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3. The Test Drive
We all enjoy a good test drive and look forward to it. Although it is essential to test drive a car before you buy it, remember to not show your absolute love for car to salesperson. Their goal is to get you emotionally attached to car, so it becomes a must have for you. I have learned it hard way.
To hide your emotional tears from salesperson, mention features of a competing car in same class, like new shape, light, leg room, resale value etc. This will make salesperson a little vulnerable.
4. Monthly Payments
This one is to confuse you. Dealers will start talking about monthly payments rather than total price of car. They will start by asking how much you are willing to pay per month and how much of a down payment you are willing to pay. Since people don’t want to look like they cannot afford a certain car, they will usually give a higher number. Big Mistake!
You have left little room for negotiation when this happens. Always steer conversation to total price of car and do NOT mention any trade-ins at this point. Only after total price of vehicle is completely negotiated then talk about interest, monthly payment and trade-ins.
General Rule;
As a general rule, remember to only focus and negotiate on Total Price of vehicle. Everything else is pretty much car dealer’s trough.
If above new car buying tips seem like a lot of hassle, yet you still want to get best price in town, there are some websites that do this for you. http://www.AutoAuctionBids.com for example is a great website for this because you can collect price quotes from multiple local dealers for a particular car as well as its competing car models (like Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Ford Taurus) and compare them.
The website then allows you to send back lowest quotes received for each car make to all participating dealers in your area through website itself.
Dealers view this price and continue to submit new lower prices over a 3 day period. By putting local car dealers in such a price competition allows you to avoid dreadful face to face negotiation and yet gets you lowest price in town for up to 3 competing car makes.
The best part about AutoAuctionBids.com is that it is absolutely free for you and there is no obligation to buy after new car auction is over.
Prashant Desai, author of various consumer tips articles and industry expert for AutoAuctionBids.com. Email him at p_desai@autoauctionbids.com to sign up for e-Newsletter and visit www.autoauctionbids.com for more information.