How To Get A Leg Up When Shopping For A Car |
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Winston Takeda
27 September 2012
Many people don't like buying a car. In fact, when describing the stereotypical pushy salesperson that won't take "no" for an answer, they describe a car salesman. In order to understand how you can gain an advantage over the car salesperson next time you go car shopping, it's important to understand their thinking process, and how they get paid.
Most car salespeople get paid only on commission. This means that they don't get paid unless they sell something. This, obviously, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on them to sell you anything. If you come walking into their shop, and you say you want a red sports car, but all they have are yellow mini vans, they are going to do their best, and use every manipulative trick in the book to convince you that what you really need is a yellow mini van.
It's also a matter of record that car sales has a huge turnover. That means if you walk into any car dealership, chances are the person you run up to has only been working their a month or two. This means they aren't very skilled in sales, which means they haven't really sold very much. This means they are not only broke, but desperate to make a sale. This mean they'll use any kind of trick they think will help them sell you something.
The most important thing you can do before you go car shopping is research. Find out what kind of car you want, and research all the information you can off it. Most people shop for cars like they are shopping for food at the grocery store. They don't really think too much about what they want. This is fine at the store, where you can wander around and pick and choose whatever you want. This can be particularly deadly on the car lot.
When you show up knowing exactly what kind of car you want, and you don't have any questions about the specific car, this makes it easier on everybody. Especially when you know what the price is. If you show up knowing you want a 2012 Escalade with tinted windows and a sun roof, and you are willing to pay no more than $38,812, this will make it a lot easier on both, and the sales person. You'll know that you are getting the right car at the right price, and he or she will know they are getting an easy sale.
Everybody wins.