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Subject Car buying advice. *UPDATED*

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[quote:jailarson:MV8xNzg2MzM2XzI5NjkzNTEzXzY3Nzc2OTc2]
[quote:Anonymous Coward 9622684:MV8xNzg2MzM2XzI5Njg1MTU0XzgyN0RFNzYx]
Saved this thread to my Faves for future reference.

5 *'s for telling people how the game is played.

My advice is to buy used whenever possible and if you do buy new, follow the advice that the OP give.

OP, you should start a Biz by hiring yourself out as a consultant. I would have no problem paying you a few bills if I knew I would save a grand or more off a new car purchase.

New cars (like everything else) are WAY overpriced these days.
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You don't need to hire me to do anything for you, but I appreciate the offer.  I didn't post this stuff on a public forum because I wanted to make money from it.  I am pissed off that people allow themselves to be put through the whole process and are usually none the wiser.  Car sales has a high employment turnover rate for a reason.  Only the ones without a conscience can continually screw people over and not want to kill themselves.  "I was just doing my job." is not an acceptable excuse.

One of the things that pissed me off most during training was that the new group of approximately 12 salespeople were actually being "sold" on the methods and tactics to use to sell cars for as much money as possible.  The managers were actually trying to tell us that it was ok to screw people if it meant more money.  It was much more involved and detailed than that I won't bother going into the specifics. The general idea was to make as much money as possible from each customer that walked through the door.  They even trained us to deal with people who knew the game, as I have explained it.  Guess what.  They wanted those people out of the lot as fast as possible, and admitted that a small profit is better than none at all.  That way the salesman could move on to the next, more lucrative victim.

MOVE THE CARS, anyway you can, but make as much money as you can in the process.

It is a predatory business from the top down.  If you want a BRAND NEW CAR, pay attention to what I have told you.  If you can find a private owner who is getting rid of a car thats a couple of years old, you can probably relax a bit.  Any vehicle that I buy from now on will be at least 2 years old and from a private owner.  Private owners do not have overhead and are not motivated by profit.  2 years is also enough time to get any potential problems from manufacturing discovered and corrected.
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Original Message Ok, so I spent a week training on how to sell cars at one of the most successful dealers in my area. Here is some inside information. I left because I could not stomach it. My goal is to save you money if you want to buy a new car from a major dealership.

1. The salesmen act like your friend, but they are not. Typical. They are paid on commission and their only motivation is profit so they will tell you whatever you want to hear.

2. If you come in looking to buy something specific, the salesman will try to get you to buy something more expensive. So start as low as you can and work your way up to what you *really* want in order to make them think they have "bumped" you.

3. They will basically force you to allow them to run your credit and blame it on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism measures from the government. This is partially true. If you bring in a wad of cash, you will probably not be able to buy anything until you have a cashier's check. Unless it is a small, used car lot.

4. Do not buy any of the extras that they offer. Period. All of it can be done by you or a local mechanic at 1/4 of the price. The dealers have what they call PROFIT CENTERS.

5. DO NOT BUY THE CAR ON THE FIRST DAY THAT YOU TEST DRIVE IT. Let them call you back and try to pursuede you to buy it. Waiting even one day can save you a few hundred, possibly a thousand bucks. They WILL call you back.

6. If they tell you that someone else is looking at the same vehicle that you are, that's bullshit. Do #5 above.

7. During the sales process, you will get onto the lot and start looking. The salesman's job is to GET YOU INSIDE. Once they have you inside, the blah-blah-blah starts. The salesman is your enemy, and stays your enemy until they have your money. Once they have your money, they are somewhat of an ally if you need something fixed down the road.

8. The salesman will blah-blah you into giving him permission to run your credit to see what kind of "payments" he can work out for you. Know that this is only a ploy to try and milk as much money from you as possible via one PROFIT CENTER. You can walk in with cash or a cashier's check and they will STILL try to get you to finance through them.

9. The salesman will take your credit numbers to the big bad "guy in the tower" also known as the "sales manager" who will mess around and look serious and type for a while and then send your salesman back at you with numbers that are ridiculous. They will scare you with high payments or interest rates. This is part of the scam. Your salesman will appologize and try to develop a "good cop, bad cop" relationship with you. At this point your salesman will be acting as if it is you and them against the evil sales manager. Next, he will see if "he can do better for you." Do not fall for it.

10. The numbers will get progressively smaller the longer you negotiate. They want to sell you a car because then they can push FINANCING. Financing is a PROFIT CENTER. Other profit centers are the repair shop and extended warrantees. Don't buy any of the extended warranties.

11. NEVER tell them how much you can spend, or what you can afford as a monthly payment. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE. Know what you want before you go, then get a loan through a credit union to cover the price of the vehicle, taxes and licensing.

12. Don't finance through the dealership. You get a better interest rate through credit unions.

13. Remember that is costs them money to have cars sitting around on their lot, so they WANT to move them.

14. Accept the fact that you MUST give them a profit or they will not sell to you. $500 - 1000 is acceptable. They have bills to pay, same as you. As an aside, the nicer the dealership, the better they are at screwing their customers.

If you do your research, find what you want, look at what you SHOULD pay for the vehicle, then walk in to the dealership and flatly say "I will give you (X) amount for (Y) vehicle and I want to pay by cashier's check (or certified check). I do not want to talk to a salesman unless it is to give me the keys." then you will be fine. Give them your phone number if they say no. They will call you the next day and you will be in control.

DO NOT LET THEM "BUMP" YOU ON ANYTHING.

Use this site.

[link to www.truecar.com]

My brother used it to check on prices for a new truck that he just bought. Saved him hundreds. Still had to negotiate his trade in though. Don't worry about the bad reviews if you google it. The bad reviews come from pissed off dealers. Honda has actually banned their dealers from participating in the truecar program.

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