buying a used car question

SoonerNation · Mar 21, 2012

I have $18k (actually 18.8k) and I want to buy a used chevy equinox that is priced at 21.8k. Do you all have any ideas on how I should deal with the dealer to get the car at the price I can afford? Is asking them to come down 3k unreasonable? Havent bought a new or used car in 10 years so am a bit rusty...thanks in advance...I know theres a ton of knowledge on this message board so figured its the best place to go for info...take care God Bless

Ed

mjh12795 · Mar 21, 2012

Dont let them know you have cash. Negotiate your best deal on the truck first. They are gonna keep asking you what kind of monthly payment you wanna be at. Just get to the bottom price as fast as you can. Be a dick if you need to.

boatboatboat · Mar 21, 2012

having cash will make the price higher.

people think when they say "CASH MONEY" that somehow that makes the dealer drool. Just the opposite is true, they make money selling loans to banks. in fact on a new car deal, they make more off selling the loan to a bank, than they do the car.

silver7 · Mar 21, 2012

W/that much $$, YOU have the power. Don't lose it, don't be afraid to walk if you have to. TRUST me they'll do anything to keep you in the Dealership. But, first go in knowing how much the unit is worth.

SoonerNation · Mar 21, 2012

do they go by kelly blue book?

ProPokerPlayer · Mar 21, 2012

They use the blue book but usually a used car dealer is just going by how much he has in it. Ask him where he got it, they'll probably lie but he may tell you. If he got it at an auction he may have more room to work with since he bought it prolly less than wholesale. If its a middleman type deal where he his just turning it over he may not have as much room to work with.

Defying · Mar 21, 2012

IMO, its more about the dealership you go to.... I am a research nut and helped 4 people buy used cars the last year, and I know which local dealers to start with...

gas prices are going to make SUV come down in price over the summer, at least here, people no longer need them for Winter weather.

I would HIGHLY recommend CARMAX if you have one around. They do bottom line pricing, no neg required, or even allowed. My mom bought a car there and something went wrong they went way above and beyong to make it right. I love thier company and without knowing your local dealers without a doubt thats where I would start.. and probably finish.

SoonerNation · Mar 21, 2012

thanks defying...looked at carmax their prices seemed kind of high?? will check their site again....

sparticus · Mar 22, 2012

I spent over 40 years in the auto business. I am retired, but work part time as a consultant/buyer for a pre-owned dealer, used cars are going sky high, especially low mileage gas sippers. There is a shortage of these vehicles, but you can find all the high mileage vehicles you want & they too are going at awful high prices. I spend several hours a day on the pc at sites that is just for dealers to buy & sell vehicles at all over the country. SUV's that are 4x4's are less expensive than what they sell for during the winter months, but i might add the SUV's that get decent gas mileage & ARE NOT 4x4's are still going at a pretty good price.GL

Defying · Mar 22, 2012

SoonerNation said:
thanks defying...looked at carmax their prices seemed kind of high?? will check their site again....

I would be shocked if that was the case, I've compared them to 50+ cars over the year, they are cheaper 75% of the time.

ou_guy · Mar 22, 2012

would be a hell of a deal at 18.8...how many miles etc?

SoonerNation · Mar 22, 2012

39k ouguy....i guess i get a discount for being a teacher and member of educator's union in oklahoma so who knows....I can really go to 19200 but im not telling them that....lol...the list car at 20800, I think its reasonable, with my discount for them to meet me between 18800 and 19200 no?

LineTamer+ · Mar 22, 2012

Figure out what your payment would be on a note for $18,800 over 5 years at what ever rate you can get on a used car....then when he keeps drilling you about a monthly payment, tell him the amount you calculate for the 'loan'. See where he goes with that...

ie....$18,800 at 8% for 5 years is $381.20. tell him you can afford no more than 385 a month and see what he says...

KAPPER · Mar 22, 2012

Go to Big Red Auto with Bob Stoops.

SoonerNation · Mar 22, 2012

Line tamer not sure if i understand what youre saying...I have a blank check and can write it for 19200 max....got financing through my online bank. Length or amt of payment wont mean anything to the dealership. Bottom line is can I get the car I want for that price I guess...

CHOPTALK · Mar 22, 2012

SoonerNation said:
Line tamer not sure if i understand what youre saying...I have a blank check and can write it for 19200 max....got financing through my online bank. Length or amt of payment wont mean anything to the dealership. Bottom line is can I get the car I want for that price I guess...

He said that so you wont have to revel that you are paying cash.
What you need to do is allow them to run a credit check and let them think you will buy on credit.
If they think you are buying with credit they will work with you more on the price.

Just figure out what the monthly payment would be IF you are making payments on the amount that you are willing to pay for in cash.

Once you get that monthly figure figured out on what the monthly payment would be IF you made payments then you can tell the dealer what you would be willing to pay a month.

Lets say 19K is 380 per month.

Tell them you can only play 380 a month.

Then after all that is done get out your check book and pay cash.

They have to think you are paying with credit to get the best deal.

If you tell them up front you are paying cash they will not work with you as much.

This is the opposite of what most be think but its true.

SoonerNation · Mar 22, 2012

thx Chop that makes sense...I guess they dont like when we turn the tides and have the control. lol..

SoonerNation · Mar 22, 2012

thinking about what youre saying Chop, obviously they can afford to come down on price if you finance with them as they will be making more off the finance charges than if you finance through someone else or pay cash...makes total sense never thought of it like that

CHOPTALK · Mar 22, 2012

SoonerNation said:
thinking about what youre saying Chop, obviously they can afford to come down on price if you finance with them as they will be making more off the finance charges than if you finance through someone else or pay cash...makes total sense never thought of it like that

Yep.

I bought a GMC truck 3 years ago.
I had a GM Mastercard that built up $1800 in credit to go towards a new GMC vehicle.

I made the huge mistake of telling them upfront I had $1800 credit on the card.
They took that into account when they were coming up with there offers.

Basically they were going to factor that $1800 into there offer to make it sound like they were doing me a favor by making the $1800 I earned on the card for 5 years as part of there offer when that was something I earned myself with 5% back on all purchases.

Realizing this at the last second I left that dealership and went to another dealership without telling them about my $1800 credit I had on my card.

I end up getting a much much better offer at the next place because they had no idea I had that $1800 credit in my back pocket.

Once they dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's and gave me my final offer which was a much better offer then the first place I pulled out my GM card and said "oh by the way I have this GM card with $1800 I want you to apply to that final offer you just made.
I could sense the displeasure when I did that.
I thought it was great. It was comical the look on his face. He made some funny remark like he was giving the truck away and he never sold that truck for that cheap before trying to make me feel bad. LOL

That dealer was outside of my town but if I would have used that same strategy at the 1st place there is not doubt in my mind I would have gotten a deal that was close to the same as the 2nd place.

So the principle is the same with cash/credit.

If they dont think you are paying cash they will go down on the price because they will figure in how much extra they think they are going to make on finance charges.

They have to think you are going to go credit all the way to the last second.
You even need to let them run your credit just to make it look you are about to finance.

SoonerNation · Mar 22, 2012

thats an excellent example Chop...I think yesterday I made the mistake of telling them I had obtained financing elsewhere......they were supposed to call me today but they havent so far....maybe they realize that they arent going to make much on the deal and hope that I go away...

buying a used car question

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