How To Negotiate A Car Price With A Seller: Negotiating Like A Pro

Chances are that you have had to negotiate item prices a couple of times in your life. Negotiating is part of our daily life. The seller wants their item to sell at a profitable price, you want to buy at the lowest reasonable price. So, you both start haggling back and forth until you find a mutually satisfactory bargain. Negotiating is involved in every trade, even when you want to buy a car.

For brand new cars, there might not be enough space to negotiate prices. There is always a standard market price or something like it. If you want to buy used cars, however, you are on fertile ground for price negotiations. You can even find used cars for sale online or offline.

So, do you want to buy a used car without being over charged? Do you want to know how to handle car price negotiations like a pro whether it is your first time it not? Well, you have come to the right place.

Do your homework thoroughly: Research like crazy

This is the very first step for obvious reasons. You want to have an idea of what car you to buy its price range before you walk to a car dealership. Otherwise, they will eat you raw, eat your money raw, all with smiling faces. Don’t blame them though. Just like you, they are trying to get the best price they can get from the car sale.

Visit websites that have used cars for sale. Research on different car models and their prices. Most preferably, the particular brand of used car that you want. This independent research gives you an idea of what to expect.

When you’re going to buy your car at the dealership, go there like someone that knows their onions.

Do your field work thoroughly: Visit different dealerships

This always works.

Visiting different dealerships would help you get the best deals. In fact, If you can even drop hints about how you have been to other dealerships and how you might return to them if you’re not satisfied with the car price your current dealership is offering. The negotiator would then be trying to beat the prices of dealerships.

Stay level headed. Don’t fall for sweet words

After you have done your research and are well armed with all the knowledge and facts that you need, the last thing you need is for your emotions to ruin things for you.

The car sales representative or the car seller (or whoever you’re negotiating with) would definitely try to sweet talk you into getting the car at their own price. It is their responsibility. However, it is also your responsibility to remain calm and focused.

If you did your research well, there’s most likely nothing they would tell you about the car that you didn’t already know. Stick to the facts of your research.

Know when to make your purchase

There are times when you would most likely get the best deals. This is when you should visit a dealership to buy used cars. You can also buy new cars at these periods but remember I said earlier that there usually isn’t much to negotiate on new cars.

For instance, dealerships often have timely sales goals to meet. It could be in every four months, 6 months or annually. Visiting them towards the end of these periods could increase your chances of getting better deals.

Also, buying on a weekend is out of it. During workdays, most dealerships often have fewer customers. So, when you visit on a workday you would have more time to convince the negotiator.

Negotiate the price in bits

The car seller would want you to negotiate the total price. You should not allow this. Negotiate every stated price every step of the way. This may take a lot of time but it would be worth it eventually.

Look out for imperfections

Inspect the car thoroughly. Especially if you’re buying a used car, check for scratches, damages, or just about anything that gives you a hint about the past of the car.

You may be asking yourself, “why do I need to look for imperfections on the car I want to buy?”

Well, doing this gives you a bargaining chip. Discovering damages like that would help reduce the perceived worth of the car. Hence, reducing the car price and allowing you to be able to negotiate some more.

You could even take it a step further and go along with a professional car mechanic. Have them inspect the car and report whatever isn’t perfect about the car. That’s some extra bargaining chip for you.

Final words

At first, this could be quite intimidating for you, especially if you’re new to this. However, if you stick to these guidelines you shouldn’t have much problems getting a cheap car price. You just have to be confident. Even if you aren’t, act like it.

What next?

Get along now and start searching for your dream car. Also, when you intend to buy a car online, you might not have enough space for price haggling, but you are most likely to get a cheap price online.