Anonymous wrote:This American Life has an episode on car sales people. The best time to buy is the end of the month when they are desperate to make quotas. There are other insider tips.

Also, paying off a car loan ups your credit score.

I've been in the car business for 12 years. I will NOT name my dealership explicitly, but it is located in Tyson's Corner. Here are three tips I tell my family members and friends before they buy a vehicle:

1. You should try to pay in pennies because it is a lot easier to save money by not... giving them all the pennies . The chances of them counting it are very slim. If they do, you say it was a simple mistake and give them the rest of the pennies.

2. Refuse all water that is offered to you. They are trying to get in your brain by getting into your hydration. Water triggers buying. Do NOT hydrate for a minimum of 4 hours before you go into the dealership. Make sure to urinate before going in. Bathrooms also trigger buying.

3. Walk into the dealership right before closing. After going on a test drive of three separate vehicles, and asking all the possible questions about each of the vehicles, ask for a moment alone with your spouse. Take another 20-40 minutes, "discussing" with them. Then, this is where the magic happens. Call over your salesperson, and tell them you have to think about it because you have been provided with too many options.

4. Walk in slow-motion back to your car, as if you are in an action film and the protagonist is reminiscing back on his late lover. The salesperson will then come up to you, and offer you the best deal in the state. Yup, the whole state.

Let me know how this works out for you! Would love to hear about the deal!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We set up a new gmail account, and started with a low-ball price and emailed a dozen dealers saying "We will pay $28,500 OTD for a Toyota Sienna. We know this is a low price. If you are willing to sell at this price, please email me. I will not shop your order around, and I will give you five stars in the post-sales survey. I have emailed a few dealers. If nobody accepts this price, I will email in three days offering a slightly higher price."

Nobody took our super lowball price, but we got a bite on our first escalation ($300), showed up with a check for that amount, and all was good.

When did you do this? It is super hard to get below MSRP nowadays.

One dealership was doing 10% off MSRP for Black Friday Told me to get it now or the car would be gone. Car never sold even with 10% off MSRP. Each situation is different, so research your car and situation. In certain models MSRP price is over - def. can get below even if it is 4% below.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We set up a new gmail account, and started with a low-ball price and emailed a dozen dealers saying "We will pay $28,500 OTD for a Toyota Sienna. We know this is a low price. If you are willing to sell at this price, please email me. I will not shop your order around, and I will give you five stars in the post-sales survey. I have emailed a few dealers. If nobody accepts this price, I will email in three days offering a slightly higher price."

Nobody took our super lowball price, but we got a bite on our first escalation ($300), showed up with a check for that amount, and all was good.

When did you do this? It is super hard to get below MSRP nowadays.

We were not this aggressive with the email negotiation but did just buy a Honda CR-V by emailing a lot of dealers to ask their best out-the-door price. Ended up a little below MSRP but had to wait two weeks for it to arrive and drive 45 min to get it. My local dealer was willing to match the price but only if I took a less popular color, which I declined to do. We didn't say we were paying cash until we agreed to the price. It probably helped that we were purchasing in late December when the dealers are under more pressure to meet end of quarter/end of year goals.

Buying used is obviously more challenging because you are talking about an individual car with a unique history. I've only bought used cars through CarMax.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT buy any extras that the dealer finance person offers.

Also, consider getting offers on the internet from other dealers.

+1. Ourisman Rockville tried to charge me $500 for nitrogen in the tires. You can get that for much much less elsewhere. There were a few other bogus “add-ons” too.

Yeah, like for the price of free at the Liberty gas station at Connecticut & Manor Road. “Air” is 78% nitrogen.

They install that TruCoat at the factory . . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT buy any extras that the dealer finance person offers.

Also, consider getting offers on the internet from other dealers.

+1. Ourisman Rockville tried to charge me $500 for nitrogen in the tires. You can get that for much much less elsewhere. There were a few other bogus “add-ons” too.

Yeah, like for the price of free at the Liberty gas station at Connecticut & Manor Road. “Air” is 78% nitrogen.

Go to an auto auction yourself.

Anonymous wrote:We set up a new gmail account, and started with a low-ball price and emailed a dozen dealers saying "We will pay $28,500 OTD for a Toyota Sienna. We know this is a low price. If you are willing to sell at this price, please email me. I will not shop your order around, and I will give you five stars in the post-sales survey. I have emailed a few dealers. If nobody accepts this price, I will email in three days offering a slightly higher price."

Nobody took our super lowball price, but we got a bite on our first escalation ($300), showed up with a check for that amount, and all was good.

When did you do this? It is super hard to get below MSRP nowadays.

Anonymous wrote:Note: if you want the dealer to find/provide financing or get you a quote on financing, you will have to provide info for the credit check. Otherwise, if you are 100% NOT using their financing you do not need to consent to a credit check, but they will try to tell you otherwise!!

I think if you are paying cash (as in $100 bills etc) then you also may need to provide certain info for anti money laundering efforts and such.

Who cares if they run your credit. What a strange thing to worry about.

(Of course the email specified make/model/trim/extras/etc.)

We set up a new gmail account, and started with a low-ball price and emailed a dozen dealers saying "We will pay $28,500 OTD for a Toyota Sienna. We know this is a low price. If you are willing to sell at this price, please email me. I will not shop your order around, and I will give you five stars in the post-sales survey. I have emailed a few dealers. If nobody accepts this price, I will email in three days offering a slightly higher price."

Nobody took our super lowball price, but we got a bite on our first escalation ($300), showed up with a check for that amount, and all was good.

Anonymous wrote:Just bought a car last week for 0%. Put the money from selling old car into the bank.

Is it really possible to get zero percent financing on a new car? How many years?

Anonymous wrote:We’ve used both the Costco and USAA offers and emailed various dealerships with those and asked for the best OTD price. We ended up searching and negotiating mostly by email. Ended up with excellent USAA financing and all the upgrades we wanted. This was a few years ago. We did get a lot of annoying calls from dealerships though.

If you already have Costco, quickly check on any discounts they may have.

This American Life has an episode on car sales people. The best time to buy is the end of the month when they are desperate to make quotas. There are other insider tips.

Also, paying off a car loan ups your credit score.

We’ve used both the Costco and USAA offers and emailed various dealerships with those and asked for the best OTD price. We ended up searching and negotiating mostly by email. Ended up with excellent USAA financing and all the upgrades we wanted. This was a few years ago. We did get a lot of annoying calls from dealerships though.

I think your best leverage is being willing to drive a bit to pick it up. Figure out the exact car you want and the colors/trims you’re okay with. Then draw an acceptable radius on a map and call all the dealerships for a price. You can check the inventory often online but they could order it.

I would just go ahead and tell them you’re paying cash.

Then take the lowest offer to your closest dealer and see if they’ll match it.