business. When I was pulling into the parking lot of dealer A, ready to sign the papers, my cell phone rang, and it was dealer B, trying one more time (too late) to get the sale. He was ready to beat the price by a hundred bucks, but it wasn't worth the extra stress at that point.
The other time was a Saturday evening of Washington's Birthday weekend. I was shopping for a car, and had done my homework, knew the exact model I wanted, checked the invoice price, bonuses, rebates, and such, and had a figure in mind that would cinch the sale. I asked the salesman to see the basic model I wanted, and he steered me to a higher trim line with fancy wheels, high-end stereo, and other goodies. His story was that this car was going to be in tomorrow morning's Sunday paper, with a super low holiday sale price, but he'd sell it to me now. I assumed this was all salesman B.S., but I asked him what he wanted for it, and to my shock, it was well below what I would have paid for the basic model. Sold!
Even more shocking, I checked the Sunday paper, and saw the ad he mentioned, showing my new car, exact match, right down to the VIN number. Sometimes they tell the truth. Who knew?
Oh perfect!! Cause now when someone comea in for the newspaper car they can honestly say they sold it instead of hiding it in the back lot lol, but seriously that's really lucky!
I can't find a YT link, but "King of the Hill" S12E13 is about Hank going to the same salesman for many years, only to find out the 'best price' was full sticker price.
Worst part of car shopping is after they give you there best price, and you say yes, they add on about a grand or more in "taxes and fees".
Steve, you'd think that after spending 25 years working as a mechanic between 2 Ford dealerships and another dozen years as a fleet mechanic, I would be well armed when going to buy a new car.
That couldn't be further from the truth. I do have the advantage of knowing a sales person can not lie to me about what a car is capable of. And most don't attempt to once they understand I have the experience to know otherwise.
Both times I have gone with my wife to buy her a new car (yes, my wife gets the new cars) it's been an unpleasant experience. I am no match against professional sales people because that's what they do well. In the end, I do feel we got the best possible deal using the credit union through my employer. They handled the negotiating with the finance manager.
If I could offer any advice it would be to talk to your bank or finance manager BEFORE car shopping. Let them negotiate with the finance manager.
In the end my wife was happy. That is 99% of the battle
I love your “straight talk” approach to the topic under consideration. Keep it up! ...Art
In my opinion they DID beat the other guy's deal.
She was more satisfied dollar for dollar, so she got a better deal regardless of the numbers on the check she wrote.
Good for her.
Vic Casados A good deal on a bad car is not a good deal!
I was buying a fun car a couple years back. I didn't need it, but I wanted it. The car in question is made by two different makes where the only real difference is the badge on the front and a few cosmetic things. The first dealer I went to tried to push all the add-ons and touted this as doing me a favor. The kicker was that they claimed they wouldn't give me the deal unless i financed it through them. The paper they gave me quoted a payment instead of a price and the sales rep said it was a 3% APR loan. A bit suspicious i pulled out my calculator and ran the numbers which turned out to be an 8.25% APR loan. I walked out the door, across the street in plain view of that sales rep to the other dealer. They got me a car wholesale from the factory with exactly the options i wanted. Apparently this was a dealer that makes most of its money from volume of sales which worked in my favor. Never got to see that salesman's face, but driving off the lot across the street after taking delivery felt good.
BRZ/GT86?
I think it also depends on supply and demand. A Jeep dealer let me walk because the listed sale price was based on financing rather than cash.
I posted a story about buying an SUV (on a couple of other videos of yours) I won't again, BUT walking or threatening to walk is the best thing a car buyer has in their arsenal! It is the bomb that wakes up the salesman (in fact the entire sales staff)
Eons ago a friend was graduating and was car shopping. I told him how. Get dealers bidding against each other. So he visits the local dealer and gets an offer. He calls 60 miles west and gets a better offer. He calls 60 miles east and gets a better offer. He repeats this process and soon the western dealer drops out. Ultimately he got the car for $13600 when it had a MSRP of over $18000. I went with him to pick it up a couple days later and while he was doing paperwork I was just milling about and started talking to a 60yo salesman. He spilled some details... "Your friend got the best deal on that car I've ever seen made. He got it because the salesman he was talking to is the GM's son and the kid hasn't made but 1 sale in 6 weeks. No other salesman would have been allowed to go that low." So yeah... do that.
Killer shirt! I finished Brother Wayne Kramer's book a few weeks ago. Great read.
I’m from Pennsylvania Dutch stock learned young if you can’t walk away you can’t make a good deal.
Looking to replace my 12 year old car in 2020 and have already pissed off salesmen. One told me they don’t negotiate on new cars, I couldn’t believe it, that takes all the fun out of the car buying experience/advised I let him put in a bid if his car was in the running... Enjoyed the video, thx
Yes its a terrible experience buying cars. I just accept it and do the best I can. The last deal I got I went into a dealer with a price quote from the paper. It was 3 K under MSRP. I did not haggle at all. I told the salesmen if you find the car equipped in the color I want and deliver it to the lot I will buy it. I came in two days later with my credit union pre-approved loan for the exact amount I was going to spend. They tried to sell me extended care and other useless junk but I turned everything down and paid exactly what I wanted to pay. End of story.
Car buying this weekend. Told me a price and I told him I was a Costco member, he said that was the only way to buy . Price was $4k under sticker plus some other things throw in to sweeten the deal. Didn't have to go to Costco for paperwork just showed the Costco card and he put it in their computer.
My cousin bought their RAV4 using the Costco car buying service. She was very pleased with the price discount, and the ease of the transaction.
My tactic is to decide on exactly the car first, then ask the salesman for the best price. When I get that I tell him I’m going to three dealerships getting their best price If your price is best I’ll be back
It’s always a nightmare
My tactic was not to have a trade in, previously test drove the car, then found 37 dealers and rang each one and what’s the best price and told them I’m going to ring the other 36 and get thier best price. Worked wonders.
Good story/topic - thanks for the real-life examples...
I recently went to a lot. I have a good idea of what I want and know I cannot afford knew. The only benefit I got to being accosted by a salesman was I got to drive a new car and get a feel for it. He also unlocked a couple cars for me. But he seriously pushed for me to buy that new vehicle and like right now, right that very second. Despite me telling him multiple times I cannot do new and I still have some things to work out. I do not understand why they push so hard especially with someone who knows they cannot do something. I liked the financial guy I got to talk to inside. He gave me some ideas and was way more understanding.
couldn’t have told that story any better. love it.
Just spoke to a friend today that bought a car from Carvana here in Tampa. Nothing but great things to say about the experience.
I researched the last car I bought in January and knew exactly what I wanted and wanted what features I wanted my test drive was me just making sure nothing wrong as I knew everything about it and liked the car and bought it that night was the last sale of the night walked owning the car and had a very pleasant experience. I walked from 3 other ones with no remorse.
The most pleasant car buying experience I ever had was in San Antonio Texas at Gunn infinity. They are a one price dealership. I know I did not get the rock-bottom price, but the stress I didn’t have to wind tour was worth every penny that extra dollars that I paid. They treated us like kings Siri I bought another Infiniti from a dealership in Corpus Christi Texas Ed Hicks Infiniti. I was in and out of there in 45 minutes. It wasn’t a one price dealership but the experience was much the same. I agree with you on all this in your video as it pertains to new carbine. As for used cars, only buy from a private seller do not go to a lot.
And boy did you pay!
"What were these other prices? Like the sucker price?"
YES.
I help people buy cars and do this frequently. With the internet and much more available data the sales process has gotten better. Unfortunately, the finance office is often terrible with hard sell on junk add-ons.
Steve, my 1999 saturn sl1 has over 300K miles and still runs well.
Quality control went down after that model though but saturn S series was fantastic.
Saturns are what they were. A hodgepodge of GM parts thrown together and rebadged to sell more cars. And TBH. some of them were actually superb for what they were. Simple basic affordable economy cars with great fuel efficiency, great power to weight ratios, reasonable styling (some were nice), easy to maintain and repair. A used Saturn is the kind of car I would buy for a young teenager to drive and teach them how to take care of it. I'd also be sure to let them know "Just to let you know, statistically you are very likely to crash, so you need to know this is also one of the most deadly cars on the market. Now, I took out a life insurance policy on you. If you die, I will be paid a lot of money, and I'm going to give that to your sibling (who they hate). If you don't want your sibling to get all that money, drive safe, and don't die. ;) "
@@Remrie so funny! Thanks!
Have to admit, when it comes to buying cars I'm about as sophisticated as a three-year-old. Shiny! Want!
This reminds me of something that had happened to me in 1999. The new Volvo trucks had just hit the market and I was able to view one up close while dropping a load off in Florida. I called my salesman in Indiana to discuss the matter with him and he stated that he had only one Volvo on the lot that would come even close to having all the "bells and whistles" I wanted. I informed him that I was on my way out to Washington State with a load of Ambulances, would hopefully pick up an immediate return load and come East but that it could take me as much as possibly a week and a half before I could get to Indiana. He said no problem for this being my fourth truck this year I was thinking about buying, he would hold it for me. As it was I picked up a school bus that had been manufactured to the wrong specifications in Portland, Ore that had to go back to the plant in North Carolina. I must mention here that I have a touch of "OCD" so any truck I owned was always kept serviced and VERY clean. I am proud to say that in nearly 2 million miles of driving, I never once received a D.O.T. violation while being inspected, even in California. Well I pulled off the exit off the Indiana Throughway and decided, since it was about that time, to have lunch at the truck stop that was nearby. On display, for sale, at that truck stop was the most beautiful bright yellow, oxblood red leather interior, equipped with a then new KTA-600 Cummins and an 18 speed Fuller. It was instant love at first sight. After some time I found the salesman who quite frankly, rebuffed me as someone who could not afford such a piece of art. I informed him that I was buying a new truck today and that I would like it to be his. I assured him that while I was going to the Volvo store for a previous appointment, before I bought anything, I would come back to him. I looked at the Volvo but was not impressed, certainly not after viewing the Western Star but I did feel an obligation towards my salesman at the Volvo Store because he had marked the truck he had as sold for such an extended period of time. He assured me that my happiness was his only goal. I hated the Volvo almost from the second I took it on a test drive. But my truck had one problem with it that for me, at the time, was insurmountable. The Interior was baby blue and every time I saw it, I came close to losing my lunch. I went back to the coveted Western Star where the same salesman told me he had been unable to get in touch with the sales manager. "Must be at lunch" he said. I looked at him genuinely mad and said to him something like your stupidity and unwillingness to do a little work is going to cost you the easiest deal you ever had. When he looked at me with that blank stare, I said the financing has been approved, to any amount, my truck was paid for and I was not too concerned what the trade in was going to be, I just wanted a new truck and I really would have liked it to be this Western Star even though there is nearly $40,000 difference in the price tag from the new Volvo I'm now going to buy. I turned around, left and bought the new Volvo. Before I got across the Ohio Turnpike some 60 minutes later I hated that Volvo so bad that I called the dealer back and told him I was bringing it back. Fine he said, no problem, but we've already sold your truck. I kept it so clean and well serviced that the first person on the lot after I left, bought it. As to the history of the new Volvo? I had nothing but problems with it. It being in the shop some 23 times in 11,00 miles for warranty work. Volvo finally, after a verbal tirade from me at the visitor's center at Volvo's manufacturing plant bought it back and I bought instead another WIA64TES which I loved and drove for many years. The only trouble it ever gave me was the instrument cluster which had soldered joints that would vibrate and crack, thus losing contact. The boards were like $1,200, I ended up replacing two of them over the many years I owed that truck. But that's the day I could have had a high horse power Canadian King of the road in bright yellow had the salesman not prejudged me and been so lazy.
My brother worked at a dealership years ago. There was a lady who came in twice a year and bought a car with a check. They loved her. She paid msrp every time, no care about the price.
That is what the car industry refers to as a "lay down" customer. They pay the first price offered. Out of 100 customers, 10 will be lay downs.
Steve, _Thank You for sharing a friend_
"Lyin' like police officers on an investigation." 🤣
I've bought only one new car in my life, but I too am a Salesman. I went into my local Pontiac/GMC dealer to trade in a Pontiac 6000 for a GMC mini Pickup. I negotiated the price to $12,500 and then brought up the trade. I said I wanted $500 for the car, even though it was old, it had VERY low mileage. It was my Grandmother's car. They said they couldn't give it to me and they really didn't want the car. I said c'mon, you're just going to give it to a wholesaler, and I felt the $500 was like a Pontiac loyalty reward. They then came back with $12,250 and I could keep my trade. I told them I was leaving, then the manager asked me, "Are you really going to leave over $250?" to which I answered, "Are you really going to LET me leave over $250?". The next day I was in my friend's shop whose employee was looking for a car. He offered me $500 so I went back and took the $12,250 gladly.
My dad was a salesman at the same dealership for his last ten working years. His only salesman experience. He maintained that when a couple came in looking for a car that he would all but ignore the husband. He said you sell to the female because in the end she is the one thats going to the decision. He might wear the pants but the wife picks out which pair he wears today. He also maintained that he had to make physical contact with the wife. It could be just touching her hand or putting his hand on her shoulder. He said that this brief a second or two of contact gave the wife a feeling of trust in what he said. I guess it worked because he always had a good paycheck every week.
I worked a deal on a new truck last year, $14,000 off MSRP on a base model pickup. But this also tells us how much markup there must be on these things, not to mention the profit on the more expensive trim levels.
I see dealerships in Canada now pasting huge numbers on their vehicle, saying " $18,000 OFF." So absurd but it must work.
This approach also applies to insurance companies. Shortly after I bought my Ford Excursion ( which would not fit in any normal garage ) we had a bad hail storm. The insurance company sent an appraiser who looked at all the damage and left with a big promise of what he was going to do. A few weeks later I get a check in the mail for $1500.00. My next door neighbor had a Ford F-250 pick-up, about the same year model as my vehicle. He parked his F-250 outside about 20 feet from my Excursion and got $3,000.00 in hail damage. I sent the $1500.00 check back to my insurance company with a letter expressing my disbelief. The insurance company sent a new appraiser to inspect the damage and shortly thereafter I received a check for $4500.00. I deposited the check and waited for the Texas sun to do it's magic in July and August. Most of the smaller dints are gone and the few big dents left are mostly on top where no-one is tall enough to see.
I worked in the service department of a dealership and there were great sales people and not so great and when someone ased me about buying a used car I always tell them to watch the old movie "Used Cars" with Kurt Russel.
"When my boss sees these figures he's gonna have a heart-attack."
Was in the market for a new car. Test drove the 4 cars I was interested in. But now that we have the internet, no need to make the deal at the dealership. I was getting quotes hourly it seemed from 10 different dealerships. This went on for about 2 weeks and finally got the deal I wanted. Never stepped into a dealership to negotiate. Going on cars.com and looking at dealer invoice and options was a great help.
Now when I went to test drive the car and decided to buy it, they tried to hit me up with all kinds of add ons, dealer financing, incentives and on and on. Tire warranties and pin striping..it was nuts. Said no to it all.
Next car I buy I will also do it on line. Best thing about doing it online is no sales pressure, intimidation, no BS, no checking with the manager. I basically did what the women did in your video. Just that it was all online.
100%, online is the best way to negotiate, you can reference links to other dealers and they cant play that card where they tell you to go to the other dealer as a way to csll your bluff (where we all know you will waste more time)
Print out the negotiated deal, get a test drive and ask for the sales mananger to get you the finance guy, anyone else is a waste of time IMO.
My dad usually call multiple dealerships to get the best price on new car. He just made up random numbers that is not too unreasonable low and see if the dealerships can match it or go lower. I remember one dealership said that other dealerships put in "Bad oil" in brand new car.
Just a little thing to think about. After I negotiated a price I was happy with, I said "I'll buy this car at this price if you throw in an extra electronic key for free". It costs them pennies but worth having. Deal done. Very much enjoy your podcasts Steve.
I live in Japan. My wife and I bought two new cars in the past two years. In both cases (different makes and dealers) we test drove the car we were interested in at the dealer. The sales person introduced himself and gave us his business card. We provided some contact information also. He followed up by bringing relevant brochures to our home and explaining options. When we decided what we wanted, he came back and filled in paperwork for us AT OUR HOME as well as offering several financing options. The car was then ordered from the factory and when it was ready, the sales person personally delivered it to us. For every service the sales person comes to pick up the car and leaves us a loaner if we want, then delivers it back. We visited the dealership ONCE. Will we call those sales people when we want a similar car in the future? OF COURSE WE WILL. US dealers just don't get it.
I have heard of this practice before. Japan is different than usa and usually each continent or region has different ways of doing things.
For example the shipping and handling tax (usually 1000 usd in usa) is stupid and never heard of in europe.
Hey buddy, we are talking full retail price here, not interested in bullshit taxes. If you do not have the car on your lot, why the hell should i buy from you in the first place. I can go to anyone in this country and find the best price, and they will deliver the car to me.
They seem to take a adversarial position with potential customers. Yeah, it really makes a lot of sense.
You think it would work flipping the order around?
Go to dealership X with a printout of a car you want at that dealership and dealership Y.
Tell X that you already negotiated a better price on the one at dealership Y, but that you won't tell them what it is, they just have to beat it. Get up and walk out after the the salesman gets back from talking to his manager and gives you the sucker price (regardless of how good it is).
if she would have shown the lower price to the 2nd dealer ,they would have matched it ,and still made the $250 extra on the trade
I buy Honda/Acura using Carfax and pre-purchase inspection. I have had great results in the last 20 years. Bought 4 cars this way. Saved several thousands of dollars.
Best advice I ever got on buying a car is don't fall for "what do you want your monthly payment to be"? Have your financing set up & be ready, like this lady was, to get a decent deal on a new car...
Settling on the price of a new car is just the beginning you still have to negotiate dealer prep destination charge and anything else they decide to sneak in the price. Like extended warranty pinstriping Etc
when the sales guy says he's gonna talk to his manager I give him my number and walk out. pretty much the same concept.
Lying like police officers on an investigation... That should work its way into every-day speech.
Hey Steve - great MC5 T shirt! I grew up in Detroit in the 60's, and loved the MC5, who (believe it or not) actually performed at my high school a couple of times (Wylie E. Groves).
I've been so annoyed by the idiotically poor treatment at car dealerships, I don't go to them anymore. I buy used cars from private sellers, usually low mileage older cars. I enjoy repairing cars and do almost all my own work. The goal here is independence, from car sales people and auto mechanics. I cut costs way down and I have a satisfying sense of control over my fate and my transportation. The problem is, I enjoy it too much. I now own 17 cars, simply because, for me, it's so affordable to buy many cars from the '70to to the 90's that I dreamed of owning. These days, the only people I'm not free from is the insurance agent.
I hear that. Me, I've run out of spaces to park them.
Do you know Hoovie or the car wizard?
My wife had her heart set on a particular car in the 90's we tracked one down at a well known dealer in the metro area, first the asked for our Keys so they could valet park our car. We saw the car she wanted and and negotiated a good price, but we had already called another (whom we had used before). They had to bring the car she wanted from another of their lots. when we told the guy we had one more to look at, he said he wouldn't let us leave the lot because he knew if we left we would not buy the car there. we had to threaten to call the cops to get our keys back. Needless to to say, we bought the car from the other dealer, even though it was a different color then she wanted and had a bit more milage.
Not sure why dealers think that kid napping is a good tactic to sell cars.
The other version of this is "let me have your keys so I can have my guys inspect your car and give you a fair trade-in value". That's like the first thing Carmax does. Just go in planning not to do a trade-in; you can always "change your mind" later. Of course, you should really sell it yourself and get a better deal.
@@bloodgain yeap, best to leave the trade part for later when dealing with finance, leave the sales people out of that, they just start to BS twice as much.
Like the salesman said, you were already going to leave so why not try to force you to stay?!?! They really think like this sadly.
Yeah if they pulled that, I'd say "OK I'm never buying a car for you no matter what at this point. Now do I need to call the police?"
I know several people who were fiercely loyal to Saturn because the buying process was easy, and the dealers were nice. GM should learn from this.
We put the deposit on our Tesla using Apple Pay and an app, and the of the process was laid out on our account portal. Got a loan from our credit union, walked in with a check, and drove away with our car... the whole process took less than 30 min. Our room mate also bought a Tesla, and they delivered it to our house! That handoff also took less than 30 min.
@@phprofYT The Tysons VA service center is 5 min from my office, 20 min from home. So no problem there. Just passed 30,000 miles this weekend!
Good advice. But regarding car salesmen (and it does seem to be men in particular) the long-time survivors may just be honest enough but still playing games. I guess the games work on some people. We bought a VW years ago and as always we paid cash, no trade and knew what we wanted. It took a couple of hours over a couple of visits to "do the dance" but we got an OK deal and the car, color, and options we wanted at a fair price for both of us.
A year later, I went back to the same dealership to buy a new Audi (for me) and talked to the same salesman. He started the same dance all over again and I thought "I don't have time for all this crap" so politely left, went to the larger city in the next state, walked in on a busy Saturday and said "I want to buy this car on your lot and this is what I'll pay you." I was done in an 30 minutes.
Buying a car should be a great experience but the industry has made it a miserable experience that most dread.
Hi Steve......you deserve an A + for this video just because you found a MC5 T shirt. Kick Out The jams !
I always recommend people before they buy a car, to find out who rents the car they are looking at and rent one for a weekend. Toyota rent a car is a smart idea. I wish other auto makers did this.
We have been lucky in that we get employee pricing at Ford so there's never any pressure. The salesperson comes up, we say "Z plan" and they say "OK let me know if you need anything. Eventually we just hand them the specs we want and they order the car.
Now that Ford isn't making sedans anymore we bought a Toyota. But there wasn't any real pressure there either. Possibly because they're selling every car they can build before they leave the factory so there's no haggling - if I asked for a buck off there are 10 people behind me willing to pay full price.
I have a rule though, in any buying situation, if a salesperson is any sort of pressure at all, I walk and don't come back, but I do email the store/dealership and tell them why they're not getting my business.
I always secure my financing with my credit union first for a top dollar amount so when i go to the dealership i negotiate like it is a cash deal. I always sale my current car independently first so they can't use that as a part of the negotiation.
In 2007, my Oldsmobile died and after a week of research, I discovered a new Toyota Corolla for $13,995. I knew that was what I wanted. My brother wanted me to test drive the Ford Focus first. Out of courtesy for him, I went to check it out. I went to the local Ford dealership and the guy wanted for me to pay MSRP for the car. I was amused as the usual selling price was $2k LESS. Also, he did not bring up the manufacturer's incentives.At that time, I was fleet manager for my company and was buying 10-20 cars a year. I was amused. The next day, I took a newspaper ad to the Toyota dealership. I tossed it on the sales manager's desk and asked him if he had any of these left. I ended up with that price and bought a car in less than 20 minutes. I guess I could have talked hin down a little BUT ... that price was $500 less than the other four Toyota dealerships in the area.
If someone gives you the deal as advertised without the hassle or telling you that car is parked 20 miles away for a tent sale event they were having bla bla bullshit, that's awesome.
Why is it that every other industry sells items at advertised prices but most car dealerships struggle with that?
Because MOST of the people fall in love with the vehicles ... I am willing to walk if I don't get the price I want.
What you described is, in my opinion, the way to handle buying a new car. I would add to that, know what a reasonable price is, prior to going into the dealership. I use Kelly Blue Book, but most of the other car value sites will do the job.
Sadly, I live in Miami, the land of lies. There is not a dealership in this town that will tell you the truth, even if their life depended on it. The last car I purchased from "Heep", not the real car company name, was a buying nightmare. Today, they try to save weight on a car, so they do not give you a spare tire, or so they tell me. I told them, I wanted a spare, yet, when I got the car home, no spare. I went back to the dealer as I had to have some other things fixed, told them I was supposed to have a spare, they said no problem. I get the car back, no spare. Oh, and they kept the jack, because, well you don't have a spare, so you don't need it.
And that is just the 1st of many problems with that dealer and company. It goes on from there. Even though I get a huge discount on those cars, I will NEVER walk into one f their dealerships again. I had been buying them for over 30 years.
Oh, and it turns out, they have a known problem with the transmission working with the third party engines, that they were never able to fix. Long story and I am sure Steve already knows about it. If I were in Steve's state, I would be using his services.
lol, I died on 'here's a bag of money, you count it.' I didn't hear the next two minutes I was laughing so hard
I have only ever owned vehicles of one make, because I have a family member that works for that company and gets me the equivalent of that company's "A Plan". The next time I am in the market for a new vehicle though, I plan to at least try this process, just to see what the outcome is.
I spent 6 hours at a car lot, I wasn't going to budge. They finally caved in, after they turned out all the lights in the building. 8pm before I got of there.