Here's how:

How Not to Get Screwed by Dealership Markup - Ford-Trucks.com

 

I've never paid MSRP for a vehicle let alone a regional adjustment. As I approach the age of 54, I'm thinking that I have about 10 years or less remaining in the work force. A collectible vehicle is way off my radar screen at this point in the game.

 

I laughed when I read this. One of my best friends who just passed was a car salesman his whole life. This article tells you how to not get the BIG SCREW all at once. But dealerships have so many tools & ways to get you I can't tell you all of them. The big three are trade-ins, finance rates, mark-ups/rebates/warranties, etc . If you think you don't get caught in one you are naive. Salesman don't call customers Fish in the back rooms for nothing. They don't pass you off to others to close deals & finance etc for nothing. These guys are slick real slick. Dealerships work on slim margins & have to make money somewhere. I worked for a good Christian owned Ford dealership years ago. We spent every morning in meets honing our sales skills & approaches etc. Basically how to say one thing & mean something different. How to confuse the customer or get them thinking about one part of the sale.
If you buy a new car you are going to over pay & not even know it. Why are the new car dealers suing TRUE CAR.com. Saying they are cutting into dealers profit margins.
Come on guys are you really that naive?
The best part is the customer gets screwed & is made to feel great about it. That was the part I loved the most. Then they come on here talking about the great deal they got & the salesman is sitting there laughing all the way to the bank. Where did Rick Hendrick make all his money millions? Owning close margin car dealerships.

 

I did click the link if only to help IB etc add to its revenue.

Count me among those who know "anything sounding too good to be true probably isn't.........." and perhaps being overly exposed to advertising hype for nearly 64 years I'll never buy a new car, ever. There are simply no rewards, benefits, rates or prices that'll get me to sit down with a new car salesman.

IF I were in need of something new I'd go in armed with cash or financing already arranged. I'd specify my needs exactly and if one dealership didn't have the whatever walking away would be the next step.

When it came to cost I'd demand a line-item list of charges, mark out the ones I would NOT pay and make my one and only offer. If they played any game like "checking with the manager" at that point I'd quite visibly leave.

I know this attitude makes me seem like an *** but knowing there are too many games afoot makes me too skeptical and "on alert" for fast talking smarmy eels trying to sell me something.

Besides I'd rather buy something a year or more older for all the obvious reasons, from private owner if at all possible.

Anyway interesting article if only to confirm what so many of us already know or suspect.

 

I'm fully aware of the reputation my industry has, and most dealers deserve it. But please don't paint all of us with the same brush; if you research my user name you'll see I work for someone that does the opposite of what's described in that article, and we're pretty darn successful at what we do.

For the record, the ONLY time my dealership sold a vehicle for sticker or more is when the customer offered it upfront, such as the one 2005 Ford GT we had. He called us and offered $60,000 over sticker: were we supposed to say no?

 

Truth ^^^^ I've been there done that, I was one of those evil used car salesmen for a very shady dealership.


The advice in the article is BS, a small amount of truth but nowhere near the important factors.


THE absolute best way to never get ripped off on a new/next car is to be very upside down in your trade, have bad credit/low income, and/or no down. They can only get you so much loan for so much car, with enough of those factors it's impossible to make money on you no matter what you do.

 

Good point. But they will still try.

 

If that's the case, then why are 98% of all car dealers looking for people with bad credit? BECAUSE THEY MAKE A TON OF MONEY ON THAT CUSTOMER! Look at it this way: have you ever seen a dealer advertising for people with good credit? "...Are you well off? Job going well, putting money in the bank? Are you afraid the neighbors might find out just how well you're doing? Then have we got a finance plan for YOU!!" Sorry, but you'll never hear that ad in your lifetime.

 

Shakes head

Your talking to a guy that knows that game MUCH better then most. I worked with Kurt Bush and the Pierre Money Mart. He/they started the bad credit marketing game, it made Kurt a millionaire many times over.

Yes cause the margins are often higher, and the hourly investment is lower. But not the way you are thinking. It's not THAT they actually have bad credit that makes that scheme work but that they THINK they have bad credit. People who THINK they have bad credit and want a car will do everything you tell them to do. No hours of cold calling, selling, a low sale ratio, dickering, picky on the car, etc. Nope they come begging, they do as you say, and you tell them this piece of junk is what you can buy and this huge number is your payment, period.

A key here in my point is also that they never have financed trade ins. If they could finance a car before they aren't calling you. The trade in is the biggest aspect of my point. Depending on credit lenders offer loans as a percentage of book/invoice. Let's say your a complete goody two shoes, pay all your bills on time, don't haggle, and have good credit. OK you can maybe get a loan for 120% of book. Let's say your buying a $40k vehicle so your loan can be for $48k. That leaves $8k of room, down would increase that number, a used vehicle the dealership is good in would also increase that number. But woops you have a trade in that is worth $8k less then you owe on it. Boom there goes every option to make money unless you have down. If your such a sucker that you'd pay any price, take any number for the trade, or any payment they can not get enough loan period. It doesn't even matter at that point what the selling price of the vehicles is. All that matters is they're book values and the loan amounts. This isn't an unusual situation, people do it without knowing it all the time. Often if your salesmen is trying to direct you towards a particular vehicle reasons like this are why.

For most people there is NO advantage to paying down the balance on a car and even less advantage to paying a down payment on a auto loan.

 

I feel as though I always walk away with about as good of a deal as one can get and yet I know that the dealer is still making money. I have no issue with them making a little, they do after all need to keep the lights on.

I sold new Fords and used cars back in 1989 and I can remember all too well the guy that comes on the lot willing to pay anything and take any vehicle just to get financed. Sad, sad state of affairs right there.

 

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The Truth About TrueCar Savings

 

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