Getting a bargain

On quite a few occassions, when people find out that I worked as car salesperson for a time, they will then ask what can they do to ensure they get the best price. Its actually quite a silly question, but I do understand where they're coming from. The answer actually isn't something most people want to hear though, as it is the same answer for any purchase you make:

Do your research.

Basically, if you want to do minimal effort and just show up and buy something, then you need to be prepared that most of the time, you wouldn't have gotten the best deal around. When it comes to thinks like milk, or a pair of sneakers, then it isn't a big deal. But when it comes to the bigger things in life, such as cars, a little bit of effort goes a long way.

It surprises me that people don't accept this for cars. Instead they want some magic keyword, like a secret masonic handshake, that unlocks the wholesale price without haggling. Or they can't understand why, when they ring the dealership and ask for the "best price", the sales person just laughs them off.

Ultimately, the salesperson wants you in the yard, as they make money by making a sale. Selling a car cheaper than anyone else, means that they aren't making as much money as they should. And as I've mentioned in a past post, they're still a business and bills need to get paid.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything you can do. There may be some tricks to torture and put the screws on the salesperson, but ultimately that is both inconsiderate and hypocritical for the buyer.

Just do your research. This means:

1. Get to know what you want. You can't know what a good price to pay for a car is, if you don't know what car you want. You need to invest time in writing down your needs, then looking at different cars to see what fulfils those needs.
2. Once you have a shortlist of cars you want, or ideally have even identified just the one car you want, you can then start utilising the internet to see what price this car is going for in different dealerships across your city. If the car is not brand new, then you can even start looking at the private market to see the prices there.
3. When it comes to new cars, not all dealerships will list the price of what they have in stock. But there are many that will, and this will give you an idea on what to expect. Some yards will be cheaper and they can achieve that as perhaps they focus on getting more of their profit through finance or accessories, and they won't have room left on the price to haggle. Generally the cheapest price on a new car that you find online, is going to be the lowest price you can haggle to. If that dealership is not close to you, you can take their advert to your closest dealer, and see if they'll match it.
   NOTE: Occassionally you'll get a yard who has a new vehicle ridiculously cheap. This is because they have allocated 1 or 2 vehicles to be sold at cost but to serve as a legitimate headline to pull customers into the yard. Once those 1 or two specific vehicles are sold though, you won't be able to get that price. So if you want to use their advert to beat another yard down, you need to know if that first yard still has those headline vehicles still available.
4. Ultimately, be prepared to walk. Just because Dealership A has the car at $20,000, doesn't mean that Dealership B (closer to your house) can beat it, or even match it. Every dealership has different margins and may have different amounts owing on their stock that they need to recover, so if they can't (or won't) get to the price you want, then just politely thank them and bid them good day. Sometimes the price they are offering you, really may be the lowest that that yard can go to.
5. Just a reminder that a used vehicle dealership can't match the prices you see in the private market. This is because any business has overheads, and you're getting a warranty (however limited), whereas in the private market its 'caveat emptor'.

Bottom line; if you don't do your research and don't know what the best price is, then its pretty silly to ask the salesperson to give it to you.