8 Tips to Follow When Negotiating the Car Price
Car sales is a notoriously cut throat business. There are so many stories out there about how car salesmen are trained to manipulate and to take control of a negotiation, and most of them are true.
These people know what they’re doing. It’s just business to them at the end of the day and because of this they probably don’t have your best interests at heart. So when you’re buying a car, you need to play their game too, otherwise you might just get ripped off.
You’re going to be somewhat out of your depth of course because you haven’t been trained in the same way that they have, but you can effectively prepare yourself for their tactics and bring a few of your own. Here’s a few tips to help you out with this:
- Do Your Research
The first advantage that a salesman is going to have over you is the fact that they have a lot of knowledge about the product. And knowledge is power when it comes to negotiating.
The fact that you know less is an advantage because they can talk around your questions with facts that you can’t argue with. Do as much research as you can before you go in, learn about the type of car you want and what trends are happening in car sales right now.
- Try Again on the Last Day of the Month
This is an interesting tactic to try and it only works if you don’t buy the car during your first meeting with the salesman. You shouldn’t be doing that anyway but when you choose to follow up is important.
Leaving it until late on the last business day of the month works really well because these salesmen tend to work on a monthly basis and will be trying to squeeze in one last sale. They’re more likely to be willing to negotiate in your favour.
- Break Up the Negotiation
Instead of just agreeing on an overall price for the entire car, try and split up the negotiation and work on each different aspect individually. Discuss the specific details of the car itself and then things like trade-in value and financing.
It’s a lot to remember and it can be tough to keep track of these things, but if you just agree on one rate then it’s easy for the salesman to beef it up and not explain the extravagant price.
- Don’t Get Attached to One Car
Sometimes a tactic that will be used against you is to try and build up an emotional attachment to one car. This is sales in a nutshell really, it’s persuasion and talking up the product and this is exactly what will happen when you’re looking at cars.
But don’t let yourself fall into this trap. Go into the negotiation with a business mindset of your own. What you want is a good deal from a financial perspective. If you get attached, there’s a good chance your desire for a specific car will override the right financial decision.
- Read the Paperwork
There’s lots of forms that you need to sign when buying a car and there’s some stuff that you’ll need to make sure to bring along yourself. You might be tempted not to read it all, but this is a mistake.
It will take you a while but make sure you read everything. Don’t assume that the seller is doing anything in good faith. Read the paperwork and see if there are any extra costs that shouldn’t be there. Get a second opinion too if you’re unsure.
- Don’t be Afraid to Walk Away
This kind of lines up with the idea of not getting attached to one car. If you feel like you’re not getting anywhere with the seller and it’s not looking like you’re going to get a financially acceptable deal, then get out of there.
You can try it again a different time with a different seller, or you can go somewhere else. It’s frustrating when a negotiation isn’t going in your favour and they’re not being fair and it can be tempting to just give in. But don’t, you’ll end up regretting it in the long run.
- Negotiate Online
An even better strategy for this would be to just negotiate remotely. Whether you do it over email or on the phone, it’s much easier to walk away when you don’t actually have to physically walk.
Bad faith negotiation? Simply hang up the phone or just stop emailing. It’s okay to ghost your car salesman!
- Be Nice
Above all else, there’s really no point in getting heated. It’s possible to argue effectively while also being polite and being rude or obnoxious never gets anyone anywhere. It just increases the tension of a situation.
This might seem like a lot of work to put in for just one transaction, but if you get a high quality car that’s going to last you for a long time, and is for a good price out of it, then it’s worth it for sure.
