Please help me at being a better haggler

[thecavemankevin]

one more thing to add to my above statement:

Once you have agreed on everything, but shortly before you sign the contracts tell them you want a hat or something. But make sure it is a manufacturers apperal line. I made the mistake when buying a dodge saying i wanted a hat. They gave me a crappy dealer piece of crap. when i said, i meant one of those nice manufacturers hats he said, i cant give you one of those and it was too late, i already signed the contract

but i have a bunch of hats from volkswagen, Dodge, Mazda and so on.

[Lohman446]

Want the best price you can get on a USED vehicle - and an inherent risk buying used. Know exactly what you want - and I mean exactly. Know what colors are acceptable and what options you can / cannot live without. Have financing / cash arranged. Find out who the buyer is for a dealership or go to a small car lot. Ask them what they will charge you to pick up a vehicle at the dealer only auctions for them. I have often sold vehicles for my costs + a fairly small fee to people on this deal - saving people a lot of money over purchasing something in inventory off a lot. Now, you are taking the risk that you get a problem vehicle, and the person you have buying it you need to trust and needs to have a mechanical enough knowledge to be able to see and arbitrate there way out of a bad sale (discussion of auction rules here, but you do not drive them before you buy them as a general rule, too many there, you drive them after and only certain things can kill the sale, not just you don't like it). It gives the dealer an easy sale, little risk, and gets you probably the best possible price, along with some risk

[Evil1]

Alright, first off thanks for all of the tips and help. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Here is the info I can give. I plan on buying an 03-05 subaru wrx(can't afford the sti yet) with less than 50k on it. I have heard that it is hard to haggle with subaru dealers. I don't know why, but thats the general concensus that I've got. I don't plan on financing through the dealer, I'll do that through my bank. Keep the tips coming!!!

[sbpyro]

A coworker just got a new truck and this was his strategy
1. Get the financing you want (amount, rate and terms etc)
2. Get a check for up to that amount.
3. Use dealerships against each other.

I asked him about his strategy since I'm planning to buy a new vehicle soom myself.

[phantomhitman]

you always get further with a smile and a gun than you do with just a smile
/gangster quote

[Lohman446]

Alright, first off thanks for all of the tips and help. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Here is the info I can give. I plan on buying an 03-05 subaru wrx(can't afford the sti yet) with less than 50k on it. I have heard that it is hard to haggle with subaru dealers. I don't know why, but thats the general concensus that I've got. I don't plan on financing through the dealer, I'll do that through my bank. Keep the tips coming!!!

If you are going to a dealership and have financing call and talk to the fleet manager. Often enough they have the authority to deal with customer's but are not in the position to do so normally. They will often give you the best price with the least amount of run around

[Evil1]

I'm going to try talking to the fleet manager like you said Lohman, If all else fails, I'll stoop to low levels and bring my dad. He is real good at commanding respect and can brow beat anyone into just about anything. He bought an 05 Toyota Tacoma a few months ago with all the bells and whistles,4x4,V6,TRD package for almost $6k off of sticker price. He is real smart when it comes to certain things and real good at arguing. He can also be obnoxious and make a scene and start name-calling and belittling people and it seems to work for him. I think whenever he gets a new car, dealers just give him a good deal just to make him leave. He won't give me any tips on haggling though, he just says that I should bring him along so I don't get ripped off.

[Vex]

If you're going after a popular car, such as the WRX, then be prepared for the dealer to not budge much, if at all on the price. If he doesn't sell it to you, someone else will come along and buy it for what he's asking. Remember, at a car dealership, you're not a person, you're a sale--and that's it. Once you buy, they'll be nice to you because they really dig repeat business.
You truly are just a number though. Unless you buy a really expensive Infinity or something. Then they'll give you cappuccino.

Since it's used, they will probably come down a bit on the price. The mark-up on used cars is VERY high. New vehicles generally have relatively low mark-ups.

Dude, if your dad was buying a car from me, and he became obnoxious and rude, he would most likely be told to remove himself from the dealership and never come back. There is NO reason that a customer should become irate when working out a price. You want one price, the dealer wants another. It's just a matter of time before you reach an agreement. Patience and persistence is key. Wear the salesman out. Wear the manager out. Be headstrong in what you want, but don't be a prick.

[Evil1]

Phaze, My dad is rude and obnoxious, I will completely agree with that. He is really good at it though. He maintains a certain composure and it always seems to work for him. He never gets real beligerant or threatens or crosses lines, but he is really good at making people do things for him. He has this way about him where he can tell someone to go to hell and have them looking forward to the trip. He kind of reminds me of Paul Sr. on American Choppers, but much smarter. He usually doesn't get real out of line unless a saleman tries to talk down on him. I worded the one post a little wrong. The one time about 7 or 8 years ago, he bought a van for his side business, the salesman told him one thing and tried to reneg on it and then tried to call my dad stupid and then it got real ugly.