Used car shopping

House of Wax

House of Wax

Active member
The wife and I are contemplating downsizing her Expedition to either a Buick Enclave or GMC Acadia. Curious to see if you guys have any "go to" tactics for haggling on a used vehicle at a dealership. How do you land on a number you`re happy with before you go in? I`d rather burn my eyebrows off with a lighter than deal with a car salesman, so I`m not exactly looking forward to the process
 
Research. Look at the dealerships around your area online first, the prices online always tend to be lower than sticker price. My Tacoma was listed at $30,8xx online but when I went to the dealership they had it for $33,500. Most reputable dealerships will have all their vehicles listed on their website. Something else I`ve done has been to pin 2 dealerships against each other. I`m very upfront with them and simply tell them I`m going with whoever gives me the best deal. One thing you have to remember is that THEY are working for you, you are the customer. Good luck with your new purchase.
 
And if you see one on line in a price you like but just out of your distance to drive let the dealership your working with know that you`re willing to drive out there because the price of it is better. It gives you the upper hand that you are looking for the best price. Just don`t let them know that it`s past you distance willing to travel, as long as it`s not like next state over.


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Civicclutch said:
And if you see one on line in a price you like but just out of your distance to drive let the dealership your working with know that you`re willing to drive out there because the price of it is better. It gives you the upper hand that you are looking for the best price. Just don`t let them know that it`s past you distance willing to travel, as long as it`s not like next state over.


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this is kind of where I`m having an issue. I haven`t been able to find anything close by that we like. I`m willing to drive a bit, but I don`t want to waste my time driving an hour and a half away only for it to not work out

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xspwrstang said:
Research. Look at the dealerships around your area online first, the prices online always tend to be lower than sticker price. My Tacoma was listed at $30,8xx online but when I went to the dealership they had it for $33,500. Most reputable dealerships will have all their vehicles listed on their website. Something else I`ve done has been to pin 2 dealerships against each other. I`m very upfront with them and simply tell them I`m going with whoever gives me the best deal. One thing you have to remember is that THEY are working for you, you are the customer. Good luck with your new purchase.
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I have looked at vehicles on websites where the window price is 2-3K over the listed Web price.

My wife and I passed on KIA Sorento. She Loved it and the Dealership new it. I wanted a price about $3500 less than what they were asking. They new my wife wanted it. So they didn`t care what I thought. Wrong! We walked! 3months later it is still on their lot and they have dropped the price $2800. May walk in soon and see if they are willing to talk. Maybe offer a little less than I did last time.

Research and Know your Price. A fair price for sure. The Dealer needs to make money. Lord nows the Sales Staff need to make a living. Just don`t be bullied into their price.

Always negotiate the Final Price not the Monthly bill.
 
Keep more options open like a Honda or Toyota .. when they hear you have test driven other brands and start comparing options their price tends to get more negotiable
 
Knowing what is a fair deal is the toughest part. Takes time to research on line to figure out whats a fair purchase price and whats a fair trade in value (thats toughest one as its hard to find good reliable $$$$$ on local trade in values, with out paying for a service kellyblue or others) I like to look at what used cars of similar model and millage on autotrader or cars.com are listed for then subtracted 10-20 percent for dealer mark up and another 10-20 percent for dealer profit on resale and that about what reasonable trade in value is (most used cars go through auction the need make money and the retailer needs make money and retailer will have built in inflation so he can "give you a deal".

Also always be willing to walk out, I give them 30-60 minutes to make a deal before I say "alright people I have stuff to do I can`t be here all day, you know the price I am willing to get to if you can make it work call me if not no hard feelings" shake hands and walk out. Usually that will get the one last let me talk to my manager one last time and I let them and when the return if they are still more then 500$ off what I feel is fair I say thank you and walk out.

car buying used be one my most dreaded dealings. But since I have had to buy a lot trucks for work and for my wife and brother and my self I have gotten more confident in that situation and I no longer care or worry about it as I used to. Helps also buying a bunch of vehicles that won`t be mine and I have no feelings about, easier to learn when your hearts not in the purchase you see how quickly the power turns when you let them know you really don`t care if you get a car today tomorrow or 3 months from now.
 
Used cars are no different than new. Know what makes and models you want with mileage. Blow and hour on Cars.com Autotrader etc and see a trend of how much they are listed for. This is your starting point. Probably can get more off on the actual deal some places mark stuff up 6 grand eveb depending how much they took the trade in for

It`s more important just to find one that isn`t a ragged out piece of crap. One that had been wrecked and fixed. Flooded etc. even with clean car faxes. Take to someone you trust mechanic wise and or Body shop to look it over. Look for obvious things. Hard to look under most vehicles on the lot but you can see a 20 k mile car with mega rust and a 20 k mile car that looks damn near new just depends where it came from

Tons of cars are auction cars. Especially on used car non dealer lots. Many newer cars at 30-40k miles are past rental cars. Nothing wrong with that but just try to find past history if possible.

Nice couple year old low mile Used cars are so dang similar priced to new ones I don`t even both anymore with used.


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I would throw the Subaru into the mix

Great Gas mileage, World class all wheel drive, safety and if you can get one with the collusion avoidance system it is amazing.
Pretty bullet proof car/SUV.
 
We`re pretty set on the GM SUV`s. With the kiddos, the wife wants a legitimate 7 passenger SUV and the GM models have some of the most spacious interiors
 
Advice:

1. Keep your options open, as others have said.
2. Do your homework and factor the price of a PPI into buying the final contender.
3. Price shop using one of the online vehicle buying sites, IMHO cars.com is the best as it is intuitive to navigate and you can tailor the search so well.
4. In searching, get to know your market. Mileage, options, model year, things like exterior/interior colors can also fetch premiums.
5. Research the dealership(s), IME (will not go into any detail) the poor online ratings are typically the most accurate representation of a dealership. Many slimeballmen, I mean salesmen, will offer some sort of discount for a good online rating. Tragic, but it happens all the time.
6. I suggest test driving at dealerships other than the dealership the car you want is at, and when you walk into them, tell them that all you want to do is test drive the car, and that you are not interested to buy.
7. When you find a vehicle that you like to drive and it`s not the one you want to buy, find the one you want to buy.
8. Before you even think about going to the dealership to get the *one*, know how you will accuire the vehicle, that being cash or financing. If you are financing, talk to your bank to see how much you are approved for and set a max price for yourself. Have all of your side of the paperwork complete before physically going to purchase the *one*.
9. If you happen to purchase the vehicle on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, (and it passes the PPI) it is in your best interest for your own sanity, to give the dealership at least four days to get the vehicle ready. A good dealership is busy and you will get frustrated having to wait all day and the salesman will get frustrated too. Giving them time works in your favor.
10. In and Out, the less time you spend in the salesmens face and viceversa, the more you two will like each other. You hate spending an entire day at the dealership and he will hate spending the entire day with you, no matter how nice he is.
11. Of course ask the salesmen how much the dealership has in the vehicle and what they`ve done to it, this will give you an idea of how much room they have to budge on a vehicle.
12. REMEMBER, IT IS A USED VEHICLE. Manufactures send brand new imperfect vehicles out their doors all the time; don`t ever expect a used vehicle to be a gem because it`s been used.
 
This is one in particular we`re quite interested in:

https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-for-sale/listing/5GAKRCKDXDJ158783/2013-buick-enclave/

We had an Enclave as a rental car we drove to Florida and back a few years ago and loved it. So, really I need to come up with a price in my head that I`m willing to accept. From the browsing I`ve done in the last week or so, their asking price is pretty fair already. Just out of curiosity I tried looking up the value on another site other than true car and this is what carfax came back with:

https://www.carfax.com/value/results

[h=1]CARFAX History-Based Value[/h]

[h=1]$24,070[/h]Retail Value
icon-info.png
Retail ValueI am buying this car at a dealership.​


[h=2]$20,920[/h]Trade-In Value
icon-info.png
Trade-In ValueI am trading in this car for another one.​


[h=2]$22,110[/h]Private Party Value
icon-info.png
Private Party ValueI am buying or selling this car myself.​



[h=2]2013 BUICK ENCLAVE[/h]VIN: 5GAKRCKDXDJ158783

  • Trim: LEATHER
  • Condition: Excellent
  • Mileage: 62,071

​

 
I just ran through the TRUEPrice and they state the price is 21,877 + 172 in dealer fees = 22,049 out the door. They have it priced very aggressively in your area, but you could always negotiate the dealer fee.
 
I hear they have more wiggly room in dealing with used cars. I looked on line a while ago for a used car. It was a CPO from a dealer. ( better car, better warranty) I went a little bit out of town to get a better price. I had the car for about 12 yrs. I later found out it was a rental. I did ask where it came from and he did not know, "I will look it up."-he never did. The last car I bought new, since the rebates were very good. It was a on-line special. I would try to get some add-ons like service contracts, extra warranty, oil changes. They may deal more with those options ? good luck !
 
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