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car dealers have had years of practice in honing their craft of selling cars. While not every dealer will try to mislead you, there are many auto dealer scams you should be aware of so you can avoid falling victim to one of them.
It is really the buyer's job to make sure they have done their research on a vehicle before entering the showroom and know what they are prepared to spend on a car. Every car deal is really several different transactions, and a dealer will try to make whatever profit they can on each of them so you need to be prepared.
The first place you can get caught with auto dealer scams is in negotiating the price of the vehicle. There are many websites that can tell you the dealers actual cost on a particular vehicle as well as average selling prices for that vehicle in your area.
Have this information with you when you visit a showroom and never negotiate only on sticker price. Dealers may even try to add more cost to a vehicle with “dealer prep” and delivery charges. Both of these are gray areas that a dealer can add profit to a vehicle and you should negotiate hard to avoid paying these.
There may also be unadvertised rebates available to the dealer to help motivate them to sell a particular model of car. You can find out about these on the web as well and use this information when you are negotiating.
There is also another secret incentive called “holdback” that many factories will pay a dealer when he sells a particular car. It is always a good idea to confront the salesman about this to keep them honest. While they may not release this holdback to the buyer, it should make them negotiate more fairly on the final price of the vehicle and lets them know that you are an educated buyer. Information on these holdback rebates is also available on the web.
Another place that there are a number of auto dealer scams is with the financing on a vehicle. The truth is that they make a profit in several ways on doing this financing for you and this can be substantial for them. They may be paid a flat fee for closing the financing on a car sale by the finance company they use, and they could also be paid a percentage of the interest as well. Either way, this means you'll end up paying more than you should if you choose this financing.
Another one of the auto dealer scams you should be on the lookout for is when a dealer tries to negotiate the financing based on a monthly payment. The danger is that you only focus on the payment and miss the interest rate or terms, which the dealer will adjust to their advantage.
To avoid falling victim to potential auto dealer scams and high costs of financing through the dealership, explore all of your financing options. By reading a good car buying guide you can prepare yourself with good information and know what your options are. This will educate you on the tricks employed by the dealer and for the small investment in a good guide you'll walk away paying a lot less and feel good knowing you made a much better financial decision.
Here are some more tips for buying a car that can help you save money on your next new or used car purchase. I hope these resources will prove useful in helping you get the best deal possible.
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