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Finding good negotiating tips for used car buying is trickier than finding a map to buried treasure. This is no surprise at all, really; salespeople spend everyday selling, while the rest of us might have to try and get a good deal every few years. Because of this, most of us don’t really have a clue on how to negotiate. Fortunately this article will give you the top five negotiating tips for used car buying.
Tip Number One – Be Prepared
This probably the most important of the negotiating tips for used car buying that this article will discuss. Before you even consider buying a used car, make sure that you do your research on the cars you like. You need to know how much cars you want should cost, and if you find a car you like, do some research on that particular car. The more you know, the less dealers will be able to take advantage of you.
Tip Number Two – Play It Close to Your Vest
You should know exactly how much money you have and how much you are prepared to pay, but the dealer shouldn’t. The salespeople will always try to get you to pay the most they can get out of you for the car, so don’t make this easy for them. Keep the amount of money you have close to your chest.
Tip Number Three – Don’t Be Intimidated
This is one of the tougher negotiating tips for used car buying for most people. You need to know that you have the power in the deal. They are selling to you, so don’t let them try to rush you through the process or pressure you into buying too fast. Be prepared for the hard sell, and don’t let them push you around.
Tip Number Four – Always Take Your Time
Unless you are absolutely positive you’ve got the best possible deal, always walk away from the deal and come back another day. You need the time to process everything, and you need to be able to sit down and think without a salesman breathing down your neck. Always give yourself time to look at the deal at your leisure.
Tip Number Five – Shop Around
Do not, under any circumstances, go to just one used car lot. You need to go to as many as you can stomach, and you should probably be taking notes. The more car lots you visit, the more information you will have to negotiate with. Showing the salespeople that you know exactly how much another lot will charge for a similar car will give you the leverage you need to get a great deal.
These 5 negotiating tips for used car buying will help you get the great deal you’re looking for, but you need to use them. The most important thing to remember is that the choice is yours and you have all the power. The salespeople will try to take the lead, but they will only get it if you give it to them. Use these tips and show them who is in charge.
By: Shane Smith. If you are looking for landscape or backyard lights then check out: http://makevoltz.com
The odds are pretty good that you’ve never given any thought at all to car buying statistics. Well, unless you’re a statistician or a car dealer, in which case you probably have, but if that’s the case, then you’re probably not going to need any help buying a car. For the rest of us car buying statistics are something that, at best, we hear in passing on the nightly news, and not something we think about.
This is a shame, actually, because the key to getting a good deal on a car is information. The general method for buying a car, in most cases, is to go to a car lot with a vague idea of the cars you like and hope for the best.
While this is certainly easy, it’s not the best way to do it, because it gives the car dealership way too much power. If you don’t have the right information available, like car buying statistics, then the dealer will find it easy to steer you into a deal that is great for them, not for you.
What you need to do is to arm yourself with as much information as possible, both on car buying in general and the cars you like in particular. This will allow you to ask the right questions and make the right choices to get the best possible deal on the best possible car. This will also allow you to navigate around some of the psychological tricks that the auto dealer will try to use on you.
For example, take the color of your car. If you come in with a car color in mind, the salesperson will almost always tell you that this is a very popular color. What they are doing is trying to use social proof to push you to purchase.
But a quick glance at car buying statistics will show you that the most popular car color is actually white, so if your car is any other color, then the dealer is just trying to subtly steer you into a purchase.
If you’re buying a used car, then you definitely need to do the research to find out what the usual value is for the car you’re interested in buying. It’s also going to be very useful for you to know how the car sold originally and how many people buy new models of the same car, all of which will give you an idea of how good a car it is.
Probably the one of the most useful car buying statistics that most people don’t know is that the best deals tend to happen at the end of the month. This is because bonuses are calculated monthly, and the closer they get to the end of the month, the more desperate they will be to make those sales.
Every piece of information you can gather is one more piece of ammunition that you can use in the negotiation process. Know your cars and know your car buying statistics, and you will be able to take the reins from the dealer and get the deal that you deserve.
By: Shane Smith. If you are looking for landscape or backyard lights then check out: http://makevoltz.com
There is in fact a list of questions to ask when buying a used car, and asking these questions can help you get the best car you can for the best deal you can. One of the key things you need to be able to get a good used car is information, which is where your list of questions to ask comes in.
These questions will help you figure out if the car is worth buying and they will also help you get the good deals. With all that said, here is the list of questions to ask when buying a used car.
Who was this vehicle bought from?
The car dealership should be able to tell you how many owners the car has had. Ideally, you want a car that has only one owner. Not that you can’t get a good car that has had two or three owners, but a car that’s been passed around like the common cold is way more likely to have problems.
What are you willing to sell the car for?
This is question on the list of questions to ask when buying a used car that will really help you get a good deal. Asking this basically tells the dealer that you are not going to pay the price they have listed, so they better be prepared to deal if they want the sale.
Has this car been involved in any accidents?
Of course, the answer you’re looking for is no. It’s not uncommon for cars that have been pretty severely damaged to end up refurbished and back on the car lot. A skilled mechanic can take a car back to good as new condition, but often times the car is restored just enough to sell, and will have problems down the line.
Will they let you do an inspection?
If you have a friendly mechanic available, you should always have a car looked over before you buy it. But even if you don’t know a mechanic who will look a car over on the cheap, you should still ask the question. If the dealership says no, regardless of their excuses, this is not a dealer you can trust.
Does it have a warranty?
The only reason a car is ever listed ‘as is’ is because the dealership has looked at the car and decided the car will cost more to repair than they can possibly make on the deal, so you should always make sure a warranty is available. If one isn’t, chances are there is something wrong with the car that the dealer doesn’t want you to know about.
By using this list of questions to ask when buying a used car, you’ll be able to get a real picture of how good a car you’re getting and this can be handy in negotiating. If you’ve decided a car has had an accident but it’s worth buying, you can use this knowledge to get a better deal. Just make sure you always have all the information before you make any car purchase, used or otherwise.
By: Shane Smith. If you are looking for landscape or backyard lights then check out: http://makevoltz.com
In a rare incidence, of the government actually doing something to help the average Joe, the recently passed stimulus package includes a tax credit for buying a new car. That’s right, you can actually save on your taxes if you buy a new car this year, so if you’ve been looking to buy a new car, this might be the time.
It’s actually not that surprising that the government would give you a tax credit for purchasing a new car. The government has essentially taken over the management of GM and the car manufacturing sector is one of our biggest job producers. Because of this, the government has a vested interest in getting us to keeping buying new cars.
In order to qualify for this credit for you need to have completed your purchase between February 17, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The key word here is completed; if you are still haggling on New Years’ Eve and don’t seal the deal, you won’t get the credit. Likewise, those of you who bought your car prior to February 17 are going to miss out.
The tax credit for buying a new car only applies to the first $49,500 of any car, light truck, motorcycle or mobile home purchase. This doesn’t mean that you can’t buy a more expensive car, just that the credit will only apply to the first fifty thousand dollars or so.
There are limits to how much money you can earn and still qualify for the credit, but they are pretty high, so most of us will be able to qualify. A single person earning less than $125,000 or a couple earning less than $250,000 will be able to get the maximum benefit, with benefits beginning to decrease after that. If you make more than $135,000 and $260,000 respectively, you don’t qualify for the tax credit for buying a new car.
The tax credit basically allows you to deduct the taxes you would be paying on a new car from your taxes, which could be a savings in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. There was talk of including loan interest, but this didn’t pass. Because of this, it’s probably not a good idea to buy a new car just because of this, but if you are going to buy a new car, it certainly helps lower the overall cash outlay of your taxes.
The tax credit for purchasing a new car only applies to your 2010 tax return, so you’re going to have to wait a bit for the money. The tax credit is what is called an above the line tax deduction, so you can still use the deduction even if you don’t do an itemized deduction.
The amount that the tax credit for buying a new car will benefit you will vary from state to state. People that live in high sales tax states will benefit the most, and you need to keep in mind the particular tax laws of your state. The best way to look at the money from the credit is bonus money, not the reason you buy the car.
By: Shane Smith. If you are looking for landscape or backyard lights then check out: http://makevoltz.com
