Many experts repeatedly give you the same advice to help you get the best deal on a used car, but we have some new methods.
These are simply shopping tips and what to look for in a car most of the time. Instead of going over the same tired ways to inspect and select a vehicle, we offer a few tips that you might consider “out of the box” thinking. Some may feel like you’re pressed right up next to the box, but you can use these tips to get the best deal on the vehicle you’ll drive.
Don’t Get Your Financing at the Dealership and Pay Cash Whenever You Can
Financing for a vehicle is a profit-based function of many dealerships, and it is a way that many companies get more money from you. The interest rate you pay is part of the profits, and some of the loan fees are tied to financing deals. One way to avoid this is to either pay cash or get financing from a bank instead of the dealership where you want to buy the car.
Withhold Information at the Dealership Until It Needed
If you head to a car dealership, you shouldn’t offer any upfront information you don’t need to provide. This includes any information regarding your trade-in, down payment, or how you intend to pay for the vehicle. Ask about any incentives offered, haggle the price, even if the dealer says their prices are non-negotiable and don’t give information until you have to. Once you’ve reached an acceptable price, you can begin to talk about the trade-in or your down payment.
Shop at Times When Dealers Need a Few More Sales
It is not a secret that each salesperson has a quota to meet each month. You could get the best deal on a used car by shopping at the end of the month, quarter, or year. If you find a salesperson that needs one more sale to hit their quota, you should get a much better price and save quite a bit of money. This tactic works great to help you and the salesperson get something out of it.
Avoid the Buy Here, Pay Here Lots
These car dealers serve a purpose, but if you don’t have terrible credit and you’re not desperate for your next car, they don’t serve any purpose. These locations have a reputation for increasing prices of high-mileage low-value vehicles that could be lemons after a short period. Stay away from these dealerships and buy your car at a place that appeals to your senses and has more of the vehicles you want to buy.
Shop for Your Used Car Out of Season
Even though your next ride isn’t a piece of fruit, you want to buy a vehicle when it’s not the most popular time to accept that type of vehicle. If you want the best deal on a used car, you should shop when others don’t. This means buying a convertible during the winter or a large truck in an area filled with them. This is a game of supply and demand. You want to ensure the need for the vehicle is much lower than the supply so that you can negotiate a great price.
Walk Away from the Vehicle at Least Once
You might have the right car, take it for a test drive, and know that you’re ready to purchase the vehicle, but you want the deal to be a little better. You can do this by walking away from the agreement. It’s probably somewhat evident to the salesperson that you want to buy the car, but they need to sweeten the deal more. Let them offer you something more to make sure you want to take this car home.
Go Over the Paperwork and Remove the Fees
This part of the process is tedious, but it can be necessary. You’re paying for a vehicle that already has markups on it. When you sit down to go over the paperwork, there are fees you shouldn’t have to pay. To get the best deal on the used car, you want to buy, you need to understand these fees. Don’t pay freight or administrative expenses; these are simply ways the dealer is passing their costs onto you, which should come out of the profits they may not add to the deal.
Force Multiple Dealers to Compete for Your Business
There’s nothing wrong with forcing one dealership to beat the price. If the vehicles are the same year, make, and model and within a few miles of each other on the odometer, you should have no problem forcing one location to beat the other one. This is a great way to get the best price without doing a lot of haggling.
Don’t Pay for Items You Won’t Use
The vehicle you’re looking at has a rear-seat entertainment center doesn’t mean you should pay for it. This is undoubtedly the case when you want the best deal for the used car you want to drive. The original owner selected the car’s features; that extra cost shouldn’t be passed onto you in the used market. If the salesperson points out some of these features, let them know you want a model without these items. They will either lower the price or help you find the vehicle that has what you want and none of what you don’t.
Avoid the Add-Ons and Don’t Let them Slip into Your Deal.
When buying a used car, you don’t need an extended warranty, service contracts, or most of the protections offered that only increase the amount you pay each month. If you allow the dealer to finance your vehicle, you need to pull as many items out of the deal. You’ll pay interest and part of every aspect of your car monthly. One of the essential items you can pull out is the initial registration and licensing fees.
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