Jed on Nostr: Anybody car shopping? Friends and I were recently talking about it, and I thought I'd ...
Anybody car shopping?
Friends and I were recently talking about it, and I thought I'd share the advice I gave. There is the standard advice such as shopping at the end of the month, etc. Those tactics work too. This is a slightly different mindset.
- My best luck has been to go to the “wrong” dealership. If you want a Chevy, shop for Chevys that are stranded at a Toyota dealership. If you want a Suby, get one from a Ford dealership. They don't want to keep a competitor's car on their lot any longer than they have to. They either padded the profit in on that car when they took the tradein, or took the tradein just to close an advantageous sale, so they will sometimes be willing to sell what looks like a "loss."
- When shopping, make sure you arrive in a vehicle that is better than the one you’re buying. I arrived in my #Jeepstr with no doors and no top, to buy a Honda Pilot. When the dealer started his “it’s really good in the snow” conversation one of the other salesmen stuck his head in and literally said “bruh, they came in a rock crawler.”
The conversation was over. I got 25% off asking price, which was already fair, and they didn’t haggle at all. He said “I’ll see what I can do” and instead of coming back from the managers office with weird financing offers or rock chip insurance he just stuck his hand out and shook mine.
If you need to borrow a friend’s car to achieve this, then go for it, take your friend with you. Bonus points if they have some mechanical knowledge, and/or know how to keep their mouth shut. It’s hard to sell you a Honda Civic because of its great gas mileage if you arrived in a Prius. It’s hard to sell you some something with AWD if you arrived with something that has 7” of lift and lockers.
Sometimes a worse car is the better car to arrive in. You should arrive in a rusted out 90s thing, when you’re trying to buy a really cheap car. Become a caricature of whatever you’re trying to buy because then their sales points are laughable and the only deal they can offer is to just give you what you want.
- In the same spirit, never reveal that this will be your daily driver. Never reveal that it will be your only car. In fact, don't reveal anything about the reason you're buying. You just want another car, and that should be enough reason.
- Always have a specific different car in mind. Make it cheaper, better, lower miles, or something but DONT SAY WHY or WHEN you are headed to see the competiton, specifically don't bother talking numbers about it. Salesmen often know what is on their competition's lot, and so they probably already know what you're talking about. Drop it out there but don't insult either party's inventory, you want to leave some mystery about your motives and you don't want to be confrontational.
If you say you have an appointment, and reference a specific different car that you're headed to see, then you have a bonafide reason to leave and he has a baseline price range and a timeline. The press to make quota is on! He also knows that you know your stuff.
- Having another car in mind does two things. It also keeps YOU in check. It takes some bravado to car shop this way. You don't want to ever let on that you really really really want a car. This sometimes ends in you buying a car that isn't your favorite, but hey.. this isn't the last car you'll ever buy right? My wife made the fatal mistake of saying "I really want this car" one time while I was talking money with the salesman. He and I just looked at each other and we both started laughing. I already had him down to within a thousand of where I wanted him, but the negotiation was over, and I lost.
- Anyone that comes with you needs to be more skeptical than you about the vehicle, or even downright bored.
- The logic from the book “Never Split the Difference” definitely applies. You say your price, and if they come back with any other number you hand them some paper with your phone number on it, say “let me know if something changes, thank you for your time” and walk out.
They will probably try to ask what your top dollar is. They want to offer you a different car at or maybe a bit cheaper than your top dollar and it WILL be a bad deal for you. Don't fall for that bait n switch trap. Stick to your guns and make them do all the compromises on the same exact car.
- At the “wrong” dealership (buying that chevy at the suby dealership), I try to offer 500-1000 over the trade in price. Tradein + 500 is more than they will get at auction, and you don't need to say it because their manager knows it. This requires some research. Don't run the numbers in front of him. Maybe go to the dealership and drive around the night before, collect your numbers, and then arrive decisively. This has a low chance of buying a car, so don't do it on a car you really want. Remember, you're not budging once you say your price.
- Never (ok rarely) ask a question without already knowing the answer. "Has this got new tires on it" is not a negotiating tactic. This actually applies to most aspects of life, not just car buying. So #lifehacks I guess.
- The only exception I can think of is the service record. You need to know the service record, and the dealership and/or carfax keeps that. Some cars, like Honda Pilot I mentioned earlier, has a time bomb in it. That 3.5L needs the timing belt changed at 93,000 miles, so if you're buying one at 105k it probably still needs it. That's expensive, and its rarely done before sale. Knowing the time bomb mileages on a car probably helps more than any other single tactic. They probably have no way of proving that critical maintenance was done, if it was done at a dealership then fine. If it was done 3rd party and has a service sticker under the hood, play dumb and say you don't trust that and plan to redo it so that its done right. Never let them offer to do critical maintenance for you and sell at original price. Always have "a guy" that does it for you, but never admit to doing it yourself. You want them to move the price down THOUSANDS, and that's the best way to make them budge big time.
- Speaking of having new tires on it, this is a silent way to get a really good deal on cheaper cars. Have you checked tire prices recently? A good condition set of tires on a junk car can be 30% of the car's value.
- Make sure they know who you are before you leave! Sometimes, these tactics don't work right away. They may work and get you a callback in 15 minutes when their manager checks on why the salesman failed a sale. They may work a week later when the dealership wises up that their car is priced wrong. If you leave without giving them your info, or if you leave on a bad/rude note then it CAN'T work.
These tactics don't always work, but the important thing to remember is you are the buyer not the chump. You don't need pride, in fact humility and meekness are necessary along with your stubbornness. So if it feels embarrassing, remember that you will never see these people again. Most importantly, remember that you don’t need to close every single deal, you only need to close one deal because you only need one car. The salesman needs every sale.
#grownostr #cars #negotiation #business #povertymindset PS your #fiat #money is worthless so make those car deals so you have a car instead of ever inflating dollar.
Friends and I were recently talking about it, and I thought I'd share the advice I gave. There is the standard advice such as shopping at the end of the month, etc. Those tactics work too. This is a slightly different mindset.
- My best luck has been to go to the “wrong” dealership. If you want a Chevy, shop for Chevys that are stranded at a Toyota dealership. If you want a Suby, get one from a Ford dealership. They don't want to keep a competitor's car on their lot any longer than they have to. They either padded the profit in on that car when they took the tradein, or took the tradein just to close an advantageous sale, so they will sometimes be willing to sell what looks like a "loss."
- When shopping, make sure you arrive in a vehicle that is better than the one you’re buying. I arrived in my #Jeepstr with no doors and no top, to buy a Honda Pilot. When the dealer started his “it’s really good in the snow” conversation one of the other salesmen stuck his head in and literally said “bruh, they came in a rock crawler.”
The conversation was over. I got 25% off asking price, which was already fair, and they didn’t haggle at all. He said “I’ll see what I can do” and instead of coming back from the managers office with weird financing offers or rock chip insurance he just stuck his hand out and shook mine.
If you need to borrow a friend’s car to achieve this, then go for it, take your friend with you. Bonus points if they have some mechanical knowledge, and/or know how to keep their mouth shut. It’s hard to sell you a Honda Civic because of its great gas mileage if you arrived in a Prius. It’s hard to sell you some something with AWD if you arrived with something that has 7” of lift and lockers.
Sometimes a worse car is the better car to arrive in. You should arrive in a rusted out 90s thing, when you’re trying to buy a really cheap car. Become a caricature of whatever you’re trying to buy because then their sales points are laughable and the only deal they can offer is to just give you what you want.
- In the same spirit, never reveal that this will be your daily driver. Never reveal that it will be your only car. In fact, don't reveal anything about the reason you're buying. You just want another car, and that should be enough reason.
- Always have a specific different car in mind. Make it cheaper, better, lower miles, or something but DONT SAY WHY or WHEN you are headed to see the competiton, specifically don't bother talking numbers about it. Salesmen often know what is on their competition's lot, and so they probably already know what you're talking about. Drop it out there but don't insult either party's inventory, you want to leave some mystery about your motives and you don't want to be confrontational.
If you say you have an appointment, and reference a specific different car that you're headed to see, then you have a bonafide reason to leave and he has a baseline price range and a timeline. The press to make quota is on! He also knows that you know your stuff.
- Having another car in mind does two things. It also keeps YOU in check. It takes some bravado to car shop this way. You don't want to ever let on that you really really really want a car. This sometimes ends in you buying a car that isn't your favorite, but hey.. this isn't the last car you'll ever buy right? My wife made the fatal mistake of saying "I really want this car" one time while I was talking money with the salesman. He and I just looked at each other and we both started laughing. I already had him down to within a thousand of where I wanted him, but the negotiation was over, and I lost.
- Anyone that comes with you needs to be more skeptical than you about the vehicle, or even downright bored.
- The logic from the book “Never Split the Difference” definitely applies. You say your price, and if they come back with any other number you hand them some paper with your phone number on it, say “let me know if something changes, thank you for your time” and walk out.
They will probably try to ask what your top dollar is. They want to offer you a different car at or maybe a bit cheaper than your top dollar and it WILL be a bad deal for you. Don't fall for that bait n switch trap. Stick to your guns and make them do all the compromises on the same exact car.
- At the “wrong” dealership (buying that chevy at the suby dealership), I try to offer 500-1000 over the trade in price. Tradein + 500 is more than they will get at auction, and you don't need to say it because their manager knows it. This requires some research. Don't run the numbers in front of him. Maybe go to the dealership and drive around the night before, collect your numbers, and then arrive decisively. This has a low chance of buying a car, so don't do it on a car you really want. Remember, you're not budging once you say your price.
- Never (ok rarely) ask a question without already knowing the answer. "Has this got new tires on it" is not a negotiating tactic. This actually applies to most aspects of life, not just car buying. So #lifehacks I guess.
- The only exception I can think of is the service record. You need to know the service record, and the dealership and/or carfax keeps that. Some cars, like Honda Pilot I mentioned earlier, has a time bomb in it. That 3.5L needs the timing belt changed at 93,000 miles, so if you're buying one at 105k it probably still needs it. That's expensive, and its rarely done before sale. Knowing the time bomb mileages on a car probably helps more than any other single tactic. They probably have no way of proving that critical maintenance was done, if it was done at a dealership then fine. If it was done 3rd party and has a service sticker under the hood, play dumb and say you don't trust that and plan to redo it so that its done right. Never let them offer to do critical maintenance for you and sell at original price. Always have "a guy" that does it for you, but never admit to doing it yourself. You want them to move the price down THOUSANDS, and that's the best way to make them budge big time.
- Speaking of having new tires on it, this is a silent way to get a really good deal on cheaper cars. Have you checked tire prices recently? A good condition set of tires on a junk car can be 30% of the car's value.
- Make sure they know who you are before you leave! Sometimes, these tactics don't work right away. They may work and get you a callback in 15 minutes when their manager checks on why the salesman failed a sale. They may work a week later when the dealership wises up that their car is priced wrong. If you leave without giving them your info, or if you leave on a bad/rude note then it CAN'T work.
These tactics don't always work, but the important thing to remember is you are the buyer not the chump. You don't need pride, in fact humility and meekness are necessary along with your stubbornness. So if it feels embarrassing, remember that you will never see these people again. Most importantly, remember that you don’t need to close every single deal, you only need to close one deal because you only need one car. The salesman needs every sale.
#grownostr #cars #negotiation #business #povertymindset PS your #fiat #money is worthless so make those car deals so you have a car instead of ever inflating dollar.