The Safe Driver

Common Dealer Tricks to Watch Out For

**As written for The Safe Driver.

Car dealers, especially used car dealers, have a reputation for taking advantage of people due to how often it does occur. Here are a few common dealer tricks to watch out for along with advice on how to avoid mistakes when car shopping.

The unbelievably cheap car in the window or online ad

You may see an ad in the paper, online or visible from the street. They have a car that’s available at an ultra-low price! That’s not what you’d pay for 99 percent of the vehicles they sell. That is a stripped down, basic and likely used car they’re using as a teaser to get you into the dealership. Everything else on the lot is much more expensive. Don’t use these “teaser” rates as the basis for setting your car shopping budget. Do your research on what a comparable vehicle with the features you want would cost.

The incredibly low teaser rate on dealer financing

This is another case of using the best case scenario to convince people to come in. They’re promoting very low interest rates and fees only available to those with perfect credit as if it is what the average consumer would pay. If you are looking for a bad credit car loan, secure your own financing so that you don’t find yourself hit with insane dealer financing rates for those with imperfect credit because you don’t want to walk away from the car you chose.

The promise that this is the best time to buy

There are times when it is better to go car shopping than others. You’ll get great deals on last year’s car models when the new models hit the dealers, and they’re all new cars. Car salespeople tend to offer greater discounts at the end of the month when they’re trying to meet their sales quotas. However, any other “best time to buy” advertisement is based on their expectations or set for their convenience. For example, you may hear about a car dealership holding a “sale” over holiday weekends. This isn’t because they’re actually discounting the cars. They are simply advertising to people who now have the time available to spend a day on the car lot and still come back the next day to seal the deal.

A promise to give you more for your trade-in

They’re promising to give you more money for your old vehicle. How can this be a bad thing? First, they have to make their money somehow. If they give you more money for the trade-in, such as 500 dollars more for the old car, they’ll make up for it by setting a higher minimum price they’ll accept for the new car. Or they’ll make up for it in a higher interest rate or additional fees tacked onto the loan. Another reason they promise more for the trade-in is to attract people desperate to get out of their current vehicle and make them feel grateful.
This primes the customer to accept the advice of the so-called generous car salesperson and whatever they end up charging for the new car.