How to deal with car salesmen
Car salesmen have an unfortunate reputation for happily shaking hands with you while casting a greedy eye towards your handbag or purse. While not every car salesman is out to get you, the fact remains that you still need to be on your toes during the car buying process.
Even if you’re not the type of person who likes to negotiate, you don’t need to be intimidated by smooth talking salesmen. By knowing what to look out for and how to act, you will greatly improve your chances of walking away with a good deal on your car.
Go in knowing what you want
Preparation is key. The more you know about what you want in a vehicle, which models you prefer, and what the going rates are, the less chance there is you can be taken in by sales talk. When you walk into a dealership, you should know what car you want (or have a short list of cars you want), and how much you’re willing to pay for it.
Don’t show your feelings
Play your cards close to your chest and show as little emotion as possible. If you find your dream car, don’t let on. Show little interest in the car you really want, and even if you’re particular about just the one car, pretend to give attention to other models as well. Don’t let on when you’re decisive about what you want.
Say little about yourself
Information is used as leverage, so don’t reveal anything you don’t have to. Don’t tell them what your credit is like, or how you’re going to pay. If your aim is to help pay for a new car by selling your current car, don’t start off by saying, “I want to sell my car”. If you’ve secured financing beforehand, don’t reveal this either.
Whatever you reveal about your situation can be used by a salesman during negotiation. Although the salesman might be reluctant to, it’s best to settle on a price before you get into details.
Remember you can walk away
One of the most important things to remember in your interaction with a car salesman is that you can walk away at any time. If you’re not comfortable with the offered price, say so, and attempt to negotiate. If they refuse to lower the price or negotiate, walk away. If they do lower the price, but not enough, walk away. Just make sure they have your number, so that they can call you back with a better offer.
Even if that better offer is not forthcoming, however, remember that there are other cars and other dealerships. Be patient, don’t be impulsive, and stick to your guns. So long as your expectations are reasonable (which you’d know if you did your research), if you play it cool you should be able to walk away with a car that you want, at a price you want.
Source: wesbank