how to negotiate a car deal over the phone?

[aracko]

any suggestions? not only do I hate dealerships, but I just found out my car is no longer worth repairing and need to do something asap. I dont have time to sit and do all the BS because I HAVE to go to work tomorrow and still get some work done today.

 

Can anyone help me get a straight deal?

[burniebrewer]

Many car websites now list most of their inventory online and allow you to either schedule a test drive or make an offer on a vehicle. The salesperson may call you if make an offer.

[gypcasino]

You still have to go there and sign the paperwork though. Just do some research on kbb.com and have an exact figure in mind that you'll pay for the car. You'll have to go through their dog and pony show but just stay firm with the price and you'll be fine.

[dadofandrew]

Saturn's price is on the sticker. No bickering.

[Barbs4339]

So Saturn never goes lower than what is on the sticker?

[chuckiehacks]

If you use David Hobbs Honda, you can negotiate everything in advance, have hard copies emailed to you, show up to sign and drive and then have them tell you that their salespeople are not supposed to make actual payment quotes. At that point, they tell you that the actual price is $800 higher and that you should understand that they simply made a mistake and that the only option is to take the higher price. When you threaten to file a better business bureau claim and begrudgingly take the higher offer (since you've already invested a lot of time in this), they don't budge. Then when you acutally file the claim, they offer to take the car back and void the entire transaction, so you get to start from scratch or just keep your higher payment.

[Blazer25]

Chuckie,

 

How bout just walking out the door and saying no thanks? That's what I would have done.

 

You can't be in a hurry to buy a car. Even if you are actually IN a hurry. That's why they try and keep you there so long. They try and get to to finally say "OK" to whatever their horrible price is. That's what 95% of that going to talk to the manager BS is about. The more of your time they waste, the more likely you are to get fed up and pull the trigger on a bad price.

 

You have to be very willing to walk out. Usually the sales guy will be calling you on your cell phone on the way home to offer you the price you asked (as long as you're within reason).

[dadofandrew]

No, Saturn does not negotiate.

 

However, if you have a trade-in, supposedly there is a bit of wiggle room.

[burniebrewer]

I bought my Camry from Saturn in Madison and they had a no haggle price policy and the salesman pointed that out to me right away. I believe the no haggle policy goes across the board for the Zimbrick dealerships.

[dadofandrew]

There are a few no haggle dealers, but very few. Some went to it years ago when Saturn had success, but many customers love to bargain, so they lost that segment.

[1992casey]

One of the foreign companies is no-haggle, too. I can't remember which one; it's one of the newer ones.

 

Re Saturn...

 

A few years back when I was shopping, Saturn of Greenfield upped its trade-in offer to match Saturn of Wausau's. There was only a $100 difference to begin with, though.

 

Also, as with any car, there are still potential factory and dealer incentives that could kick in.

 

With my current Saturn, I got a year of free oil changes and tire rotations along with free nitrogen for the tires.

 

And back to the original question, I did buy a Saturn entirely over the phone once. I was completely without a car and needed one ASAP. We simply settled on a car and decided I would sign papers and give them money when I got to Wausau. The finishing touch was the fact that the sales rep drove 57 miles (each way) to get me to Wausau to do this.

[aracko]

Any tips in general to just simply negotiate a great deal? Not over the phone but in person. Some good tips here but I can use more.

 

what techniques are the salemen using?

[jwill535]

-Do as much research as you can. MSN autos is a good source, they give you proffesional and user reviews. For the user reviews ignore the 10's and the 1's because some get lemons and some are just over the top. Knowing as much as you can about the car will save you the boring part of the salesman fawning over the car and showing you stuff that you dont care about.

 

-Have a price in mind that you are willing to pay. Like everyone says, if you dont get it, get up and walk away. Even if you get close to what you want you should leave and take a break. You might get an even better offer, also it allows you to make a clear decision. Remember there are 1000's of cars out there, you dont have to buy that one.

 

-To go along with the one above, dont fall in love with a car. When i bought my wifes CRV, we also looked at the RAV4. I played the dealerships against each other and was able to get a better price. During the haggling part, make sure that you bring up that you are interested in that other car and you may get some results.

 

-Dont get bullied into buying a car or add ons. Remember they are selling you a car and have to convince you not to buy it, not the other way around. Don't fall for sympathy pleas, IE extended warrianties, under coating etc. There isnt a person or proffesional alive that thinks purchasing an extended warranty or the other add ons is worth it. They usually throw that stuff in when you are signing the finnacial paper work. They are going to throw it out there off the cuff making it seem that it is important but not that expensive. Although when you add up all the add ons you are going to end up paying 1000's more then you wanted to.

 

-If you have a car that you want to trade in, try selling it yourself, especially if you can get 3000 or more for it. If you have a P.O.S. car that you would only get 1000 or so for it on the street you might as well take the 100 or so from the dealer to avoid the hassle.

 

-If it is a used car you like and have driven past it for the last couple months, the dealership is going to be motivated to sell it. There is a 90 policy at most dealerships where they want the invetory to roll over ever 90 days or so.

 

Any more questions just ask, i have bought several cars and my father was a buyer for a dealership.

[gypcasino]

Yeah, all of what jwill says above. Especially the part about knowing a price. But more importantly knowing "the" price you want to pay. Do research at kbb.com and edmunds.com and figure out as close as you can what the dealer cost is. Not invoice but cost. You can find out what the current dealer incentives are at edmunds I believe. Then just go in there and stay with your price. And then walk away if they can't meet it.

[1992casey]

If you have a P.O.S. car...

 

Please note posting an acronym or abbreviation that directly signifies a cuss violates language rules. "B.S." would be an example of a similar violation.

[1992casey]

Have a price in mind, but never ever let the sales rep know what it is.

 

Show up at the end of the sales rep's work shift.

 

See if trying to buy at the end of the month offers better deals.

[JonnyLungs]

I bought my car over the phone from a dealer in Illinois. I contacted them via autotrader.com. Soon afterward my cellphone was ringing. I simply did not answer and let them do their sales pitch and give me their price (I asked in the e-mail if they would come down in price, but was not specific.

 

In my case, it was a used car, and like somebody said earlier, they wanted to move it. It's a V8 and this is when the fuel economy thing was taking off so I knew it may have been on the lot a while. So I played my advantage and called with a counteroffer that was reasonable, but a bit lower than I was willing to pay. He shot back another offer which was about perfect.

 

Not answering that first call was nice, as it gave me time to digest everything and decide what I wanted to reply with. I've had a professional sales class in college, but while I would make a horrible salesman myself it really helped in my negotiating with salesmen.

[Paul77]

I won't pretend to be an expert at this as I've only had to buy a new car twice but I'll offer my advice anyway.

 

In addition to doing the required research - don't go to the dealership without financing! Go to your credit union or bank or even online and get the financing you need first. Not only will it save time, you'll know in advance exactly how much your monthly payment will be. You'll know what you can afford and more importantly you'll throw your salesperson off their game. Knowing what your payment will be right off the bat really puts you in a better position to negotiate as it takes away a lot of uncertainty and makes you more comfortable.

 

Long story short - I once had only a few days to buy a new car (work related). The first day and a half I spent calling around/online looking for financing. I wound up getting a loan through an online lender. ($22,000 @ 7%). Once that was done I very quickly started my research. I had an idea of what cars I wanted and I knew in advance what I could afford so that helped. The check was in my hands two days later. That afternoon I deposited the money into my checking account. The next day I went to the dealership. I found the car I wanted and got the salesperson to quote me a price. This was the important part - I never tipped my hand that I had my financing in place. I asked him to give me a final price. He did so. I'm sure he was thinking he could just start tacking things on as he walked me through the financing process but I had other ideas.

 

As soon as he began talking about financing I pulled out my check book and said, "I can just write a check to cover the entire cost today". He looked like I just kicked his dog and spit on his mother. He immediately asked me if there was any way he could convince me to finance through them. I played hardball for a bit until he dropped the price by $2,000 and offered me a 5.9% interest rate. My final price was cheaper than what I was quoted. My monthly payment was lower that I anticipated, and the interest rate was better. I was there in the dealership for about 7 hours (until 11pm) but I walked away with a deal. The salesperson dropped the car of at my house the next day. Not bad for a guy who HATES dealing with salespeople. The whole process took about 6 days. As for the original loan, I paid the entire amount back on the following business day.