FAQ Friday: How Do I Negotiate with an Auto Dealer?
Boy, have you come to the right place to learn about negotiating for cars. Negotiating with auto dealers -- or even with private parties -- can be one of the most intimidating parts of the car-buying experience. Most of us would rather skip the fireworks and just get a great deal.
That angst is what launched the Saturn brand, with its fixed-price policy, and led to the "no haggle pricing" campaigns you sometimes see. But truly, you don't have to have years of negotiating experience to get a spectacular deal. In fact, you may not need to negotiate at all.
For one thing, you can avoid most of the negotiation process altogether by using Edmunds to contact dealers to request price quotes and inventory information. You'll be directly connected with the dealers' Internet departments via email, bypassing the sharks that wait outside the dealership to pounce on you when if you drive in. Internet (or "fleet") salespeople get paid on volume, and they know you've done your pricing research on our site, so they'll offer you an extremely competitive price right away, without all the dickering.
Still, negotiating tactics are important to know no matter whom you deal with at the dealership. We have an unparalleled storehouse of negotiation information in our Strategies section. The article Negotiation 101 offers a "how to" and suggests following these basic principles:
- Don't buy a car in a hurry. Ever.
- Eat before you go to the dealership -- you might be there for four hours or more, and you want to be able to think clearly.
- Check all the numbers and get as much information as you can before you begin negotiating. See Knowing the Numbers to Improve Your Negotiating Skills.
- Don't enter negotiations with someone who intimidates you. It should be a win-win proposition, not a matter of one person controlling another.
-Take risks. Treat negotiating as a game -- and know that the car salespeople are doing the same.
- Always, always be prepared to walk out of a dealership if you don't reach a deal you like.
- Posted by
- Joanne Helperin August 21, 2009, 11:00 AM
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- Categories:
- Car Advice Articles, Car Buying, Car Negotiating, FAQ Friday
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- Auto Dealers, Edmunds.com, Negotiation
Many of the "internet departments", especially at smaller dealers, are just the salesperson who gets the next up. Sometimes the email quotes just fall by default to the person at the dealer who has some computer savvy.
So take an "internet price" with the same grain of salt as any other and crosscheck your prices with TMV.
My tolerance for doing a deal is about 30 minutes. Mostly I like to find the car I like, get a quote (one I won't like) and then go home. The next day I'll email or fax the dealer with my number. That way I'm negotiating from my own home turf, not theirs.