On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:19:23 -0500, Hell Toupee wrote:

On 8/11/2011 7:59 AM, Home Guy wrote:
Does anyone know (or do any of these buying guides ever say) if when
negotiating for a new vehicle, if an offer to outright buy the vehicle
(check, bank draft, credit-card, etc) is seen by the dealership as more
(or less) desirable vs the typical way most people buy cars (long term
payment plan). ?

How you will pay for the vehicle should be a separate discussion that
takes place after you've negotiated the price of the vehicle. People
tend to assume that dealers prefer cash, but that's not a given. If
they have in-house financing and persuade you to use it, they'll make
more money with your loan. How you plan to pay will a factor they use
when negotiating the purchase price with you (the infamous example is
the standard salesman question, "How much do you want your monthly
payment to be?" You reply: you will decide to buy based on the final,
actual price of the vehicle, not by the monthly payment.)

Absolutely. Dealers often get ****ed when you refuse to talk about payments,
though.

Be non-committal and tell them you won't decide on how you'll pay for
it until after you settle on the purchase price. If they do finance,
they may specifically make an offer contingent on your financing with
them. Run the numbers and see if it's worth your while. If you were
planning on financing, compare their rates and terms to other lenders.
If you can buy the loan cheaper elsewhere, tell them so. They may be
able to negotiate that, too.

With my truck, they were pushing financing. I'd already lined it up from my
CU, but told them the number they had to beat. They said they might be able
to if I had spotless credit. "Go for it". They did, so I used their
financing. I don't care that they made money, as long as they saved mine.

Same for trade-ins - don't bring up your desire to do a trade until
you've negotiated the best price you can get for the vehicle you'll be
buying. Negotiate the trade-in value afterwards. You should have done
your research beforehand to assess the fair trade value, decide what
you'll take for it, and what you'll do if you and the dealer can't
agree on the trade.

To sum up: all of these factors (purchase, payment/financing, and
trade-in) are separate transactions. Mixing them up will confuse
things, which almost always works to the dealer's advantage. So don't
do it.

Yep.

And remember, you must always be prepared to walk away...and you need
to make that clear. Or they'll steamroll you.

All good advice. In fact, when you start out looking, convince yourself that
you will *not*, under any circumstances, buy that day. Do the research,
decide what you want, and the absolute maximum you're willing to pay, *BEFORE*
talking price. If anyone pushes you out of your comfort zone, walk. If you
get emotional or attached to the vehicle, walk. You're talking serious money.
They really do want it. All. ;-)