An Expert’s Dealership Purchase Experience

Buying a new car at the dealership is always a tricky thing to do right. If you don’t care about the deal you get, and don’t mind feeling dirty afterwards for giving in so easily to the dealer’s every whim, then its actually quite easy. But getting the best deal, and avoiding the dealer’s every attempt to pad the deal in his favor can be a very difficult thing to do. That difficulty alone is one of the main reasons you should always buy or sell your car in our private party only classifieds. But if you do insist on going to the dealer there are some basic things you need to know before you go.

Knowledge is so critical to getting a good deal, that its the first thing your salesman will be evaluating about you to see how far he can pad the deal. Knowing what deal you want and how to get it is key to being able to work with the dealer. You can start off by keeping these 5 Dealership Purchasing Guidelines in mind, say them to yourself over and over if you really want a good deal.

• I’ll sell my car via private party classifieds to avoid a dealer trade-in
• I’ll get financing in place before I walk into a dealership
• I’ll know what a competitve deal is for the model I want
• I’ll stand firm when its time to see the “finance guy” or anybody else on the salesman’s team
• I’ll know that the dealer will try and sell my a dozen other things besides a car

Armed with all this preparation, you can look forward to a grueling day long affair to make a simple purchase.  This is according to an expert auto journalist over at BankRate.com, he’s written a quick article about his most recent dealership purchase.

This is someone that has been writing about cars for over 25 years and knows every tip in the book, including the ones listed above.  It’s an interesting account of the buying process that pretty much everyone goes through.  In the end he got the deal he wanted, after having to “endure a nearly three-hour process to close a deal that was essentially a cash transaction for the dealer”. 

So there’s basically two lessons to keep in mind here.  If you don’t do your research how will you know whether the salesman is lying about something.  Even if you do your research, buying at the dealer is always a tough thing to do.

Source: Bankrate