You may feel that you’re a good negotiator, and you probably are. But dealerships have been honing this skill regularly for far longer than you have. The dealership wins if you aren’t knowledgeable and prepared with the sharpest negotiation skills.
A free consultation with us will provide you with good data. A paid consultation with our team will make you money (100% guarantee!). Turning over the entire buying process to our team will save you hours of your precious time, and at the very least, it will zero out our fee. Typically much more than that.
Whether or not you ever reach out to Car Pal, KNOWING the following secrets can make you money.
There are many opportunities to get the best car deal that extend far beyond the purchase price.
Even if the car’s asking price is “non-negotiable,” there are still many areas and ways to spend less money—and some of them may begin before you even start shopping for your next car.
If you take an aggressive (or overly greedy) approach as you negotiate for the best car deal, your strategy will generally backfire.
While it may be counterintuitive to use a gentle and friendly approach, dealership representatives may sense that an aggressive buyer will not be happy with any reasonable discount, even if the dealership agrees to spend money on accessories or transport a vehicle to your location, for example.
They don’t.
Be pleasant, but don’t be a doormat. Be firm, but don’t be a perpetually demanding customer. Don’t put the dealer team “through the paces” just because you can; treat them with respect while getting any vital questions or concerns addressed.
If you are trading in a vehicle, dealerships generally give the lowest possible value on a trade they feel they can get away with. But if you have strong negotiation skills, you can obtain substantially more money for your trade.
Accessories are another area where you may have room to negotiate. This is true for new and pre-owned vehicles.
For example, you may be considering a pre-owned vehicle. You can see that the car’s existing floor mats are worn and dirty. Negotiating successfully for new or all-weather floor mats can net you over $200. If you’re looking at a new vehicle, you may garner similar savings by negotiating for upgraded floor mats.
Or maybe the owner won’t allow their sales team to negotiate the price of the car, and in many cases these days, that’s a firm company policy.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a dealership to include an extra key/remote. For a used car equipped with one key, that could mean $400, saving you from having to subsidize a spare key/remote purchase on your own!
*If you’re financing or leasing your vehicle*, it’s essential to know that a car dealer can and will mark up your interest rate or the money factor (if you’re leasing) by as much as two points. Negotiating the rate may save you thousands—for example, as much as $3400 over the life of a $25,000 loan.
You may have some negotiating room over certain cosmetic or mechanical repairs if purchasing a pre-owned vehicle.
Perhaps you’re considering an inexpensive used car for your teenager and you notice it is missing hubcaps on all four wheels. The dealer may have overlooked this because it’s a popular look now. But you want hubcaps, and the replacement cost is nearly $400, even for inexpensive ones. What a score to get those written in as part of the deal at no cost to yourself!
PPI inspection revealed issues on a used vehicle that included the following:
The remedy for these issues required over 6.6 hours of labor (@ $130/Hour) and over $900 in parts at dealer cost. The retail cost to the consumer for dealer OEM parts would be considerably higher than the dealership had to pay. Negotiating these repairs before purchase saved the buyer thousands in immediate repair costs.
Did you know you can negotiate up to 30% off a dealer’s asking price for an extended warranty? This holds whether the car you’re considering is new or pre-owned.
While some family members and friends might convince you not to buy an extended warranty, it can be an extra measure of comfort if you are risk-averse.
At Car Pal, we can help you analyze an extended warranty and determine whether it’s a good deal. This will give you extra security without making you feel like you’ve overspent and received the best car deal possible.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, vehicle service contract plans are bad deals for most drivers. Their Consumers’ Checkbook team writes:
Our review of auto service contracts from CarShield and dozens of other sellers and administrators indicates their products are exceptionally lousy buys. These companies commonly use misleading marketing to scare consumers into paying thousands for their products. Then, when customers’ vehicles need repairs, they go to great lengths to avoid paying for them.
An in-house service plan is a perfect example of an extra revenue stream for a dealership because it can be tricky for the consumer to ascertain its value quickly. If you’re interested in such a plan, you should negotiate a minimum $1200 discount.
If the vehicle you want is only available from a distant dealership, your local dealership may arrange to ship it. You may save costs by negotiating skillfully and obtaining the best car deal in this area. Your local dealer may be willing to absorb the cost to help move a particular vehicle.
Car Pal works with several transportation companies, and depending on the region or particular route, we shop shipping costs for the best pricing- more importantly, we ensure that the shipping company’s insurance policy covers the driver and your vehicle. Alas, you can never safely assume this is the case!
If you let the dealership handle all your title and registration work, you will save valuable time and avoid a trip to the DMV.
Signing your paperwork remotely is the most strategic and sensible way to buy a car if you can arrange home delivery, e-signing, and/or overnight packages with paperwork and a pre-paid return envelope to the dealership.
If the dealership is within a reasonable distance, they may be willing to deliver the vehicle and the paperwork directly to you, the buyer.
It may not sound like much, but you will save hours if the dealership is 100 miles away (for example) and is willing to bring your paperwork and vehicle to your location. Also, negotiating from your home or office puts a virtual “gatekeeper” between you and the dealership personnel, which is to your financial advantage while saving you valuable time. There are a myriad of unexpected and unanticipated snafus that could delay you for hours if you venture into a car dealership to sign. Here is one common reason/excuse: “We only have one finance manager today for six clients who are here now.”
If a dealership allows you to charge part of your vehicle purchase on your credit card, they must pay a percentage back to the credit card company. This is why most dealerships have a limit—usually between $2000 and $3000—on how much buyers can charge to a credit card.
Sometimes, a dealer will break this limit if you can turn on the charm. If your credit card provides benefits such as cashback or points, it’s a nice win for your wallet.
Sometimes, a dealership will hold a check from your bank account and/or a loan you’ve taken outside the dealership’s banking institutions. They may tell you you can pay with a personal or external bank check, but then they may hold the check before depositing it.
Discussing this hold time during your negotiations is essential, and ask the dealer to confirm your agreement in writing. An unexpected, lengthy hold on your check could result in extra costs to you in the form of extra rental car days or other transportation costs before you take possession of your new vehicle.
In one case, a dealer told a Car Pal client that a wire or bank check payment would be fine. The client’s federal bank overnighted a bank check to the dealership, but the dealership still imposed a 14-day hold. The client had to rent a car for two weeks longer than anticipated.
Because Car Pal had confirmed in writing that either payment would be acceptable, we had grounds to ask the dealership to refund the client’s extra two weeks of car rental.
If your previous vehicle has been declared a total loss, you have areas in which negotiation strategies can serve you (and your pocketbook!).
Insurance companies will likely undervalue your car in the event of a total loss, as this is how they make money. In some cases, it pays to get a second or third opinion. It could increase the amount your insurance company pays you by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Did you just put four new tires on your vehicle, and the insurance adjuster has not recognized them? A simple email outline of improvements you have recently (or not so recently, in some cases) made to your car can line your pocket with hundreds of extra dollars.
If your previous vehicle is a total loss and your insurance company is partially or fully covering the cost of a rental car, you may be able to extend your rental car coverage by simply requesting more time. This gives you more time to make informed buying decisions and begin negotiating effectively for your next vehicle.
Dealers also know that a reluctant, disgruntled buyer is one who might write a negative review or survey response. For dealerships, bad reviews are worse than simply parting ways without making any deal. You’ll get the best car deal if you go into a dealership with a good attitude.
We are in a new era of car sales in which there is undeniably a shortage and more and more consumers are placing orders and paying “sticker price” because they are told there is short supply. In CA, for example, many consumers are paying over sticker for hybrids and plug in Toyotas.
If you choose not to negotiate on your own, there’s no need to stress. Just call your pals at Car Pal and we’ll handle everything for you!
Our lightning fast action will make sure that incoming vehicles are held in your name until we can negotiate the most stellar terms for you. You might have to wait until the vehicle arrives, but you can just rest assured that we’ll handle it with what our clients call our “magical” skills.
Click HERE if you would like us to review a deal you’re considering. For no charge, one of our team members can schedule a 10-minute phone session with you to determine whether you’re leaving a little, a lot, or nothing on the table!
Get everything in writing. Yes, your parents and your best friend told you this, but in the moment’s excitement, you might forget. Don’t enter a car dealership without the numbers agreed upon on the phone or by email in advance. Ensure all terms are in writing before you step foot in the dealership and sign off on any agreements (if home delivery).
