Anonymous wrote:We have never done this before and will be buying a car soon. We have enough to pay in cash (and would like to unless interest rates are ultra low) but I understand that cash purchases are a negative to dealerships so we should keep our lips zipped on that until the last possible minute. With that in mind, a couple questions...
-Who do we negotiate the out-the-door price with - the salesperson or the financing department?
-At what point do we reveal that we will actually be buying in cash while avoiding being penalized/paying more for that? Any tips for playing along to ensure that we don't get screwed here?
Are you buying a new car ?
Which brand & model ?
There are services that provide actual sales prices for the exact make & model of new cars in your area. Might be Consumer Reports or a similar service.
I asked for specifics because we recently bought two new cars (when supply was low) and did thorough research on many makes & models before buying.
Consumer Reports has a helpful magazine for sale which lists all new cars and past problems with each model.