Chuck's Car Buying Techniques

Techniques I use if I am buying a new car:

Always negotiate the out the door price.  (Price plus tax tag and title all worked in) This number is consistent no matter what dealership you are dealing with.  Invoice price and trade in values are used to confuse the situation by dealerships.

When you go into (Don't do this!) or call a stealership for a price, ask for the internet manager.  They can get the best prices because they are the volume guys.

Tell him you want the best out the door price for a given car with the options and color you want.  Tell him you are shopping via phone and are calling all the dealerships and buying from the cheapest.  Thank him and tell him you will call back of his is the best price.

Go to the car manufacturer web site and find the phone numbers for the dealerships in a 200 mile radius, or what you are willing to drive to pickup your car.

Call each one, ask for the internet sales manager and get his out the door price for the same car.

Once you have all of the prices, do the same thing if you have a Sams or Costco membership just to check them.  They are not always cheaper, but working the phone is quick and easy.

Doing this via the phone limits the sales tactics they can use on you.  Do not tell them you have a trade in or you want to finance or anything else about your situation.  You want their price and that's it.

Everything you tell a sales person will be used against you.  It is a battle of wits, and they will win because they do this every day and you buy a car once every 5 years.

While in a dealership, tell them nothing.  The less you talk, the smarter they think you are.  This puts them on the defensive.  Do not talk at the desk they sit you at while talking to the manager about price.  It is rumored that these tables have mics.  Be paranoid.  This will save you money.

While in a dealership, let them sell you the car and act indifferent. DO NOT LET ON THAT YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY MOTIVATED TO DO ANYTHING.  This is another reason you should settle on a price over the phone.  You can stay disconnected from the visual.

Be prepared, do your research and know what you want when you walk in.  They will upsell you and turn you into putty in their hands if not.  If you just walk into a dealership without doing your homework, you will get boned.

Ok so you have your best price via phone.  Call the closest dealership and tell them another or wherever will do less, and you undercut your best price by some bit of money that is reasonable.

So for example:

Proctor Honda says they will do 25k out the door (Tax, tag and title) for an Accord for example

Valdosta will do 24k out the door for the same optioned car.

Call Proctor and tell them that Valdosta will do 23,500 out the door and Proctor needs to beat that to get your business.  Tell them you will be down there in 30 minutes to buy if they can beat it.  They will start drooling and call you back.

Anything over 23,500 is not acceptable and you will take your business elsewhere.  Let them call your bluff. 

 

I helped a friend with this exact situation, she used this technique and saved 1500 on the CRV she was buying, plus Proctor has a low price guarantee and gave her 500 bucks because they couldn't beat Jacksonville's price.  She got a voucher for $500 to use in service and parts when she brought in the sales paperwork from Jacksonville.  Add to that that she sold the car that she was going to trade in to Carmaxx in Jacksonville for double what Honda was going to give her for tradein.

 

It is you against them.  You can win if you go in expecting and looking for a fight.