The Dos and Don'ts of Car Shopping

[reformedwaitress]

Car dealers hate me -- oh no, I know this, they told me so! Now granted, the guy was joking and actually takes real good care of my family, but it made me laugh.

Why do they hate me? Because I go in having done my research. I know what I want and how much I will spend, including taxes, fees and everything else. Do you know why I know this and I'm not willing to budge? Because I do something very very few people will do.

I refuse to carry a car payment. I will not buy any car unless I am paying cash. I do not have a credit card, nor do I want one, and I refuse to take out a car loan. The only thing I ever plan to take out a loan for would be if I ever get a house.

I've found it works better this way and though this means I've never had a new car, I love the cars I've had. My Baby is a great little car that I got for under $3,000 and I didn't have to put any money into her to get her working in top shape. And the day I bought her, one of the guys in the service department told me if I ever wanted to sell her, he'd give me $5,000 for her.

So yeah, car dealers hate me cause they can't really make much money off me. But at least I'm nice and don't really take up much of their time!

[ISellCars]

And how much I can afford to pay is none of the salesman's business.

Me again.

The only thing I want to add here from my POV, is how people feel about that statement.

Now when I say this, I'm talking about me myself on why I ask people this question, and why we are trained in our dealership to ask people this.

We ask people how much they can afford to pay, because the majority of people don't know what a $350 payment can get them. If you're intellegent, and you know how payments break down, you can come in and say "I'm looking for a car that I can get out the door at around $15,000" or something along the way, and you know with good credit (and no money down) you can pay somewhere around $350 or less.

But it's the people who come in and say "I want to look at the new so-and-so", which we know all start at around $30,000. So while we do our "qualifying", we ask how much you can afford. If you come back with a "Oh, no more than $400.", then my response is "Wow, okay, you must be planning on putting down a big downpayment!".

If the response is like "No, I was hoping I didn't have to put anything down", or a lower number than $10-15K, then I know where to steer this customer to something more appropriate.

There's no point in showing you a vehicle you can't afford. In the end, it's going to hurt ME and get YOUR hopes up, because it's easy to sell up to a customer, but it's almost impossible to sell down. If I have a vehicle that ranges from $20K to $28K, it's much easier to show you the $20K vehicle, and then move up accordingly if you want more options. However, it's extremely hard to do the same thing in reverse. If you fall in love with the leather seats, the sunroof, the DVD player, etc... and then it turns out you can't afford it, you as the customer are turned off, and most likely will not buy a vehicle... not from me, anyways.

So don't think that most salesman are prying into your personal life when we ask questions about your desired payment, or desired price range. We're trying to do our job as professionals to show you a vehicle that you will not only like, but that will fit all your needs (personally, safety, and budget).

There's my 2 cents. Jenqui.

[tollbaby]

Dude, will you come car shopping with me?