Know Your Credit Score

What Car Do You Need

Establish Your Budget

 Get A Loan First

New Car Search

Used Car Search

Your Trade In

Negotiate The Deal

The Dealer Finance Office

Car Insurance Tips

Internet Scams

Dealer Tricks To Avoid

Negotiate the best deal you can.

This is the point in time when your stress level will rise. You had a lot of fun test driving cars and looking at different models and you are on an emotional high because you found the car you want. It is this emotional high that the car salesperson preys on. You really want the car and he says he wants to get you a great deal. Even the best negotiators will be taken if they allow their emotions to get the best of them. Relax, keep a straight poker face and let the salesperson know that you like the car but it must be a deal that is acceptable to you.

Professional Negotiators.

Keep in mind that car dealers are professional negotiators. They do it hundreds of times a day and you will never beat them at their game. The entire time they have been with you, they are sizing you up. Are you strictly a payment buyer? Are you big on getting top dollar for your trade in? Is the sales price the most important part of the deal? Do you want a very low or no down payment? Once he knows your weakness he will zero in on that and keep you off the other aspects of the deal.

Don't be a payment buyer.

The car dealers love these people. They will do everything in their power to get you the payment you want and will screw you every place else. One of the first questions a salesperson will ask is what payment are you trying to stay around. People automatically answer with a payment. The answer should be: " The payment is not really a factor, I am more interested in the best price on this car."

The salesperson will focus on one or two of the above items and ignore the others. This is how they get you to let down your guard and also ignore those items. You must focus on all four of those items and make sure each one is where you need it to be. Many people think they are getting the payment they want and after they sign and drive home they realize they just signed a 6 yeat loan at sticker price and got screwed on their trade in. But they got the payment they wanted. It happens everyday.

They will try to wear you down. At some point in the negotiation process they will bring in another person to work on you. This may be a manager, a closer or just another salesperson. Stick to your guns and if you are feeling worn out and getting nowhere. Simply get up and tell them this is taking too long and I'm tired so I'm going home. Call me when you are ready to do this deal. Start walking and if they don't change their attitude leave. Call another dealer and tell him on the phone what you want and you already have the numbers for a fast and easy deal. Very few dealers will ever let you just leave, but if you don't change their attitude they will keep hammering you.

Start with your Trade In. Tell them that before you start negotiating you want a firm price for your trade in. Get it in signed in writing.  Some car buying experts will tell you to not mention your trade until after you negotiate a price on your new car. But the salesperson will ask you if you have a trade in. We always complain about salespeople that lie. Don't lie about anything, tell them yes I have a trade in and I would like to get a offer on it before we move forward. Be realistic, you are not going to get retail for your trade so get what you consider a fair price based on the print outs you have with you.

Once you have agreed on a fair price for your trade you will now be ready to negotiate the sales price of the car. They will try to move you to a payment right away and ignore the sale price. Stay focused and tell him you want a firm price on the car before we talk payment. You will work from invoice down not up (don't fall for that $500 over invoice line) and add any rebates available and ask if the dealer has any rebates. You should already have the invoice prices in your notes and should present them to the salesperson to let him know where you stand. Tell him you would like to be no higher than invoice and lower if possible. If you have a rebate this should be deducted from the invoice price also. Do not start moving up from invoice and be prepared to get up and walk if he won't work with you.

Invoice price is not the price the dealer paid for the car! Don't believe any salesperson that tells you that. Some will try to sell it at $500 over invoice and tell you they're only making $500 on the car. That is a lie.They may also add a lot of fees to the invoice to pad it. If you are a hard core negotiator you can work them down from invoice by removing all the extra fees tacked on. Look for special sales promotion fund, advertising fees, dealer prep fees. If it doesn't look real it probably isn't. One trick we found in Arizona is called a "Desert protection package" for $700. What the heck is a "desert protection package"? Tell them to take it off. The destination charge is real and you will have to pay for that. Any rebates should be subtracted from the invoice price not the sticker price. If you have a invoice of $20,000 and a $2500 rebate you should at $17,500. Be careful here it can get confusing. Do not let a salesperson tell you the rebate is subtracted from the sticker, another lie. If you are buying car near the end of a model year many factories give the dealer :Factory to Dealer Incentives" to allow the dealer to lower the price to sell it faster. Many dealers do not pass these discounts on to you.

The down payment may be your trade in or any cash you are comfortable putting down. The best deal you can make is about 20% of the sales price. Make sure all the down payment money is in the contract and subtracted from the sales price.

The monthly payment is where you can really get screwed. If you have read the material in this site you should already know what your credit score is and if you have not already secured a loan from an online lender or at least you should know what the current interest rates are. That is why payment is the last part of your negotiating process. At this point you will let them know you already have your credit report and outside financing, but I will give your finance people one opportunity to get me a better rate for the same amount of months. If you don't have outside financing then let them know what the going rates are based on your credit score and you won't accept anything higher. DO NOT sign a buyers agreement with "Subject To Financing" in it or you will get a call several days later that the lender fell through but we have another lender at a higher rate or a longer loan term.

The bottom line.

The process of buying a car used to be a long, all day, drawn out process designed to wear you down and get you to settle for what you felt was a good deal. If you are prepared with your paperwork in hand and already know all of the information you need to know, the process should only take a few hours and if they won't accept your information, leave. Don't play games, you have the right to get up and leave anytime you are not comfortable with the process.

Do not ever get emotional about a car or you will lose your focus and they will get you. Car Dealers deserve to earn a profit but you should not give away your hard earned money in excess profit. No car dealer in the world is going to lose money on a deal, if they are they will simply not sell you the car.

Online Credit Report from Credit.com Access your credit report from the big three major credit bureaus, Trans Union, Experian and Equifax all on one easy to read report.

Know Your Credit Score before you shop- Don't let the Dealer tell you your credit score.

Experian - Get your FREE Credit Score and FREE Experian® Credit Report

Capitol One Auto Finance Got Good Credit? Capitol One is one of the top auto loan finance companies that offers low interest rates and will write you a check before you shop.

Fast Car Loans From Credit.com Good Credit, Bad Credit, No Credit? Get Approved in 60 Seconds

First Again Anything Loans Loans for Autos or Anything Else - Excellent & Substantial Credit Only. A Better Loan Experience Guaranteed!

Get Automotive Financing For those that have good and bad credit, we specialize in all kinds of loans.

InstantCarLoan.com The leader in today's auto loan market. Good Credit, Bad Credit even Bankruptcies.

Private Seller loans Shopping for a used car? Rather not buy from a dealer? Choose to deal with a private party?

Any Credit Auto Loans  Auto loans for any credit