Lesson One: Buying a Car
The car that mom and dad bought you on your 16th birthday has gotten downright embarrassing. You made several attempts to “Pimp Your Ride” but Xzibit hasn’t shown up yet. So now what? Well, it’s time to step up to the plate, be a responsible adult and purchase your first car. To prevent you driving off the lot with a lemon or worse yet, a bad deal, we put together some info that might help you out. Buckle up and let’s do this.
Shopping for a car can be a huge pain and very nerve racking, especially with those vultures at the dealership circling you. With that we have tonight’s “Top 6 Things you should never say to a car salesman” (That was a play on David Letterman’s Top 10 Countdown. Never mind)
- Number 6- “I absolutely love this car!” As it turns out, the more you let on that you like the car the more they have you on a rope. Don’t let on that you are in love with the car, make them think you could walk away at any moment.
- Number 5- “I need a car, like, yesterday.” Being desperate will not serve you well. If the salesman thinks you are in dire need then he will assume you will take the first deal you get. Buying a car should be a process. Make them think you will look for months if that is what it takes to get the best car at the best price.
- Number 4- “blank is what I can afford a month.” Never tell a car salesman what you can afford to pay on your car payment. This is giving away your hand before you have had a chance to negotiate. Having a budget (including what the insurance is going to be), knowing what your trade-in is worth and being prepared with what you can afford bottom line is essential…but the car salesman doesn’t need to know any of that.
- Number 3- “I have my trade-in right here.” If you let your salesman know that you have the car you plan to trade in with you they will immediately want to see it to assess the value. First of all, you want to negotiate the price without telling them about your trade-in, that way they won’t be factoring that in ahead of time. Second, if you are ready to leave you will have to ask for your car keys back and in most cases it will take them longer than usual to hunt your keys down.
- Number 2- “I don’t really understand leasing.” Chances are leasing is not the right choice for you. But even if it isn’t you should understand it because the dealer will probably try to sell you on the idea. A couple things about leasing: 1. this is usually only a good option if you plan on only keeping the car at max a couple years. 2. there are a lot of different terms and conditions. You need to know exactly what you want out of your lease beforehand.
- And the Number 1 thing you should NEVER, and I mean NEVER say to a car salesman- “My credit’s not so great.” Most car dealerships count on the fact that the customer doesn’t know what their credit is like. Before you start shopping around educate yourself. Check out our Free Annual Credit Report page on how to obtain your annual report for free. You should also consider getting your car loan from your own financial institution. If your credit isn’t great, using your own financial institution might get you a better rate because they are familiar with your financial makeup. Also, having your own loan for a set amount can be another great bargaining tool.
Now that you know what NOT to say, you shouldn’t put your foot in your mouth. Good luck and happy hunting.
