I had the pleasure of dealing with a few of these services over the years. Services of which play the role of the "good guy" when it comes to you buying your next car. From a marketing perspective it's absolutely brilliant. I mean, directly playing off of the general public hatred toward car dealerships and the sleazy stigma of a dealer? Pure poetry but it's also not very nice and really just throws them right into the same bag as the car dealer. I think you could really debate the legitimacy of such a service because in the end you are still going on the same thing, some other guy's word.
In my opinion you are just adding a second salesman to the deal. Now TWO guys wanna get paid instead of one. Generally I believe there is a flat fee for these services and one in particular told me he got paid $500 per sale for the service. I can also say that in most all circumstances they seemed quick to form an "alliance" with me once they were sure I had what they needed.
They are supposed to get a car for you at a price you wouldn't be able too, right? Really all they are doing is playing the good cop and since this is a car negotiating service it is very easy for them to find out truly what that customer can afford and where they want to be. They automatically have the buyers trust so the buyer pours their heart out to them on how much they can really afford. If the negotiator sees he may not be able to satisfy the expectations once again he is trusted so it is easier for him to educate and "bump" the buyers expectations. Basically they get given answers from the buyer that I had to pry for and more or less share that with someone like me over the phone when the negotiating happened. Then based on research you or I could find we would feel each other out and ultimately work up a deal. I almost always felt like the people could have gotten a just as good if not better deal had they just came in and did it themselves. The deals were never bad but they were never amazing either.
The point is if it's a good deal you are after. You are just adding a middle man and paying for it. If you do your research well, there is no tool available to them that isn't to you. They still have to negotiate too and it's more likely they will pal up with the store to make their life easier. Just remember there is nothing magical about these negotiators and they are people just like you and me.
On the other hand. Maybe you don't seek them to save you money. Maybe you work 3rd shift or you are just a very busy person. Perhaps just the general confrontation conflicts with your personality. Maybe you don't even know what you need to buy a car, think of it like having an attorney to guide you through the process. Just remember, prosecutors and attorneys have lunch and sometimes went to school together. I cannot completely take it away from them though. I did some searches and Cartelligent looks very professional and also aid in locating if there is something in particular you cannot find. I am not posting a link because while I do not endorse them, that is just an example of one. I just wanted to point out that I never saw anyone get any spectacular savings using one, and that's excluding what they paid to have the negotiating done.
Bottom line. Wanna save money......don't waste your money here. If you are one to pay for convenience it makes perfect sense.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Car Buying Services
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