How do you get a car salesman to give you a fair price? I can NEVER get them to give me more than 500 off the sticker price. And then they add it back with fees or some other generic type charge. They call it paperwork, etc.
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What I usually do is go to www.kbb.com and look up the car that I want to get. They will give you 2 different prices like: person to person, or dealer. try it out and let me know if it helps.
There are many web pages on line to help you get the best deal on a car.You should know there is the sticker price,the dealer price,what the dealer pays for the car and what is know as hold back.The hold back is a per centage the manufacturer gives back to the dealer when the car is sold.The hold back per centage is different for each manufacturer.GM for example gives a hold back of 3%.There are also dealer discounts that are given to the dealer by the manufacturer on all or some of the cars.Many times the dealer does not disclose these to the public.If you can't find anything on line go to the local Borders or Barnes and Noble.They will have this information in the transportation section.Some sites you could try are:Carfax.com,Edmunds.com,carbuying tips.com,2carpros.com,autotrader.com or just google "how to buy a new car."If you are trading there are rules that these sites will also explain.Good Luck.
I worked for Ford for quite a few years and well to be honest the salesman does not get that much of a kick back on any car, not even new cars at all. Yes you CAN negotiate a price on the car, if you walk in knowing blue book and what it would sell for Retail pricing via Blue Book you probably can. I am not denying that you can't. The fact that I could read the things done to a car, the repairs and such before they put it out on the lot, which by the way is public information, they have to show you this! Especially a major dealership. I had a heads up in my experience with buying from another dealership. I was able to knock off about 1700.00 on a Saturn by now my Ex Husband decided to go in and get all the warranties and other miscellaneous stuff that just brought the 1700.00 right back on it!
My husband and I used this website before we bought our last car. It was a great help. It kept us from being pulled into the game a lot of sales people play. We actually met a car salesman who followed their sample scenario exactly. My husband and I were not mad, we just laughed because we knew what he was up to, thanks to this website.
We found a very fair dealership which we ended up getting our car from.
Car buyer's school
beatthecarsalesman.com/
What I did was to choose the car I wanted using Consumer Reports. Then I went to a dealer and found the color and package I wanted. I went home and faxed "I would like to buy a 2005 Honda Accord LX, Silver, for cash. Please fax me the best price you can give me on this car, ready to drive out of the showroom. I need this information by 5pm tomorrow. Fax to *******"
I got several bids, and chose the best one, which was a dealership about 20 minutes from my home. Not the closest, maybe 3 miles further, but the price difference made it worth the drive. Also, consumer reports says not to mention a trade in until the price of the car is determined, otherwise it gets too fuzzy. Also the financing can be fuzzy, so you might want to do that at your own bank. This is the only way you can know just what you paid.
I think it is better to buy directly from an owner than to buy from a dealer. Most used cars come without warranties either way, and I think it is nearly impossible to know all the work that has been done to a car. My husband fixes our cars and he keeps a record of it for himself, but if we traded them in at a dealer (which we won't, but that's another discussion), the dealer would have no record of any repairs. It is important to know the Kelly Blue Book value, as this is what many people use to price cars they are selling. Also, read the classified ads in the paper and the local classifieds that are sold separately from the paper for a few weeks to see what is available in your price range.
Here's a series on ThriftyFun about buying cars. Read all of them, not just #1.
www.thriftyfun.com/
I used to be frustrated, like you. Then I educated myself.
There is a great book out about buying cars. I'm sorry I have forgotten the title, but you should be able to find something like it in the bookstore or library. Anyhow, one thing I remember is that you should buy toward the end of the month when they are more eager to make a quota and therefore give you more incentive to buy. My father also was very patient. He'd go in, find what he wanted, talk to them, and then just wait a week or two for them to call him with their new offer.
Read all the tips that you possibly can on www.edmunds.com before purchasing from a used car dealer. You WILL be in control if you follow what they say. They also have a used car appraiser that prices cars much more realistically than Kelly Blue Book.
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