Originally Posted by
Vol_Bengal
I love it! I go into the experience with a couple basic guidelines:
1) Always be willing to walk away. There are other dealerships and a car seat for every ass. Don't get attached to any car upfront. (This means if you're buying your significant others car take her to pick out what she likes then she needs to leave and go somewhere while the nitty gritty is worked. If you don't get the deal you want, walk away).
2) Someone is getting f*cked. Either you or the dealer. I make it my job to make sure it isn't me. I pull values, blue book / NADA and know wholesale, trade, retail values going in.
3) Don't trust a word out of their mouths. They're not "taking a loss" to sell at this price. Or, "not making any money" at this offer. That is bullshit. They're not making a deal that doesn't have them coming out making at least some money on a vehicle. Poor, poor car salesmen / dealership... can't even feed their family. Bullshit.
4) I build an adversarial relationship right upfront. I tell the salesman my philosophy, I don't take any bullshit, and if he (and his dealership) aren't willing to give me the deal that I expect then I'll walk away and go to the next dealership. I'm upfront with them about it. I'm not there to make friends, I'm there to pay the least I can for the vehicle I'm attempting to purchase. End of story.
Oh... and don't buy a damn brand new car unless you just like pissing away money. Buy one at least 2 model years old. Those 2 years are the biggest depreciation in the car's life... roughly 27-32% of its value is lost in those first 2 years.