Negotiating with a Car Salesman by Sandy Sbaraa
Some people love not only the sensation of owning a new car, but also the process of buying that new car. By that, I mean stepping into the ring with a worthy car salesman and grinding them down through an elegant, well-planned negotiation strategy. Then there are others, who get heartburn at the very thought of it. I find myself in the former camp — I actually think it’s fun. Last week, my daughter and son-in-law moved back home from Colorado. Her car died on the way back, so we had to get her transportation. Based on their financial situation and my desire to get her into something fairly new, we decided that leasing was her best option. Her job was to tell me what she liked and carry the monthly payment. I agreed to provide the down payment and costs/fees for taxes, registration, etc. We struck out at the first two dealerships, because I told them what type of payment she could carry and that we were interested
in the SUV they had advertised at those rates. Unfortunately, the SUV turned out to be a “loss leader” designed to do nothing more than get customers into the dealership, and the dealers kept ignoring the type of payment that I told them was possible. We then ended up at a third dealership. My daughter really liked their SUV. Before she drove it, I told the dealer that I wanted to confirm that the lease payment was affordable for her. He asked what she could pay,
and I responded with a figure that was reasonable ($225 a month) but not too close to her limit, because if you start with your limit, they will always go past it. After taking two test drives, my daughter decided that she liked the model one step up from entry level, since it came with some nice
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