How to beat the dealership step by step.

You all know me, Mr. Tom Wilson, but you probably don't know that I used to sell cars for 3 years! I worked for Ford, GMC, and Chevy Dealers in California. This is a tale of how to take the dealer to the cleaners and get the most bang for your buck!

I have seen many articles written by people that have a fool proof way to buy a car, to be honest, I am not impressed. They are either too hard to understand or they require many things to go your way. Here is "the simple" on how you can purchase a car and take the dealer to the cleaners and they can't do anything about it. I will break this down into steps, although you may not understand why you are doing the step, it will all make sense once you put everything together.

Before we start there are a couple things that need to be handled before you even go to the dealership.

1. Credit

This is how credit breaks down
0-500 You cannot buy a car
500-580 You can qualify but your interest rate will be in the 20s.
580-620 You can qualify but not for any "specials" or even a good interest rate.
620-850 This is the sweet spot you need to be here to have the necessary bargaining chips, you will qualify for the specials and you will have no reason why you cannot drive home with your cat that day!

2. Trade-Ins

I do not believe in trade-ins. If you need to get rid of it to buy a new one, sell it personally. You always get more and you can buy your new car in 1 day. There should be no problem selling your car and getting your replacement either the same or the next. DO NOT TRADE IT IN! This gives the dealership too much wiggle room on prices and payments. You either get a great deal on your new car and they stole your trade-in or they gave you a very fair market value for your trade-in and then stacked their profit on the new car. Taking this vehicle out of the equation will save you $1,000s. I hear many people talking about how they got 1 over on the dealership and didn't mention the trade-in until the end. This doesn't work. You haven't signed on the deal yet so you didn't pull a quick one. You will always get more for your vehicle on private party sales then you would on a trade.

3. Know what car and what options you want.

Once your on the dealership it is very easy to make an impulse decision. Even easier when you have the sales person there. An example would be you are not sure about the navigation system on your new vehicle it costs $2,500 on the sticker and wow that sounds like a ton of money. The sales person says, "Well Mr. Smith, I may be able to get you a discount on that" This leads to you making the decision now before the sales person even checks. That is a close, you make a decision based on a maybe. You will forget about it or he will say he was able to get a great deal. They reduce the car X dollars from sticker, there is your savings. He could also make it seem very affordable $4,ooo over 6 years @ 2.9% mean this option only costs you $36, now that's affordable. These little things that you never really wanted eventually add up to $100s more in the payment.


4. Have your financing in place

For this to work your going to need to have qualified for a loan on this car with your bank. You don't want to mention that at first to the sales people, but you need to have an ace up your sleeve to win this hand. You will understand by the end of this article.


5. Be willing to walk away

You need to go in there with every intention of purchasing the vehicle. You also need to be able to walk away from the deal. Don't let them break you down a small bit at a time. That's why buying a car takes 3 hours. They break you down little by little until eventually your so bored and frustrated that you just take the next deal they bring you. I have sold cars to people that have come on my lot and said they are paying $150/mo and nothing more. 8 hours of breakdown time and they end up walking out with a car and a monthly payment of $240. The longer you sit there the more you budget. Well if I cut down on milk every month I can afford an extra $20 a month and the dealership will gladly take it.


So now you are ready to purchase your perfect car at the perfect price. Follow these steps:


1. Call ahead and talk to the fleet or internet sales person to confirm that they have the right vehicle you want. Set an appointment and be there. ** DO NOT fall for the "oh we just sold what you were looking at will these cars do?" ** This is the definition of the run around walk away. They may also say well I can get the car for you. Do not do it that way. The dealership needs to trade some of their cars to the other dealership to get the right car. Their bottom line always goes up in a transaction like this. Only talk with the internet or fleet salespeople. They work less on the profit per car and more on the units sold. They are more willing to drop their pants because they get unit bonuses rather then large commission checks.


2. Locate the car and make sure it meets all your requirements and is what they said it would be. Take the vehicle for a drive and make sure it runs the way you want it to.


3. Write it up, here is the tricky part. They will want to work this deal out on a 4 square. A 4 square worksheet has been the standard car sales technique for decades. This is typically what a 4 square looks like.

So now you know how it works. We have removed the trade-in so they will scratch that off better luck next time. Next they will put the sticker price in the top right box and then they may show you what rebates they are offering on the vehicle. Next they will fill out a down payment amount typically 10% down is what they go for. Then they will come up with a monthly payment off the top of their head magically with no calculator. The way they get this payment is they take the first 2 digits in the price and double them. Add a 0 to the end and now the payment is X. Here is an example: Vehicle Price is $25,999 basically $26,000 so then they take the first 2 digits 26 double them making 52 add the 0 now you have a payment of $520/mo. That is what they ask for. This is called the first walk through. No one ever takes it. Then they magically take off the down payment and then lower the payment. You wonder well if it was that easy why didn't they just do it before. Hey, they are sales people they go for the mighty buck. Anyway, back on track. We know a couple things here. We know with our credit where it needs to be we don't need anything down. We also know the asking price and their first payment offer. What is the unknown here??? YOUR RIGHT! The interest rate. Most car dealers have their own financing department so they can work their terrible rates into the deal and make money on the back end also.

4. Tell them how to sell you

You will tell them that you really don't care about the payment all you want to do is get the car for a really inexpensive price. They will then ask you if you have found your own financing. Tell them yes, but you are undecided on what you want to do so far. They will then see that as a opportunity. All they need to do is get the cost of the car down and they have a sale. They now try to find how to make it work. They realize well heck if he doesn't care about the payment lets sell the car for bottom line and then we can make the $$$ on the back end by giving him a high payment on an interest rate that is high. They now have their game plan in place. He will come back with a much lower price for the vehicle this time. Now we throw the curve ball.

5. Get the invoice

When he comes back the next time you tell him that you want to see the invoice. **DO NOT take his word for it that you are already at invoice or under invoice. You want to see the numbers. Now is when they get less cooperative. Now is where you need to be able to walk out if need. The dealership will either cooperate or give you a final offer. If they give the final offer say thanks but no thanks. Don't worry there are other dealerships. If they cooperate which is most likely they will get the invoice and bring it over. You have a right to see it, remember that. They are allowed to show you as much as they may tell you differently. The invoice should be fairly straight forward, it gives the vehicle and specs along with the invoice price and the manufacturers suggested retail price. This is not the true invoice though. You are looking at the dealer invoice. There is something called hold back which is what the dealership adds to the real invoice price as a cushion so they make a minimum profit on every deal. Hold back varies for larger SUVs it can be $2,500. For smaller coups and sedans it can be between $750-$1,250. Now you know we can get a price LOWER then invoice. Many people offer $500 above invoice and write it up. That is the wrong way to buy a car. Tell the dealer you don't care a lick about the payment you just want the lowest price possible even below invoice and you will buy the car that very day. They will ask for a signature on that just to get a "commitment" out of you. They will return with an offer below invoice and a fairly high payment. You get to subtract the rebates now from this number. Rebates come into play after you agree on the below invoice price. (Remember, they own the finance company so they are counting on making their money through the financing end of the deal.) You say deal, shake their hand, and now wait to see the financing specialist.

6. Drop the bomb

When you get back to the financing department tell the fancier that you decided you wanted to use your own bank to finance this car. He will then see the purchase price and he may even need to excuse himself. The dealer has just LOST money on this deal. The numbers are in writing and the purchase price was agreed upon. They have to sell you that car for the agreed upon price. So now you have a below invoice purchase amount and you still get the great rate your bank offered you in the beginning!

7. Wrap it up like a pro

DO NOT buy anything that the "finance" guy tries to sell you. Aftermarket for the exact same thing is ALWAYS less expensive. DO NOT buy the extended service plan either. You can always return to the dealership before your plan is up and then take out an extension years later. This saves you interest on the money you didn't borrow. Who knows, you may be done with it in 3 years or may have wrecked it, God forbid. The only option that you should buy and this usually amounts to $6 per month is GAP insurance. Have the finance person explain it to you. This is a great plan and would be in your best interest to buy.

8. No extras!

Do not pay for dealer prep. Tell them you do not want to pay for dealer prep. This is a car wash and usually costs $750. They may deliver the car to you without a wash but that's fine you can go get it detailed by a REAL detailer for $100. The person that preps your car is not a detailer. He is paid to wash and move cars.

9. Spread the word

Go home and tell your friends and family what a great deal you got and how you got it. They will admire you and be astonished at how you worked the system against itself.

I hope this helps anyone trying to buy a car. Until the car sales business changes everyone should do this. There are too many shysters and slick sharks out there to prey on the weak and ill informed. Change the industry!