How to Buy a Car Without Any Price Negotiation

Buying a new car is one of the most-feared, exploitative experiences you can endure. Creating a personal sense of security and confidence will make the act of acquiring the second highest priced investment you make in your life go smoothly, easily and less stressfully while replacing your vulnerability with the power that knowledge gives you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer for research
• Time to visit several car dealers
• Banker where you normally do your banking
• Checking account

1. Decide on the car you want to buy. Read everything you can about cars, especially "Consumer Reports." Talk with friends who have the car you are interested in to find out how they feel about their purchases.
2. Visit several car dealers for a test drive. Explain upfront to the car salespeople that you are not ready to buy yet. They will ask for personal information, so be prepared to give them your name and phone number.
3. Take a little time to research credit scores and gain a basic understanding of how your credit score influences your interest rate on a loan.
4. Call on your banker to discuss a car loan. Maybe you should visit multiple banks, but your chances of getting a loan at a fair rate with minimal effort are better if you know someone in a bank.
5. Determine the price you want to spend on your new car. Figure out the manufacturer’s wholesale price to the dealership, then add $500 or $1,000 (or whatever you think is a reasonable “deal” for the retailer). Remember that automobile manufacturers disguise the wholesale price with rebates and credits to the dealer, so you won’t be able to learn the accurate amount easily and you should factor this into what is a reasonable “deal” for the dealership. Consider that even $100 or $200 over wholesale is a fair price. Do not include any add-ons or extended warranties, which are a major source of profit for dealerships and poor values for buyers.
6. Settle on a bank loan with suitable terms for the car you are planning to buy and arrange to pick up a check from the bank after you acquire the new car.
7. Select the dealership where you believe you will get the best service for your car during a warranty period.
8. Go to the car dealership where you want to purchase your new car and test drive the actual car you plan to buy, making sure every option and amenity you want included in the car is on this particular model.
9. Tell the salesman you want to buy the car and present a personal check already written out for the amount you are willing to pay. Refuse to discuss the matter further and especially refuse to sit down in a back room where you will be bombarded with a series of counter offers. The salesman will go check with the sales manager and he will probably attempt to negotiate.
10. Ask for your check back and tell her you are going to leave if the salesperson hesitates to accept the offer. Be prepared to walk away.
11. Tell the salesperson, when they accept the offer, that you will take delivery the following day and that you will bring a check from the bank when you return.

Tips & Warnings

• Have a surprising reason handy for not buying when you are researching at dealerships and taking initial test drives because the salesman will always try to close you and you need to disarm him in order to disrupt his sales pitch. A good one is that your astrology chart indicates you cannot purchase a car until some date in the future.
• You can always purchase an extended warranty later, sometimes as much as a couple of years later, for the same price or less than what you would have paid at the time of your purchase. Never purchase an extended warranty when you buy a new car.
• Make sure you are extremely certain of every option or feature of the car you want to buy and that it is included in the price you determine, right down to the floor mats. Before you sign the papers at delivery, inspect the car you are purchasing to make sure nothing removable is missing.
• Be aware that your offer may actually be more than what you could have negotiated for if you were willing to sit down in the back office and go through the grueling process of negotiating the sale.