
Many people visit a car dealership because of the haggling and negotiating they would have to do to trade in their car for another one or get a new ride. However, buying a car is inevitable, unless you own your dealership or decide you won’t be driving at all.
We know dealerships to be legends at haggling prices while holding the upper hand. Want to know how you can beat them at their game? Follow the tips highlighted below, you will get a good car on a budget.
Information is Power
One thing that helps you is that you have information sources to rip from, you can find out just about anything you want to know about a car online. With all the information you need on car features, prices, deals, and auto loans. This information will help you get cheap options for your car and compare cars to see the ones that suit your budget or have more functionality and miles.
If you have access to banking apps to know your credit score, apply for financing from multiple banks or credit unions. Beyond that, you can access car insurance options to know which one will suit the type of car you have in mind. You can start buying the car from the comfort of your home before you go to the dealership to complete the deal.
Don’t Focus On Monthly Payment
Buying a car is a business transaction and as the buyer, you need a deal that will not suck you into more debt, so don’t fall in love with a car first before you negotiate the terms and conditions on it. When you fall in love with a car dealer, he or she can easily slip you a deal that will make you make monthly payments for the car and you may not want that.
To know if you are not getting stuck with a terrible deal, take your time to calculate the car’s total cost, including financing, fees, add-ons, and loan payments, from there you know if you are being cheated or not.
A dealership will have a functioning website, make your research to know if they have deal options for the cars in their showroom, then you know something is wrong when you are not offered a deal on a car.
Consider Financing
When you have a good credit score, you can easily secure a pre-approved financing offer in hand before you walk into a dealership, that way you have neutralized a variable from the negotiating table.
Another option to consider is allowing the dealership to arrange your financing because they have lenders on retainer and selling the financing options you could use to clip their bargaining power and get a good deal on the car.
Know-How To Negotiate
You want to get the car at the lowest possible price while the salesperson wants to make more money for the dealership, negotiation allows the both of you to meet halfway. The act of negotiation favors the person who folds first, it is essential to know what you can negotiate and what is non-negotiable.
During the negotiation process, be clear about which items you want to pay for under junk, documentation, and miscellaneous costs and let the salesperson take it out, before moving on to other things. The best way to come on top in a negotiation is to know when to talk and when not to.
Be Particular About Timing
This is important when you visit the dealership, do not go during the rush hour period or towards the close of business, as you may set yourself up for a terrible deal if you do. The dealership always is unfavorable for buyers when it has a throng of customers. And when you visit close to when the shop is about to close, you will either get lukewarm services or poor deals.
Also, car dealerships and their salespeople have commissions and bonuses based on the ends of months, quarters, and years, when you buy a car toward the end of those periods, you have better odds of negotiating a great deal because they are concerned about closing deals more at that moment.
Visit Multiple Dealership
There are various dealerships out there, consult over one to have different price markups to choose from. When you get the price of a car from these dealerships, you can compare them against one another. It doesn’t hurt to let these dealers know they’re competing against each other for your business. Also, you can do this via the internet.
Follow these tips and you will get good car deals, read your paperwork to check everything is in order and nothing unusual has been sneaking into it by the sales agent.