Bro
Texas City,#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, March 28, 2006
As you are shopping for your vehicle remember that the salesman helping you does not need to know anything about you other than the type of vehicle you are interested in, the color choice, auto or standard and what material you would like to have as an interior. I'm not saying to be rude to them by no means. But you would not give your personal information (I.E. Social Security,ID number or Your permission to run a credit report) to someone you just met in any other retail business as your trying on clothes, buying a new TV at an electronic outlet or even looking for a new home. Why must we have to do this at the auto dealership? An auto salesman is trained to ask questions and to get all the personal information they can however they will not give you information about the price or payments for the vehicle you are wanting to purchase. You will go through a qualification process throughout the whole auto buying production. I say production because these guys rehearse on their stage daily. The dealership hires professional trainers to teach the auto salesman psychological sales techniques so that they can manipulate the buyer into buying today. They use special daily techniques to confuse you and have you spending more in no time at all. You will have an offer brought to you from the sales manager by the salesman at least 3 times. The first time is ridiculously high, the second looks better but still not buying it and the third time close but still not what you asked for. This is how they play. They already know your not going to take the first 2. The third time they said that's the best they can do and the manager says we are losing money on this one, sign here and I'll get it washed and ready for you.. As he shows you the third one (by the way the first one that show emotion or talks loses) he is reading your eyes. Don't be pressured to buy today. The deal will be the same tomorrow if not better because you have to time to cool off. The auto sales process is a negotiating game to most of the auto industry and they almost always win because they know that the average Joe public will not research the information needed to dispute any wrong doing dealerships provide. In order to prevent most of the wrong doing, DO NOT finance through the dealership. Finance through a bank or credit union. If you finance through a bank then you have already blocked them from pulling off most of the tricks. Don't buy any extras unless you absolutely need them. Well you have agreed on a price and now you need to go to the F&I office to finish the paper work. Is all the negotiating over? Not so fast. The Finance & Insurance Office (F&I) is where they usually really get you. They are the last chance that the dealership might have to make a bigger profit. They will try to mislead you to believe that you have to purchase insurance, warranties and extras such as an alarm for $200 - $400.00 (Actual cost of $99.00), rust proofing (I would hope that as much as you are paying for the car that the paint sealant would protect it enough) and undercoating (Also not needed) as part of the deal. If you take the car home the same night they may call you and tell you to come back in and sign a new contract. They will tell you they could not get the bank to finance. This is called the SPOT DELIVERY. This means you will be paying a higher interest rate, higher monthly payment or maybe even a longer term if you sign the ARBITRATION fORM. If you refuse they will tell you that you own the car and that if you gave it back it would be considered a voluntary repo which would then affect your credit. If you sign the arbitration form you waive all your rights to sue. Dealers are out to make a profit and we have no problem with that. At the same time we want to make sure that you get a fair deal too.