- You are now ready to walk into the dealership! You’ve done your research, picked out your car at the dealership, and have your stock # written down and ready to go. Here is what you’re going to do…
- BUY YOUR CAR ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH – This is not a myth. You will absolutely get your best deal on the last day of the month. Example: I worked at a Nissan dealership and Nissan gave us a goal of selling 200 new Nissans in two months. They would pay us $500 extra per car or $100k to hit our goal. On the last day of the two months I was at 194 sold Nissans. I had my salespeople call every customer from the last two months that we were $1,000 – $2,500 away from selling them a car and told them I would do it today only. I sold 7 new Nissans on that day and lost $8,800 net to do it but the dealership picked up the $100k (+$500) for a total net profit of $91,700.
- A SALESPERSON WILL GREET YOU AND WANT YOU TO COME TO THEIR OFFICE – This is o.k. They will ask you for your name, home address, phone # (Give them a fake cell # if you can. You can always change it if you make a deal. If you don’t, they’ll call you four times a day). What they really want to know is if you have a trade-in and what type of car and payment you’re looking for. The LAST thing a car salesman wants to do is show you a $40k car with an $850 payment when you can only afford $390 per month. NOW is when you want to give them the stock # and tell them this is the car you’re interested in. They will then go tell their manager what is going on and go get the keys. If they’re a good salesperson they’ll pull it out and bring it right to the front door.
- THE WALK-AROUND AND TEST DRIVE – The walk-around is kind of cool. This is where the salesperson opens all the doors, the hood, and the trunk. They’ll tell you everything about the car. This is just to build value. But nothing builds value like the test drive. Every dealership has it’s own test drive route. It’s usually all right turns (They don’t want you crossing traffic in a car you haven’t purchased yet). The car is the best salesperson of all as it gets all of your senses involved. You smell the “new car smell”. It’s quiet inside…you don’t hear any creaks and pops you may hear in an older car. You see how clean it is. You feel how smoothly it drives.
- THE “SILENT” WALK-AROUND – This is my all-time favorite! A good salesperson will finish the test drive by having you park the car next to your trade-in**If You Don’t Have a Trade-In Please Skip to the Next Step** This is so you can see how much the new car is to what you pulled up in. The salesperson will then do the “Silent” Walk-Around. Say you have a 2005 Camry with 160k miles that’s worth around $2,500 and you know it. The salesperson will walk around your car and (without saying a word) will feel the chip in your windshield (Oops…I guess my car is only worth $2,200) and feel the dent in your rear panel (I forgot about that, I guess my car is only worth $1,900) and then feel your tire tread ( My tires are looking kind of bald, I guess my car is only worth $1,400) You get the idea. Kudos to the salesperson if before you walk back into the dealership they look back at both cars and “There’s a slight difference between the two isn’t there?” Everyone will always agree. You will now start heading back to the salesperson’s office and start negotiating.
