Car Dealer Tricks You Need to Know Before You Buy a Car
Car salespeople aren’t necessarily evil, but they’re the only people who can prevent you from getting the best price for your next car. It’s a good idea to keep these four car dealer traps in mind the next time you decide to go car shopping. Doing so might save you the gut-wrenching regret of being screwed over and forced to overpay for your new vehicle.
Negotiating on Monthly Payments
When the salesperson starts talking about monthly payments, watch out. Clever salespeople want you to focus only on low monthly payments because it gives them room to inflate other variables, such as the loan interest and length. This increases the dealer’s profit — while you spend thousands more on the car overall.
Telling You Your Credit Sucks
If you don’t know your credit score, all dealerships have to do to rip you off is say you don’t qualify for a better rate. Perhaps a bank would offer a 5% loan; the dealer might say 7% is the lowest for your credit score.
Baiting and Switching
Salespeople can disarm you with humor and appear to be on your side in your battle against a faceless manager in the back room. You might even get a great trade-in offer or discount on the total price.
Pushing Add-Ons and Fees
Finally, be on the lookout for extras added to your purchase or financing. Dealers can increase your car payment price by “packing” extras like an extended warranty, perhaps saying it’s “only $40 more” a month. That $40 extra will cost you $2,400 over a 60-month loan.
Buying a Car
A wide range of cars brands are available on the market. However, the models of these brands are generally limited to 4-door sedans or van-type vehicles. Because most car owners use drivers, 2-door sport cars are uncommon and are not in high demand.
Because cars are considered a luxury item, there is a substantial tax added onto the manufacturer’s price. This greatly inflates the price of cars. Importing a car from abroad is rarely done by your average expatriate because the customs offices charges up to 300% duty on the car’s value – which they assess.
according to the regulations, the engine size of a car may not exceed 3,000 CCs. Cars exceeding this engine size are occasionally imported under special conditions (i.e., on request of a diplomat or for special government functions), however the legal documents of these cars may not be complete after they have been released from the original importers possession due to the special provisions for their import. Smuggling of luxury cars also occurs. Needless to say, the documents for these smuggled vehicles are not complete. Therefore, be aware that if you purchase a 3,000 CC car, it may be difficult to resell and may in fact be confiscated by the authorities.
Ranking diplomats are eligible to import luxury cars through their embassy offices. We have heard stories where diplomats use this facility to import a luxury car, sell it to an Indonesian and then they drive a local car. Be cautious about buying one of these cars as paperwork hassles could definitely be a result.
Consumers who want to take out a loan to buy a motorcycle or car will have to pay at least 25 percent of the total cost as a downpayment, as opposed to as low as 5 percent to 10 percent in the past. This regulation was passed by the government financial regulators in an attempt to curb excessive lending practices by lenders and banks
Things Car Dealers Don’t Want You to Know
Are you car shopping? If so, you’ve probably seen a lot of offers from car dealers in your area. If you’re looking for the best deal, knowledge is power. Knowing about financing and other dealer costs can help you avoid paying too much. Here are some of the top things car dealers don’t want you to know.
Dealerships get rewards for financing through certain lenders.
Everyone loves loyalty rewards, and car dealers are no exception. The dealer’s finance department sends your credit history, as well as the price and actual value of the car, to different lenders. Each of those lenders is competing—but not to get you the best deal. They’re competing to get the dealer’s business. So the dealer will naturally pick the lender that gives them the best incentive, regardless of whether the deal’s best for you or not.
Dealerships don’t want you to have your own financing.
Dealers don’t just sell cars, they sell your business to lenders for a profit. They’re counting on making money on your loan. But you can take steps to avoid paying more than you should. It’s smart to shop ahead by looking up the kind of car you want on a site like Autoland, where you can compare prices. Once you know about how much your car will cost, you can work on getting outside financing.
Dealerships use bait-and-switch low rate offers to make money.
You’ve probably seen dealerships offering 0% financing on certain cars. How do they make money off that kind of deal? By using that low rate to lure more people onto the lot. Once prospective buyers fall in love with a car and fill out their paperwork, not all of them will qualify for that 0% rate. Dealers count on the volume of cars sold to balance out any loss they might take on those who claim the 0% rate.
You don’t have to buy GAP insurance through the dealer.
GAP (guaranteed asset protection) insurance protects you against having to pay out your loan balance if your car is stolen or totaled. Some dealers require you to buy GAP insurance if you finance through the dealer.
Most important features a car dealer website should have
Car dealer websites can make or break the dealership, and it all comes down to how feature-rich the website is. As with anything else in life, quality takes precedence over quantity here. The primary reason behind people using online car dealers before visiting an actual showroom is because of the ease of use of such a system. If a car dealer website only complicates things, then that will betray the primary objective of having the website
Advanced Search
Choosing a car is one of the most complicated ventures a person can embark upon. There are so many options and variables that a simple search option just won’t cut it. Your website should have a more elaborate search option where the customers are presented with multiple options like choosing a price range and filtering content based on a specific feature, color, engine capacity, number of doors, luggage space, etc. This helps the customers to narrow down the search results to exactly what they want which can help them in making the right choice with minimal ease. If only a simple search option is available, then the customer will be forced to sift through hundreds or even thousands of results with most of them being useless with regards to what they are looking for. They would probably opt to close the website instead. By providing dynamic and targeted results, you can convert prospective customers into faithful long-term associations
Full vehicle details
The best thing about cars today is that there are so many choices within a single price range. Most customers will be able to narrow their options down to a few vehicles that all have the same significant features. They will only have minute differences like a different sound system or an additional driver-aid element. One of these features will decide the customer’s final choice. That is why it is paramount that your website displays the full vehicle details. An incomplete or partial description will irritate customers, and they will find it difficult to trust your dealership with their car-buying decisions.
High-quality car photos
Looks are often what ultimately decides if a car will be sold or not. If two vehicles with a very similar feature-set are presented to a customer, then they will choose the car that looks better to them. Your website has to make this easier for them, and that is where high-quality photos come in. Always endeavor to upload multiple images of the highest quality for each car. This will allow your customers to get the best visual impression of the vehicle in question from the comfort of their homes. If, on the other hand, the pictures on your website are blurry, skewed or does not show the car correctly then the customer will be left with more questions than answers and this doubt will drive them away from your website and your business. Just as a good salesperson will exhibit a product in the best manner possible, your site has to do the same, and high-quality photos are crucial to achieving that.
Hot Deals
Chances are pretty high that your car dealership’s website isn’t the only one the customer will come across. They might be shopping around, and one way to grab the attention of such customers is by providing hot deals. What is more important is that these deals should be displayed in an eye-catching manner without distracting them from the rest of the website. Many car websites commit the cardinal crime of displaying their hot deals in large banners or popups which has a high likelihood of annoying the visitors to your website. Use methods that can show the hot deals without obscuring the rest of the site.
Car Salesman Training Tips That Create an Engaging Car Lot
When you’re a new car salesman, training tips that promote honesty, trust, and integrity will help you rise to the top quickly.
Beginning a new job in auto sales is exciting — your entire career is in front of you, and there’s so much opportunity to succeed and learn. You have books full of car salesman training tips, car manuals, and a subscription to every industry magazine you could find. If you’re new to the industry, though, or just sales in general, you may be a bit confused by the way the customers at your dealership interact with you. You know that you’re an honest person with good intentions, but they’re treating you like you’ve already done something wrong. What gives?
The frustrating fact is that like many trustworthy salespeople, you have to overcome a stigma. The car buyers you’re meeting have either been burned in the past by sketchy dealerships, or they have a wall up based on stereotypes that continue to haunt auto dealerships around the country
Forget those car salesman training tips that don’t feel right
How can you move past customer baggage and preconceived notions? Think about the car salesman training tips you received when you started at your dealership. Did some of them make you uncomfortable? Chances are, your intuition was right on.
Get customer names upfront (and remember them)
Your first inclination may be to approach a customer and say, “Welcome to XYZ Dealership, I’m John. What can I help you with today?” That, however, is wrong. Never forget the Dale Carnegie quote from How to Win Friends and Influence People: “Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Get the customer’s name immediately — “Welcome to XYZ Dealership, I’m John – and you are?” — remember it, and use it throughout the entire sales process