Is There Really Such A Thing As An Honest Car Dealer ?

Next to buying a house your purchase of a vehicle will probably be the largest purchase you make and at the price of new vehicles probably not one you’ll repeat more than a few times during your life. But with so many car dealers promising the world it can become quite a daunting task. Is there really such a thing as an honest car dealer?

The answer is resoundingly “Most Certainly!” Although just as there are shady businesses in every walk of life of course there are also shady car dealers but they are the minority and with a little home work you’ll easily spot them. The industry as a whole has been working hard over the past decade to clean up that ill conceived image of the “sleazy car salesperson.” Whether its working I guess remains to be seen.

The fact is our cars our important to us. In fact many would agree that they are an extension of ourselves, our economic status, our personality, and our personal style. Many of us form an emotional bond with our cars even giving them pet names like “Blue” or “The Dragon.”

When something happens to our car, even the smallest scratch, it can upset us, tick us off. And when we go looking for that perfect new car there’s nothing we hate worse than a salesmen trying to push a car that simply has no curb appeal to you.

When we choose a car there’s a lot of psychology that goes into the decision. The look, the aerodynamics, the bells and whistles, the feel of the steering wheel in our hand, the comfort of the seats, the extension of our self that we see in the car.

So how do we find what we want? Start by doing your research online as to what’s available on the market this season. Then do some research on your local dealers to see who has the best reputation for customer service not just when you’re buying but for after sales service as well.

When you’re shopping on the lot if you don’t like the salesperson then ask for someone else. If you’re getting bad vibes from the salesperson don’t deal with him or her, find another salesperson that connects with you.

Sadly too often a dealership with get a reputation about being a shady place to deal based on the impression of a salesperson. The dealership itself may be one of the best in the area but we make our decisions bases on who we meet face to face. If you run into a situation like this be sure to speak to the manager. They may not even be aware of the problem and most often will be anxious to rectify it.

The best time to go shopping for a new vehicle is the end of December. That’s when the best buys are offered trying to entice Christmas shoppers to leave the mall and do some shopping. This can be a tough period for the car lots so they are often anxious to wheel and deal.

July to October is also a good time because the next years models are on their way in and the current years models have their prices slashed anywhere from $500 to $5000 dollars. There are often secret factory rebates that you won’t even know about until you get serious and down to the dicker price.

Do your research. With the internet there’s no reason to get taken on price. Remember a dealer has overhead too and pricing their inventory is part of doing business. Just because their price is higher than what you’ve found online doesn’t mean they are crooks, it just means that’s their price point to make a profit.

Now that said once you do your research and know what that vehicle is worth online and at various dealerships across the country you’ve got great negotiation power. The dealer can choose to match the price and move a vehicle or you can take a trip across state and buy it elsewhere.

The internet has certainly allowed for much smarter car shoppers. With just a click of the mouse you can now find out the true market value of a vehicle, the invoice price, and the cost for option packages. No longer are car buyer’s blind consumers that can only trust the word of the salesperson. The internet has empowered buyers! So use the tools that are there for you.

You need to be careful during the negotiation phase because this is where dirty tricks can surface. If you have a trade in sell it yourself because if you trade it in the value you get will most likely be only on paper. That is unless you negotiated a cash buy price and then told them about the trade, which by the way is a smart move, then you will get the true value of what they are offering on trade, and chances are you won’t like it!

Watch for the low ball game where a salesmen gives you a price that’s let’s say $1000 lower than the competitors price and you bite. But suddenly you find the deal isn’t genuine because now you are faced with all these additional charges such as handling charge, a documentation fee, or the salesmen suddenly realizes he forgot to charge you for the sport rims.

This is a sneaky tactic designed to get you hooked and so thrilled with your “new car” that you pay the extra even though reluctantly. Don’t fall for it. Get up, say no thanks, and head to another dealer. There is another exact car somewhere that you can own without sleazy sales tactics.

Finally make sure you do a full inspection before you drive off. Look for any imperfections, scratches, flaws that you aren’t happy with and make sure that the repair of these is included in the written part of your bill so that you can later have the dealer address these issues.

Buying a new car is a large investment and you should not feel pressured nor should you have to deal with dirty tactics. There are plenty of honest car dealers out there so do your homework and find that honest dealer and your buying experience will be pleasurable!


Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.