New Car Rebates and Incentives - What's Dealer Cash?

  An important reason to explore new car incentives and rebates on your own is because of a rebate which is not known by all consumers. It is referred to as dealer cash. The difference between this rebate vs. any other cash rebates on a list of incentives is that it can be given at the dealers discretion. A car dealer can choose to give away all or some of this money or none at all. Any of this rebate that is retained by dealer from a car deal goes straight to their profit. Now some stores are real up front about them and roll them into sales prices and run an add campaign that way but I can tell you there were plenty of times I would block it out and act like it didn't even exist if there was one. Pretty crappy of me huh? It's the cold hard truth though, I won't say I was proud of it. If you don't research your incentives before going in to the car dealer at least make sure you bring dealer cash up when discussing new car pricing. You might have to prod and pry but it is likely they will come clean pretty quickly if there is any dealer cash to give. If they are smart the embarrassment and bad word of mouth won't be worth it to them. I am going to go out on a limb here and say most dealers are not trying to retain this money like they used to because the Internet has made the car buying experience far more transparent than it has ever been. Knowing what it is and if it exists on the particular car you are buying though is still absolutely necessary to ensure you are getting the best possible deal you can be. Let me make your car shopping experience easy now by sharing a link to all of the car incentives available in your region.

>>>>>New Car Rebates and Incentives<<<<<

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Credit Life and Disabillity - Financial Car Buying Tips

  Our heath and just our overall lives are often taken for granted by us. Things we usually don't think about let alone want to think about can happen. Credit life and disability insurances are designed to pay toward your outstanding loan balance on your car in the event you die or are injured and cannot work. Pretty morbid to think about I know. It is a valid product you will be likely be presented with in the finance office at a car dealer.

  Like any insurance it is a blessing when you need it and you have it. When you don't have it and need it you wish you had it. Insurance is something none of us like to pay for but it is a necessary evil. I know what it's like to be severely injured, without health insurance, and unemployed all at the same time. I was just damn lucky at that time in my life I did not have a car payment. If I did have one I would have fallen behind real quick. The next time I have a car loan I will be looking into credit life and disability for sure.

 Like any insurance. You need to shop for the best deal. It is most likely that the best deal on such policies won't be found at a car dealership. Just like with some of the other services I have mentioned that are offered in the finance office. The dealer has placed themselves as a middle man and everyone involved between the dealer and the insurance underwriter needs to get paid. The dealer is more or less an affiliate to the credit life and disability programs offered within that store. I will get some links up for some of the more competitive credit life and disability carriers. Until then this is definitely one to shop around for and if you consider yourself to be financially responsible I highly recommend the product.

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An Internet Car Buying Tip - FSBO and long distance buying

  There are times when you may find yourself looking at cars that are being sold on Ebay, Craigslist, or sites like AutoTrader and Cars.com. On all of these types of websites you will find cars that are both for sale by owner and those that are being sold by dealers.

  As an Internet manager I can tell you that I used all of the resources to advertise cars. I would tend to put obscure or high demand but limited supply vehicles on these sites. I liked putting aged units with "blowout prices" and our cheaper stuff on Craigslist. Although I never had much success on Ebay I would list some used cars on there as well as new. Typically upper management would request I list certain vehicles on Ebay. Most being vehicles we desperately needed to get out from underneath of. Like a last years model new car or some bastard pre-owned unit we could not seem to get rid of to save our lives.

  All of these sites are designed to do one thing. Get maximum exposure to the listing. With that said. You can quickly find yourself looking at cars hundreds or even thousands of miles away depending on the search criteria you are allowing yourself. To a dealer these listings serve as both getting maximum exposure to their inventory or simply just to establish contact with any potential buyer who may request information about a certain vehicle. In other words, you may call or email a dealer about an Ebay or Craigslist car to only find you are no longer interested in that unit. There is a good possibility that if that dealer now has your email address or phone number they will still try to find something to sell you. I just want you to expect this if you call or email a store about a vehicle on any of these sites. If they are aggressive they are going to keep you in theirs contacts.

  As an Internet manager I had some folks drive 12 hours to buy a car. Hell, I had even picked up people at the airport who flew in to buy a car. Is there some money to be saved by buying cars this way? In some cases the potential is definitely there. However, it is up to you to cover all of your bases before making such a journey. I personally was very transparent with people when I described vehicles to customers by email or over the phone. I was more than happy to provide any vehicle history reports like Carfax or Autocheck and gave any information I could about a vehicles condition no matter how insignificant it may have seemed. It was important to me that the vehicle was everything I described to them as I didn't want any disappointment or problems when it was time to make the transaction. You are going to have to use some of your own judgement to determine if a dealer is being up front about everything so there isn't any surprises when you arrive. The odds are that any dealer doesn't want any surprises when you arrive either so they will make every effort to ensure the transaction will be smooth. I would also highly recommend getting either faxes or emails about all of the paperwork that will be performed when you arrive. There is also a good chance here that you may be crossing a state line with your new or used vehicle. As I have said in an earlier article I wrote called Buying a Car Out of State & other helpful links . The procedure can vary from state to state when it comes to buying a car out of state. You may or may not have to pay taxes at the point of purchase or not at all. You are going to want to know how registrations and titles will be transferred.  DO NOT hesitate to get all of the details regarding this type of transaction in writing and even talk to a finance manager over the phone and review the details with him.


  It is very important that you weigh out or rationalize any long distance purchases before following through with them. Travel or freight expenses can add up real quick. Personally, I would have to feel I was getting a pretty significant savings to buy a car in such a manner. You won't catch me hopping on planes to save a few hundred bucks. I would also have to ensure that nothing about the purchase was final until I arrived and inspected the vehicle for myself. Even though I myself sold vehicles doing paperwork via FedEx and shipping the vehicle to the customer. My honesty made the transactions good and the customer happy but I am not going to say you are going to find that everywhere.


  I myself have never bought a car off of Ebay. I know enough about and use Ebay enough though that if you arrive to finalize the purchase of a car you won and it isn't up to snuff. You don't have to buy it. Misrepresentation of any item on Ebay is grounds to open any dispute case in their resolution center. If you arrive to find a car listing to be false in any way. Ebay has your back on this. If Ebay does anything well. It's protect their buyers.


  The main things to keep in mind when making such unique purchases is justifying the savings vs. the extra hoops you will be jumping through to get that car back home and into your driveway. Understand the terms of the purchase before making the trip. Above all, ask lots of questions. Whether it be a dealer or private party. Never hesitate to ask a lot of questions and get those answers in writing. If they want to earn your business. Trust me, they will understand and be obliged to provide the information you request. Also, I hope this doesn't happen to anyone but if you get there and it isn't everything they said it was. Don't feel pressured to buy it anyway. At least without some concession on the seller's end such as reducing a price to make things right. Keeping your buying more localized of course is going to avoid all of these woes because it is easier to go see the vehicle and you will be out less travel expense if you do.


  I think there are some good deals to be had out there when it comes to buying long distance. If your model of choice is a car that is a "dime a dozen" though. Stay local. You won't find yourself reaping big savings on mass produced vehicles like Camry, Impala, or Fusion by stepping outside of your area. It may be more beneficial to look outside of your area though if the vehicle you choose is odd and limited in your area or perhaps you are wanting a significantly older car with some unusually low miles for the year. Research is the key here and is the best car buying tip I can give when making a long distance purchase.


  One more thing I want to add is that if you are buying from a private party and need to independently obtain a vehicles history report. Which I HIGHLY recommend. There are two major choices out there and they are Carfax and Autocheck. I dealt with both of them plenty since they have been around. Both are every bit as comprehensive as the other but Autocheck has always been less expensive. If you need to obtain an Autocheck vehicle history report you can get started here. Autocheck is an Experian company which also provides credit reports. Good luck and I hope you find that diamond in the rough!

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Credit an Issue? Don't Do this then - Financial Car Buying Tip

    Perhaps credit is an issue for you. We've all been down on our luck before but if you have been making efforts to build your credit score don't blow it now. Now that you have built up or reestablished enough credit to get a loan it's time to do some research and find out which lenders in your area who specialize in not so perfect credit. As Always. I will preach finding your own financing before you go to buy a car. If credit is an issue. Your options are going to be narrow.

  What you are going to want to look for is a lender who specializes in secondary auto credit. Second chance auto credit is what it is referred to as well. Some stores will claim to specialize in second chance credit. While they may. They just simply have a finance Manager working for them with a long established relationship with the secondary lenders in the area. Unfortunately, a second chance credit finance manager can be one of the biggest slimeballs in the business you have ever met. They can be real good at putting you at their mercy real quick. Basically, hurt your feelings about your finances and make you feel damn lucky if you even get a car at all. I witnessed this time and time again and it made me sick. Watching a family who desperately needs a vehicle and has credit issues paying an absolute premium for what they drove out of the lot in. It was disgusting. Disgusting to know that the finance manager just got them approved through a lender they could have just gone to themselves and been approved. Approved for 1,2,3.......hell, who knows how many less interest points than the second chance credit jerk quoted at the dealer. A second chance finance guy usually has little problems in ripping someone's head off with a few extra interest points because he will establish himself as an authority in bad credit and present it as a "this is just the way it is" kind of thing. Profiting off of desperation to put it simply. Don't find yourself being so desperate to get a car that you ignore everything it takes to get there. Such as interest rates and price of the vehicle. My point is here. A second chance credit officer is no more or less of a middle man than any other finance manager. They themselves can't approve shit. They get on the phone with the banks and plead and beg for a low rate they can build some profit for themselves onto just like the others. You can cut this goof out of the deal just as well as a regular finance manager. Save yourself the trouble. You don't want to even meet a second chance finance manager at a dealer. There is a good chance he or she is living high off the hog and they are not your friend.

  I will tell you what I would do though if I had credit issues and I required second chance financing. What you want to find out is who that second chance guy is dealing with. Since these loans are high risk for lenders they will bought through local lenders. I would do some searches for second chance credit in the area I lived and start there. I would make some phone calls and try to assess which ones sound promising and then visit the ones I choose. If you are able to get a pre-approval through any of them. You will then know what you can buy. Once pre-approval has been achieved that lender will give you the criteria your new/used vehicle must meet. Such as the year, miles, price, etc. The car you are buying is that lender's collateral so it is likely there will be some somewhat strict conditions you may have to meet in terms of the vehicle you choose. So let's say. At this point for example. I have been approved for a loan and I have to find a vehicle that is a 2007 or newer with less than 50k miles and I can buy for $15,000. Those are vague conditions but it will be something like that. Now I at least know what types of vehicles I can truly shop. What I wouldn't want to do though is reveal to any dealer that I require second chance financing. Even though I am already pre-approved at this point. Letting the dealer know I am going through second chance financing could potentially kill a lot of negotiating power and just the overall seriousness I am taken with. Once I found a vehicle that may work for me I would then let my salesman know I was ready to work up a deal on it. At this point a good salesman will begin to poke and prod at your finances if he hasn't already. I would kindly let him know I have already made arrangements and I am pre-approved. He may go on to say things like " with whom, may I ask?" or "maybe we should take a look at your credit, maybe we could do better." Replying with something like "no thank you, I am plenty confident in my sources" may get him or her to back off a bit. The reality is this is your business and you don't have to share it with anyone. Keep your finances to yourself. If he wants to make a sale he will play by your rules. You simply want to get a purchase order for the car you want to buy so you can take it back to your lender to see if it meets the conditions they have set for your auto loan. Hopefully, at this point all is well and your lender approves your purchase sending you back to get your car. Now once you go back to the store to go through the finance office the financial cat will be out of the bag and they will know who you are getting your loan through simply because the lienholder will have to be typed on your paperwork somewhere. At this point it's ok if they know this. We've already bypassed the problem areas for someone with bad credit at the dealer. Which are getting hooked in by the second chance finance manager and losing our negotiating power with a salesman.

  Another great car buying tip I can give in terms of credit is DO NOT run around town to 20 different dealers and let them run inquiries on your credit (I don't want you to let a store run your credit period). This WILL drop you credit score. It makes you look like a trigger happy loose canon on paper and lenders don't want to see this. Not running more than a half a dozen inquiries within a month or so shouldn't hurt anything though. Remember that these dealers all get their loans through the same source and people all to often get the misconception that there is something "magical" one store can do for you that another cannot.

  Having bad credit is bad enough. That last thing anyone needs when trying to build their FICO score back up is a car they paid too much for with an inflated interest rate keeping your monthly payment higher than it needs to be. Do some research on second chance credit in your area. Make an educated decision on which ones sound the strongest. Avoid as many multiple credit inquiries in a small time frame as possible. Keep your credit siuation to yourself though the negotiating process and you have done everything you can as a person with bad credit can do to still get a good deal on a car. The main objective here is not to put yourself at the dealer's mercy. Trust me. If they know credit is an issue. They will play off of it if they can.

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The Interference Engine - What is it and what does it mean for a car owner?

  Something I have and always will take into consideration when considering a vehicle or not is whether or not the particular vehicle uses what they refer to as an interference engine or interference motor. What makes this such a valuable car buying tip is that it can have a great impact on your overall peace of mind as a vehicle owner and has much influence on the potential cost to maintain that vehicle. This is a car buying tip that applies to both new and used cars.

  Without getting too technical. Most of us are aware that a car's engine possesses both valves and pistons. When your engine is working properly these parts move in a fashion where these two parts are crossing each others path of motion without collision. A piston moves down after combustion and an exhaust valve immediately opens up and momentarily sits in that "line of fire" that the piston just inhabited to release those exhaust vapors. This works just the same for any intake valve(s) during the engine's intake cycle. This whole process happens in the blink of an eye and the coordinating parts are kept in sync by the timing belt/chain.

  Timing belt or chain maintenance is a major part of a vehicles maintenance. Unfortunately, this is neglected by many consumers. It is easy for us to talk ourselves out of a high dollar maintenance expense. Especially, when everything appears to be working just fine. However, it just is not a part that can be easily visually inspected nor is it a part that really warrants an inspection. They were intended to be changed out in intervals. Manufacturer's recommendations for timing chain/belt intervals will vary but most service departments will likely recommend the 60-70k mile window.

 Both timing belts and chains come with their pros and cons but they both also share the same end result. Failure. Whether you have a timing belt or chain. They both have the potential to fail at some point. Rubber breaks down and cracks. Metal can weaken. Both have the potential to stretch. The heating and cooling of an engine is a rough environment to any type of material regardless of it's strength. Driving around with an aged and worn timing belt or chain runs the risk of breakage or "jumping time". Jumping time is caused by belt or chain stretch and carries the the same risk of catastrophic engine failure with breakage. When an engine jumps time it means the teeth in the belt or vice versa in the case of chain have changed position with the coordinating pulley. Hence, now the motor is not operating in sync with itself. The result being internal collision with many vital and very expensive moving parts.

  The cost to replace a timing belt or chain can range from hundreds of dollars to possibly thousands on some of your upper end luxury imports. The part itself generally isn't terribly expensive. It can just be very labor intensive in some cases to replace. I can promise you though that in the case of an interference motor. The cost to replace and maintain is far less than if it breaks or jumps time. Valves, pistons, water pumps, and lots of labor are what you can expect to pay for in the event of failure.

  I am not saying that buying a vehicle without an interference motor is a free license to procrastinate about your vehicles maintenance. You just are not going to be faced with the financial nightmare of engine overhaul in the event of failure like the interference engine but you will be left equally as stranded on the side of the road.

Knowing if you have a non-interference engine or not can save you a lot of headache later.

  There are still a great number of vehicles that I even like that possess an interference engine under the hood. As a potential owner though. I want to know and so should you. I simply wanted to educate you on a factor that you may never have been aware of that you may possibly want to consider when buying a car. Hell, maybe you're not even in the market for buying a car but now you know for the sake of your own vehicle and it's maintenance.

  I have reason to believe that many people have never changed either their timing belt or chain for the life of their vehicle. After 80k miles or though it is nothing other than pure luck after that point and everytime they start their car is like drawing straws. As a former car salesman I can tell you most folks either never change them when they are supposed to or not at all. In the case of considering a pre-owned vehicle I myself would want to know if the belt or chain had been replaced on an aged vehicle. Interference engine or not. If timing belt or chain service has been performed by a reputable shop. you can find a service sticker located under the hood somewhere usually. Generally on the timing belt cover itself. If it is a used car that had been serviced by the store it is being sold at. They should have service records to whether or not it had been serviced. Don't be afraid to ask a salesman if he can find any record of this. If he wants to sell you the car bad enough. He will find out anything he can. Timing belt/chain service may be a condition of purchase you could use in negotiating if it is found that the service is past due. I have definitely worked timing belt service and other maintenance into a car deal to earn a customer's business.

  Asking a salesman if a particular car has an interference engine or not will likely send him to his service department scrambling for answers. The odds are he will have no idea what you are talking about and salesman hate that. Going into a dealership knowing such information as a consumer will put out the signal that you are somewhat educated and you are not rushing into anything.

  Knowing this technical car buying tip may push you to avoid a vehicle altogether or just make you better aware of things you can expect down the road in terms of cost to own. Along with this article I wanted to pass on a link you may find valuable with a list of interference motors. Good luck buying and now you know.

Interference Engines

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Best Car Picks - Another car buying tip for what it's worth.

  There are a hell of a lot of great cars on the market these days. Not that my opinion is the gospel. I have owned many vehicles over the years though. Both domestic and imports. I have always been one to service my own vehicles. I had as much ability to work in the service center as I did selling on the front lot.

  Over the years I have come to favor Japanese imports. Simply because I want my car to do what it is supposed to when I need it to rather than roll around in my gravel driveway working on it. I have owned many Toyota over the years and currently I am Subaru owner. Both Toyota and Subaru are my favorite makes of car. Simply because of their reliability and reputation. I drive a 1996 Subaru SVX with over 140k miles if that says anything. I couldn't ask for a more reliable car for being over 15 years old. Routine maintenance has kept it happy and I think I could drive it another 15 years if I wanted to. I have a high regard for both Nissan and Honda as well. All of the high line import companies make outstanding vehicles as well. Such as Lexus (Toyota), Acura (Honda), and Infinity (Nissan). As far as domestics go though. I have always found Buicks to be a dependable car and have owned a few of them myself over the years. VW has gotten my attention in the last few years even though I have never been a big advocate of European cars simply due to costly repairs and mechanical designs which are a bit more complex and obscure than most in the rest of the world. The Europeans are pioneers when it comes to performance hence the price tag. The most cutting edge technology costs big bucks to design though.

You can't go wrong with a Subaru



  When it comes to cars. First impressions are everything. You know what you like. It has to start there. Some vehicles are better than others in terms of quality but it has to be appealing to you. After all, you and this car may have a relationship for many years. Once you have narrowed it down to a few possibilities it is time to do your research on what people are saying about that car. Consumer Reports or MotorTrend is a great place to get reviews and opinions on new vehicles to help you make an educated decision on which car you should buy. Type some searches into Google as well to find articles by people who own the car you are interested in. Look for any recall information or any reoccurring problems that may plague the vehicle you may be wanting.
  Next to design and my initial feelings about the appearance of a vehicle. Cost to own is the next important thing to me. Not the price tag on the initial purchase. You get what you pay for. Sure you may pay a bit more of a premium for those vehicles that have great reputations. Like with anything though. You get what you pay for. Cost of insurance, cost of maintenance, and fuel economy are just a few things you should be taking into consideration when buying a car especially if you are watching your money. That low payment may look appealing on the lesser model but if you are having to dump a few grand in that car every year to keep it road worthy. In reality, your payment isn't so low. Divide a few grand over 12 months and you quickly see that is a lot of extra money every month. Wouldn't you rather to pay for some extra quality up front knowing that routine maintenance is all you will be investing in later?

  I sold Toyotas through the recall woes they suffered. I will always say to this day that it was blown WAY out of proportion and was nothing more than a media FEAST! Even after the recalls I spoke with many of my customers that said they wouldn't give their car up for anything. Which just further extenuates why you need to hear what owners of the vehicle you are interested in are really saying. Since the bailouts of the domestic manufacturers though. I think there has been a really huge shift in quality. In the last few years I have witnessed an evening of the playing field in terms of quality. I have never been a real huge Ford or Chevy fan over the years but their recent "do or die" situation they were faced with forced them to step things up quite a bit and while their mechanical quality may not be quite there with it's Japanese competitor's. I think it's getting damn close. As far as Mopar goes. I think their styling usually knocks it out of the park. However, mechanically I think they are one of the biggest turds on the planet. Not to mention usually carry some of the worst resale values you will ever find. I recall driving many used Mopar's as a potential trade in and always said the same thing before I got halfway down the road. "Why would you want to own one of these?" Anything from check engine lights, bad steering racks, and pre-maturely worn out suspension are things I would usually notice. I still cannot figure out how a company builds one of the fastest cars on the planet to botch the rest of the line like they do. Hopefully for them and the sake of US production they can pull it together like their other Detroit counterparts but only time will tell. One to stay away from for now in my opinion.

  If I were to walk out the door today I would feel good about buying any Japanese import with the exception being Suzuki (never ever buy a Suzuki car. absolute junk!). I wouldn't be opposed to looking at a new Buick Lucerne or VW Jetta either just to name a few. Korea is sneaking up in the market though as well. Both Kia and Hyundai (same parent company) are some ones to watch even though I think their over all fit, finish, and feel needs to improve a bit. They carry a nice 100k mile/10 year warranty for the first owner though which holds great value in itself.

   My opinions are based on the many new and pre-owned I have had the opportunity to drive and even get under the hood of. I primarily formed opinions on how well the used were holding up after some use. I like to know how well a vehicle is still performing after 50-100k miles and these are the types of facts you should be looking for too. I like to put 200-300k miles on a car without little trouble in doing so. That is why I feel strongly about the vehicles I like. If there is one car buying tip I can give in regards to the type of vehicle you buy is that quality and cost to own go together hand in hand. Just my two cents.

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Valuable Car Buying Tip - Don't make a pest of yourself

  If there is one car buying tip that I can give that is going to hold true anywhere it is to not make a pest of yourself. If you have already read through my glossary of car dealership terms. This is where the strokes, yanks, squirrels, and spooks come out to play. Don't put yourself in this category because a good salesman doesn't forget shit! I sure didn't.

  It's no secret that a car salesman is paid on commission. Their time is literally money and that is how they look at it. Now is it okay to go in and work some numbers to go home and sleep on it afterwords? Absolutely. It's when you repeatedly show up on a weekly or monthly basis to expect that "things have changed." At any store I worked at there was always a notorious group of people who did this. I never could understand this demographic of people.  Their customer loyalty is usually terrible. When I say customer loyalty I mean they wouldn't even ask for the salesman they previously worked with. This is just flat out rude and bad etiquette. Unless you had a salesman that was truly a creep. I wouldn't ever recommend doing this. Moves like this will get you remembered by all of the staff very quickly and when you do truly want some help and you are ready to buy they are going to scatter like mice. Now you're thinking "well if they want my business they will help me." Yeah ok, go in with that attitude and let me know where that gets you. You have to remember that those salesman are still your liaison between you and the manager. Salesman are humans with a patience threshold just like anyone else. If you have been in periodically over months and have talked to 3 salesman. I as a salesman would have known there is no money to be made off of this person and I wouldn't want to help them even for the lousy hundred bucks I would get for it. Worse yet, if you had already dealt with someone else the odds are I would be splitting that lousy "mini" deal with another associate. Further taking away any incentive for me to assist them.

No One Likes a Pest

  I am going to give you a real example of one guy that stands out in my mind over the years from selling cars. I was working at the biggest Toyota store in town. Actually one of the higher ranking stores in the Chicago Region. This dude was such a repeat offender that we had all affectionately named him Tacoma Bob. Anytime Tacoma Bob pulled up out front you could expect to hear cracks in the showroom like "oh great, what's this spook want?" I was the first unlucky son of a bitch to work a deal with him. He owned a decent old 4x2 Ford ranger he was real proud of and wanted ungodly money for. He was wanting to trade it in for a new Toyota Tacoma. I spent a few hours with this quirky old fart just to be $4000 away from a car deal in the end. When you are selling a new car at invoice and giving the most for their trade you can there is little hope at this point with a spread like that. The guy was simply unrealistic. However, he would come in every few weeks or few months and yank someone else's chain. Hell if I still had the guys paperwork I would pull the new unlucky salesman aside if he didn't know who this guy was already and warn him about what the guy expected. After Tacoma Bob did this a few times just about every sales associate (about 20 of us) knew who he was and what he was up to. None of us would go talk to him anymore if he came in. We ignored him until he left. If he did snag one of us. We would just say "haven't you been in here before, who were you working with?" Once he finally realized we were onto him. He stopped showing up. Maybe someone else earned his business. To that we could only say "thank God and good riddance!" My point is that even if he did eventually buy he made such a nuisance of himself that we didn't give one shit where he bought a car. My manager didn't care either because he saw it as someone just needlessly tying up his sales staff's time. The old saying that "the customer is always right" loses it's luster if you make a pain in the ass of yourself.

  I wanted to share that story with you because I don't want you to be this person. Chances are that if a store has really taken the time to work some numbers with you and "walks" you in the end. They have put their best foot forward and let you leave with a figure they are comfortable with you shopping them against. Car dealers don't like to let money walk out the door. So if they do, there is likely very little in it for them at this point. The fact is. Deals don't get better over time. If there is a trade-in involved it will only get worse. Trade-ins depreciate by the DAY. You could also lose some factory rebate cash on a new car if you let things spill over into the next month and they take those rebates away. I will say about the only instance where you are going to see things get better on an old car deal is if you are on a new car that sees better incentives down the road or if you have had your eye on an aged pre-owned unit that they desperately need to unload.

  The most important points to take from this article are as follows. Deals will not get better over time unless you run into a few of the factors I mentioned in the last paragraph. Salesman will remember your face better than you think. Always ask for the same salesman. Doing otherwise is a blatant form of disrespect at a car dealership. Understand that "walking" a customer is a good sign that a store has done the best they can. Hanging out at car dealerships and not buying cars will gain you notoriety as a stroke and you will only be remembered as a liar and not a buyer. This is a very simple car buying tip anyone can follow. Trust me on this.

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Do Car Salesman Take Advantage of a Woman Buying a Car?

  I wanted to throw out a car buying tip which is tailored to the ladies. Car salesman will try to take advantage of anyone regardless of sex, age, or creed. Personally I think women are every bit as sharp as men. However there are still plenty of salesman out there that would love to get into their naive pockets. I worked with plenty of chauvenist salesman that viewed women as dumb and being an easy target.

  If I was anything as a salesman, it wasn't being one of these jerks. I will be honest in that I have a soft spot for the ladies and usually cushioned things up a bit for them. I was a bit more compassionate than some though and if I was dealing with a woman that was alone it wouldn't take long before I saw my own sister, mother, or grandmother in them. However, you're not always going to get that lucky and find too many people who really give a shit like I did if you are a woman buying a car.

  Like I would say to anyone buying a car. First impressions are everything. Woman or not. If you establish that you're no spring chicken. That is going to set the stage for how everything goes down. In other words. If a woman were to come in and after some questions from a salesman spill her whole life story about how she just got a divorce from a man that used to "take care of this stuff" and has never had to buy a car on her own, she can expect the dumb woman treatment. Trust me. If a woman comes in alone. A salesman is going to try to find out real quick why she is alone. Simply for the fact that if there is a spouse or other involved that is not present at the time he knows he cannot really sell them a car until all of the decision makers are there to do business. Therefore, not spending too much time with her and encouraging her to get the other parties involved to come down. These questions are asked for the salesman to determine what angle he is going to try to work on a customer. So telling him you are widowed or divorced and helpless is only going to make him think "cha ching!" Not throwing a salesman too much of a bone about your background will avoid this. Displaying a sense of confidence an independance upon entering the store will help maintain their respect regardless of sex.

  Perhaps though you are a woman truly all alone in buying a car and prefer some help. There were many instances where I thought I had a couple I was working with to only find out later that they were only friends and that the car was for her. Don't go in there alone if you don't want to. Bring a friend along to help and listen to everything they have to say. Whether it be a man or woman. When people come in as a group I would say it tends to make a salesman feel like he is under the microscope. If he knows he has more than one person to convince he is going to be a bit more cautious in what he says and what he does. Simply to avoid being caught in a lie and losing a deal. Having someone else with you also puts another pair of eyes on the process and they may catch something that you would not have if you were alone.

  Are you a confident and educated woman? If so. You can do this effectively on your own and get a good deal on a car. If this is something that makes you unconfortable and you dread the process as a woman on their own. By all means. Find a friend to go along to monitor the process with you. Alone or not. Your personal level of comfort can be sensed by others and comfort equals confidence. The keyword here is comfort. If you go in with little sense of comfort it is only going to make the whole process seem scary and intimidating.

  I want to share one instance in particular where I was confronted with a woman buying a car alone. She had a professional sense about her. Upon test driving vehicles and working the deal. I wouldn't say she appeared to be cold. Rather she just didn't pour her heart out to me and reveal any more details about herself than she had to. When it came down to working the numbers. This gal was smart. I could start to begin to see she had really done her homework. Needless to say. She beat us down to a real good invoice deal for herself. She played dumb through most of the process is what she did. It turned out she was a local college's bursar. If you don't know what that is. It is the top position in a school's financial department. She was a tax and finacial expert. I actually made friends with her and had her do my taxes last year. My point is. Books can't be judged by covers. In this case she played the roll of the paperback and in the end showed she was truly a hard cover copy. I had a lot of respect for her and we are still friends today.

  Another distinct situation I can recall was a woman who worked for the Social Security Office. She came in with another lady friend even though her friend never said much. No I don't think they were a couple. However this lady was as hard as a coffin nail and more or less let me know that anything with a penis was a low life. She would have made Buelah Ballbricker from the movie "Porky's" proud. I didn't know what had happened to this woman nor did I pry. She was very touch and go and even burned the hell out of me on a survey later. Even though she got an invoice deal from me and I treated her with the utmost respect. She was a total bitch to me through the whole thing. I am not saying to go in acting like a bitch. She just made it very clear that she as not intimidated by me or the process.

Coach Ballbricker showing her love for man

  Now if you're smokin' hot and your salesman or the general manager wants a shot at a date. This could work entirely in your favor if you're not a dingbat. I have seen some very pretty girls get their ass kissed right out to the curb when buying a car. So if you're a looker. It is most likely you will have everyone's undivided attention and could be to your advantage. You still need to educate yourself on what you are doing though to ensure you are getting treated right. If they hit you up for the date. I say pass. They will break dinner plans left and right. As a car salesman I worked over 50 hours a week and never could keep a girlfirend because of it.

Sex can sell in the showroom. Shake it if you got it.

  In the end. Whether you are alone or not. It is going to boil down to the information you give about yourself and the signals you put out. Your comfort should come first though so it is up to you if want help in buying a car or not.

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The Dealership Fleet Manager

  I want to talk briefly about a car dealership's fleet manager. I will go right out on a limb and say that the fleet manager at a car dealership may be one way to cut through some red tape at a car dealership. Sometimes you may be able to find out who this is by looking through a store's website but may be easier to find by making a phone call.

  Who is this guy or gal? Well it is a designated person or persons at a dealership who for the most part sell multiple vehicles to businesses or other elite folks the store has dealt with for many years. The truth is. They can sell to you just as well. It's one of those ask and you shall receive things. I will warn you that the results could vary greatly from store to store. Notice they don't make a big effort to let the public know they exist, and for good reason.

  Will you get a better deal by going through one. Maybe, not by light years though if you do. The truth is if the consumer has done their homework (and most do anymore). They will get just as good of a deal on the sales floor. Whether it is a fleet purchase or not. A dealer can only go so low on a car. New cars are ADVERTISED at or a few hundred above invoice pricing all the time now. With that said. Given all of the invoice figures broadcasted online for the world to see. Most stores have already pulled their pants down on new car prices so you can still expect to buy that new car you want for around invoice just like you would from a fleet manager. I can tell you right now that as a former Internet Manager the competition is so stiff out there anymore that the deals I gave on new cars were every bit as good as a fleet manager. I would not be surprised if the fleet manager and Internet Manager were not the same person at a lot of stores anymore. It would only make sense.

  What you can expect to not get from a fleet manager is world class service. I personally dealt with a fleet manager at one store and he was also our General Manager. He was busy a lot and I could tell the fleet sales were a bittersweet burden to him. Most of which were sold over the phone and when they showed up to get their car it was referred to as a courtesy delivery. At which they were practically thrown the keys and waved goodbye to. Perhaps this is exactly what you want though. My advise. If you want to go this route. Do yourself a favor and know what the hell you want before you stop in or call. This person does not want to pop cars open all day long , let alone show or test drive any.

  I wanted to mention the fleet manager because I was astounded at how many sites claim this is the best way to buy a new car. If you are a construction company and need ten trucks, by all means. NOT as an individual though. I want you to have a look at this informational site I found on buying cars. The gentleman claims to be a former general manager at a car dealership and goes on to say blogs like mine are bunk and the easiest way to buy a car is through the fleet manager. However, he quickly proceeds to tell me to buy his $30 money saving "system" and he will guarantees to save me $5k if I buy it. Ok what? You tell me right out of the gate that the best way to buy a new car is from a feet manager.......but buy your system? You lost me. The guarantee fascinates me as well. How in the hell is anyone going to prove they DIDN'T save $5k? I love how he plays the "role" of the saint as far as car buying tips goes too. If he truly was a general manager then he is obviously trying to replace that six figure income he once had somehow. He has just chosen to do it $30 at a time. Still "sellin'" aren't we? I decided to call him out simply based on the needless ball busting he is throwing my way in his video. Is my blog ad supported? You're damn right it is. The difference is, I GIVE AWAY what he is selling. Running ads on a website is no crime, selling information online that is already free should be. I lost a few minutes of my life listening to all of the incoherent bullshit this guy had to say as he was glancing down looking at his script on his desk and swallowing uncomfortably. I am going to go as far to say he probably was never a general manager anywhere. That's a pretty lucrative position to be in to just leave and try to match the potential earnings from home selling information. I just want you to keep your 30 bucks. All the helpful information you need to save money on a car purchase can be found on my blog or others like mine.

  Just for fun I am going to give you a taste of what things are really like at the dealership. As I mentioned before my General Manager was the fleet manager at one of the stores I worked for. If I wasn't selling a car, I was greeting customers at the door looking for an up. Frequently, people would come in looking for the General Manager and I could just about bet on how he would react to each one. If I were to have went to his office and told him someone was here to see the fleet manager the conversation would go something like this. Cover the kid's eyes. This is going to get ugly. "Who the fuck is it!?" he would say. I usually got a name and would have then said "John Public, he asked for the fleet manager." He would then have probably said "well ok, am I supposed to know this person? Did they say if they had an appointment? I don't know who the fuck they are!" I would have said "They didn't mention it." He then would have said "well I don't have time for this shit, he can sit his ass down and buy a fucking car from a salesman just like everyone else. Tell him to have a seat and I will go out in a minute and say hi." Which he would, and then tell the customer he will take care of them on the numbers and turn him over to a salesman. So there you have it. That is the type of magnificent scenario you can come to expect if you go asking for a fleet manager. People playing hot potato with your ass.


  In closing, the fleet manager could be a way for you to get a good deal on a new car. It is no magic bullet though. There is NO magic bullet to buying a car. I don't particularly care for any claims that there is. The information I provide is to merely give an edge. The keyword being edge. Whatever you do. Don't beat a salesman down to nothing and ask for the fleet manager to see what he can do. You may be disappointed to find it's not any better than your salesman's last offer was. Why? Because every one who can sell a car in the building is still pulling their best price from the same place, upper management. Not only that. A move like that is likely to draw up a lot of disgust and get you taken with a grain of salt. The fleet manager is there if you want to go that route, however I do not endorse this for the sake of good service. Walking through the door asking for the fleet manager as a random customer buying one car is going to send out a warning shot and rub everyone wrong real quick in my opinion. If there was anything we hated at the store it was someone coming in acting like a big shot, when they weren't.

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Bait and Switch - Lost Art? Hell no

  Bait and switch is an age old term most of us have at least heard when it comes to sales. In a literal sense it for the most part tells it all. A store uses a product in their advertising with an enticing price that they either have one of  or never did have any to begin with, and up sells you when you get there. For example : Acme Chevy is running a special in the paper for new $20k Malibus. So you drop your world to head down to the store to only find that the advertised car is a base model no one in the world wants and they are of course out of anyway. So the salesman then says " well since you are here, would you at least like to take a look at a few?" Depending on how annoyed you are at this point you may or may not. Just a heads up if you are going to look at a "price leader" car. This is the kind of shuffling you can expect at the dealership. I cannot tell you how many times I went to my manager with a newspaper ad and said "where is this car?" Only to get a response that we no longer had any or it was the turd on the lot with roll up widows and no radio we had in inventory for 9 months.

Buying a car should not have to be like this

  This tactic is not simply limited to advertising though. A salesman can do it to you on the lot and on the spot. You tell Mr. Salesman you would like a used Camry for around $15k. So he then looks at his price sheet scratching his head even though chances are he is fully aware of what he is doing. He says he has a few that might work. He may then proceed to show you the two most unflattering examples he has in stock with every intention to disappoint you. Then just as you are about to leave because they are not showing you what you want, your salesman says there is one he forgot all about. "It's a few years older than you are wanting but it has so many more options than the others did, for the same money as the others." After the disappointment you just went through seeing the other cars, this one sounds like a breath of fresh air at this point. You have been made to feel like your expectations may have been too high when you came in so now you are willing to take some concessions on year and miles versus some extra features. Now this late model cherry he is showing you may be a great car and it may even be a great price. There is just a good chance there is a particular reason he wants you to buy THAT car. His paycheck is the reason of course. So if you are ever on the lot and a salesman seems to have an obsession with a particular car it is for the sake of his paycheck and not for the sake of you getting the most for your money usually. If you are ever being switched from new to used, bear in mind that new car commissions are minimal to a salesman these days. I will be perfectly honest in that I hated selling them in the end of my career. I could make 1000% more on a used car all day long.

  Make sure you get the car you set out for. Don't let a salesman pick the car out for you. If they are trying to you can almost bet some bait and switch is going on. You have to stick to your guns on this one. I have seen some pretty brazen salesman literally stuff someone in a car I could tell they were apprehensive about, to only see them come in the next day after a night of sleep with regrets. At that point, I hate to say. It's too late.

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Keyword : Auto Sales - Which brings me to my next lesson

  I wanted to do a bit of an experiment. I write this blog and I want to drive traffic to it I will be honest. So, I chose a highly global searched keyword of which I thought may bring the type of reader to my site I desire. One like you who may be interested in buying a car. In this case I chose the keyword(s) "auto sales." I wanted to see who was on top of google for this and what they had to offer. I was surprised to see it was a used car dealership in Ocala Florida. Kudos to them!  Prestige Auto Sales is the store and I want you to check out that link. Auto Sales is a very general term and and while it may not be very beneficial to them to rank so high on a global level , they're still rockin' it.


  Now before I get started I did not write this article to deter anyone from going Prestige Auto Sales AT ALL! I wrote this article based on this store to shamelessly leech on to some of that fantastic SEO they have going for themselves and because they just so happen to be first, and they just so happen to give me something to write about, which is one of the first things I learned about selling someone a car. That is finding "common ground" with the buyer. While there is nothing unethical or even insincere about this tactic. Remember that which it still is, a tactic. You see one of the first things I would look for in the first few minutes in talking with a customer was any little thing I possibly had in common with this person. Whether it be a hobby we shared, a belief we shared, or just something we were both passionate about I could resort back to any time I needed. If it ever turned out we knew the same people, oh man that was one of the best. Connected through friendship can help earn trust quickly. The purpose of this is to side track or slow the customer down and try to gain their trust. Once I discovered any common ground with the customer I would use it to "mow over" or avoid anything I simply didn't want to talk about or reveal too much. For example : Jane and John Doe start asking me a bunch of questions about what their interest rates are going to be when they get into the finance office. I then say I will ask a finance director the next time they walk by and quickly ask about their dogs again to which they so eagerly told me about before since I told them I loved dogs. Jane and John then tell me about their dogs for five minutes and poof, the finance manager is ready for them now. I bought myself five minutes and didn't have to answer their question, leaving everything on the table for the finance manager to do his thing. It really is not a salesman's job to quote any finance rates but I just wanted to give an example of  how common ground can be used to divert a buyers attention. Now let's get back to Prestige Auto Sales and I will explain what they have to do with this example.

  Prestige Auto Sales has a very attractive easy to use website. However, by merely skimming the home page I quickly found that these folks are using the common ground of family values. Pictures of the family to let Central Florida know we are "just like you." This is where we all say "awwwww" and get the warm and fuzzies inside and quickly think "this guy would never screw me over." If the family picture isn't enough, upon further looking through the site you will learn they are NASCAR and NFL followers. Further scroll down the home page though and you will find a video of one of Joel Osteen's sermons. POW! These folks went right for the jugular of Southern marketing! Now if you know anything about the south. God is king. I live in Illinois and visit family in Florida. One thing I know for sure. Church on Sunday is quite a bit more of a necessity to the Southerners. Jesus and God are endlessly displayed on billboards in the south to promote about everything besides a strip club. Then again who knows on that one. I think the use or religion is a pretty low way of promoting a business though. That's just an opinion of mine. However, from a marketing standpoint it is very effective and yes I even hate to say, is probably working well for them. If there is a heaven or hell though I think it would be a sure ticket to the latter of the two.

  So before you have even set foot on this lot. You know that the owner of Prestige Auto Sales is a loving Christian man (we're assuming) with a wife and two girls at home to support. Crap, who wants to haggle with this guy? After all. He looks so nice. He looks like such a great family man. He trusts in God. God......dishonesty.......God.......dishonesty. We have been led to believe the two cannot be found in the same place. That is what makes it such a great gimmick. This guy probably gets little resistance from any of his fellow church goers out of fear of insult on their behalf.

  I personally witnessed the effectiveness of this marketing strategy with a gentleman I used to sell with. He was a middle age man. He had even attended bible college (which he quit to sell cars of all things). He went to church every Sunday and was very active in his church. He even prayed on the phone with his wife every day at 9 AM for a half an hour. Needless to say he repeatedly knocked people's blocks off on pen and paper. He was one of the most successful salesman we had. I always attributed it to his kind, harmless, and even biblical aura. Once you knew what the guy was all about, you didn't want to offend him. You didn't want to hurt his feelings. You didn't want to ever argue with him. My point is it REALLY set the stage for how people acted toward him. I am not a religious person and he even found common ground with ME! Not many people want to argue or debate with a man of God. Heck I even found myself  considering putting on the same act, not that this guy was putting on an act (it just happened to work in his favor), but just never had the balls to go for it.

  The moral of this whole story is to put your blinder's on when it comes to this kind of stuff. It's purpose is psychological warfare and is only meant to give you that feeling inside like they are your buddy. Never mind if your salesman went to school with your uncle. Never mind if you both have a buddy that races motorcycles. Never mind that Christ is both of your saviors. Good deeds don't pay mortgages, profits do. Just don't let them use these tactics to make you feel TOO comfortable. Laugh and joke, just don't let it throw you off of your A game.

  In closing I hope the folks at Prestige are good people and do treat people right. Although I don't believe in selling anything in the name of God. I wanted to make the point that a dealer really holds no discretion when it comes to finding common ground and earning a potential buyer's trust. I don't think using them for my example is any more ruthless than when they posted the Joel Osteen link on their homepage.

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Choosing a Salesman

  As I have mentioned before I think that the Internet Sales department is a good way to cut through a lot of red tape but then again maybe you saw his picture online and he looks like an asshole that makes too much money. So you want someone else. 

Beware of this much "Ice" on any salesman's hand

  A lot of dealerships anymore are going to have a website. Many now will list their roster of employees and may even list a little information about each. Take a look through each one of them. A picture is worth a thousand words. If there is a salesman of the month listed you might want to stay away from him. He didn't get that title by helping to keep the lot look good and lined up that month. You might want to find the "new guy." Chances are the younger, newer guy is more afraid to talk to you then you are to him. In this case he will be just following his manager's lead and it will be more like you just buying a car from a manager. It was the older veterans who usually consistently got high gross profit deals. They're sharp as a tack and are great at tailoring any conversation to earn trust. I worked with one old timer who smoked cigars all day and smelled like a pile of assholes but could sweet talk his way through an interrogation at Guantanamo Bay if he had to. You will find the younger more inexperienced salesman to stumble on their words and make mistakes. They're not as quick to answer back and when they do it comes out as a mouthful of shit. I used to enjoy listening to some of the "green peas" from around the corner and all of the stupid stuff they would say.

  This sounds mean, but you want to try to find the biggest coward they allowed to work there. Every store has one. Research the staff online before heading in if possible and should you choose a salesman, make sure you ask for him when you get there. Otherwise, Mr. salesman of the month will start up a conversation with you that you won't have the heart to stop. If you do walk into the showroom without a salesman. Look for that lazy lump on the computer or playing with his phone. Simply because he likely avoids confrontation or he would be outside on the lot or waiting by the phone like he should be. Any salesman I worked with that were distracted easy from their job were definitely not the best salesman we had. Now the guy on the lot telling you to roll down your window, look out! He's goooooood.

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Car Dealership Lingo and Slang

Dealership Slang
I was going to start compiling this list over the next few weeks. However, taking a look at some other similar lists I quickly found myself annoyed by them for the reason that either their lists were missing so much information or it contained terms which were common knowledge or didn't even actually pertain to buying a car. Here is the good stuff.

ACV - Abbreviation for Actual Cash Value. This is the dollar amount your trade-in is actually worth to the store. It does not necessarily mean that it is the same number on the worksheet you are shown for your trade. "I would have had a $3000 profit deal but ACV was $5000 and we had to show him $6000 to put the deal together."

Be-back - Refers to someone who either claims they will be back or did actually come back in after a previous visit to buy a car.   "Yeah, that couple over at that desk are the be-backs I was waiting for."

Bump - Refers to the act of raising an offer OR raising the ACV of a trade. "The customer offered to buy it for $12,500." "Bump him to $12,800 and see if he will do that"  In the instance of the trade "If he says no to that deal I will bump the trade another $300 but that's it"

Buy Bid - Typically sought when there is an issue concerning the ACV of a trade-in. If more ACV is needed and the store making the sale has put as much money into the ACV that they are willing to, they will call other stores that may specialize more in a particular vehicle and get better traffic on them. Thus, willing to own that vehicle for money than the store making the sale is.

Buried - Refers to a customer or the store being upside-down in equity on a car. "We need to just blow that car out of here, we're buried in it" or "I couldn't get get them financed, they're buried in their trade."

Closer- Usually a veteran salesman or manager who is very good at earning a person's trust and getting them to finally sign after much negotiation.

Demo - Short for demonstrate or demonstrator. Refers to either a test drive or the company cars the salesman drive if any.

Dirtbag - Someone with bad credit

F&I - Stands for Finance and Insurance office. This is where the final paperwork and financing is done. This is where they also attempt to up sell on Insurance: extended warranties, GAP, rustproofing and undercoating, etc.

Flopper - Customer who puts up very little of a fight in the negotiating. " Oh man, that guy was a flopper. He was drooling all over that car and had to have it."

Front-runner - People who like to give others the impression they are wealthy. This goes for both salesman and customers.  "My front-runners over there were ready to sign up on that Lexus as soon as they saw they could afford the payment."

Full pop lease - Highest amount banks will allow on lease based on a percentage of the sticker price. This pretty much a thing of the past. The few who lease anymore have really tightened up on over-allowances.

Get-me-done - Someone with bad credit who's ability to get financed is up in the air. They typically don't care what their payment is and will do just about anything they can to get in the car they want.

Ghost - You have no FICO score and a blank credit report. Unestablished credit.

GM - Abbreviation for General Manager
Green Pea - A rookie salesman. Generally the younger guys/women.

Gross - Refers to the profit a salesman's commission is based on. "I grossed around $4,500 on it so I should have a nice check this month."

Grind - Refers to the effort to close a deal."Yeah he is in the finance office but I had to grind for it."

Head Lopper - More or less taking advantage of someone. A high gross profit deal.

Hold-back (in relevance to invoice) - Overhead cost of new car figured into the invoice. Will cover such cost to the dealer such as floor plans, advertising, and any regional advertising agreements. Dealers seldom get into this very much. "He said he really wanted the car but we were already $200 into hold-back"

Hold-back (in relevance to working a deal) - The act of maintaining profit in the deal. "Boss said I could sell it for $15,000 but I think I am going to try to hold-back on this guy and make some money."

Hawking the lot - Saleman walking or hiding on the lot looking for an "up."   "John is outside hawking the lot"

Lay-down - Same as a flopper

Loaded Payment - Payment presented to customer which can include gap insurance, extended warranties, and service plans. Usually done at the sales desk without customer's knowledge to mentally prepare them for the finance office. "they are in the finance office. I gave them a loaded payment so they will probably buy everything."

Mavin - If you were to look up this term generally you would find it is someone highly skilled in many areas. This for the mostpart holds true here as well. At the dealership it refers to anyone a potential customer brings along who makes a sale difficult for the salesman. Simply put, a know-it-all. Generally they are leary and pessemistic as well as very hard to please. They have been brought along to help the customer but rarely give them any real positive input on anything. They are not even going to be an owner of the car but the purchaser highly values their opinion and chose to bring them along. This is usually a family member like a parent or sibling. Perhaps a boyfriend or girlfriend if it isn't a married couple. It could even be a friend. " I think I could have gotten my customer to say yes an hour ago but that mavin they brought in with them is making this deal hell.

Mini - The minimum commission paid on a car deal where there was not enough profit to pay the salesman an adequate amount based on his commission percentage.

Pack - Similar to a hold-back. I have only seen it referred to used cars though. Calculated cost by the dealer to cover floor plan interest, advertising , etc. This figure is added to the ACV. "ACV was $14,000 but I was working off of $14,500 after pack."

The Point - Typically a high traffic area where a good potential for meeting a new client exsists. Can refer to a corner or front of the building as well. "Where is Jim?" "Out on the point where he usually is."

Pounder - Refers to $1000 in profit. " I got me a nice 4 pounder earlier. I think I might take the rest of the day off."

Spiffs and spins - These can be either dealer or manufacturer incentives to salesman in addition to their commission. Typically used to motivate staff to sell aged inventory.

Squirrels,spooks,etc. - Refer to wishy washy customers who just don't appear to be even know what in the hell they are doing. Could be the guy that is killing time while the wife is at the mall. Could be a guy that stops in once a week and corners a salesman to shoot the shit and doesn't even look at a car. Yes! People like that exist.

T.O. or Turn-over - The term used typically when a poor negotiating salesman hands the deal off to a closer or another salesman or closer.

Unit - 1 piece of inventory. 1 car

Up - Likely to be the most famous of all of the terms. Refers to a potential client. "Hey, who grabbed that up that was out there a minute ago?"

Upside-down - Refers to negative equity in a trade-in. What they owe versus what the ACV is. "We couldn't get them financed. They ended up being six grand upside-down"

Walk - Walking the customer refers to letting one leave after management is confident they have offered the best deal and he customer still refuses to agree. Walking is a good sign they are at the end of their rope. Especially if you have used up a lot of people's time.

Weak Stick - Poorly negotiating salesman. "He's a weak stick. He won't be here long."

Whacking or dragging the trade - When the number shown to the customer for their trade is less than ACV to add profit to the deal. "The car he was buying had no mark-up so I whacked the trade and made some money anyway."

Window Qualifying - When a salesman pre-judges a potential client as they are just pulling in and getting out of their car. This may be based on what they drove in with, who is with them, physical appearance.

Yanks and Strokes - Pretty self explanitory. This customer might pop in every few weeks or few months and try to rehash an old deal you've already worked with him 3 times.

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Payment Terms and Equity

  Maybe the last time you went in to trade your vehicle at the car dealership you were sent out with some disappointment. You discovered your car wasn't worth what you thought it was. Worse yet, it wasn't worth what you owed! More often than not this was an obstacle I had to overcome on at least a weekly basis.

  All to often when we originally purchase our vehicles we tend to be attracted to the lowest payment possible. Generally, unless you put money down. This can only be achieved by stretching the term of the loan out to the limit of what banks will do on a certain vehicle. Because of  better warranties and increased reliability and longevity of a car's life nowadays, 84 months has become more available to more people than ever before.
  That is seven years of your life you will be paying for this vehicle. Sure the payment might look pretty sweet but it isn't doing you any favors in the long run. Go up in term, you go up in rate. You go up in rate, you pay more interest. Pay more interest, and you are paying less on the principal balance of the loan. Thus, losing equity. To put it simply. Equity is what it's really worth vs what you owe. You will almost never stay equitable in a vehicle with a 6 or 7 year loan. I really want to say never there but I just threw the almost in there to cover my butt. The truth is there is a good chance you will not stay equitable in a 5 year loan unless you at least pay your tax, title, and license at sign-up. In any of these long term loans you will not see any equity return until the last year or two. Even then, it won't be anything staggering.

  The car market can be pretty wishy washy. Fuel prices can greatly influence the market and so can some bad press. If you have any of these prolonged term loans and you find the market on your vehicle has fallen a year or two after you signed. You will almost certainly be heartbroken. How can you prevent this from happening? Well, you probably won't like this answer. Money down and shorter terms. I have no problem with 5 year loans, they are very common. Just at least pay your fees up front. All too often people roll this right into the loan and when they find out they are $2000 upside down on their car later they're pissed. Uncle Sam got that money. Your dealership didn't get it. It is not part of the price of the car, just remember that.


  While most people cannot do this, or they don't really want to I should say. Put some money down and take out no more than a 5 year loan. 36 and 48 month terms I highly recommend. In the case of these your payment may be higher but you will remain equitable even without putting money down. 72 and 84 months is a long time to pay on a piece of metal folks. Don't let the things you own, own you.

  On the other hand maybe equity is not a concern for you. If you have no intentions of trading the vehice before you pay it off or you know you will be keeping the vehicle for the duration of the loan then I say go for it.This is a difficult thing for anyone to truly foresee going into an extended length loan term though. Just bear in mind you are going to pay a significant more amount of interest in the long run.

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Monthly Payment and the Fine Print

  Especially as an Internet Manager I frequently got a phone call regarding the "$XXX a month" lease or purchase specials. These can be seen on television or in the newspaper ads frequently. I can assure you that if it sounds like an incredible deal, it's probably been hyped up the best it can while covering their legal asses.

  In almost any of these circumstances these payments are contingent on some criteria conveniently listed in tiny print at the bottom of a newspaper ad, quickly flashed at the end of a commercial, or very quickly read by a narrator. This is the part they don't actually want you to read or hear. It's a marketing strategy, simply put. Is it wrong? We'll call it misleading. They just want that payment to jump out at you enough for you to stop down at the dealership, where they just schmooze you through the rest of it from there.

  No fine print you say!? Can this happen? It has and I have seen it happen. It is very easy for a dealership to dismiss it as a typo (as in the case I saw it truly was) and apologize. In the case I witnessed the girl threw a fit in the middle of the showroom and walked out shouting she was going to sue. Well, car dealerships get sued on a regular basis and usually have a pretty fantastic legal team. Blow it off and take your business elsewhere if this should happen to you. Otherwise, it just won't be worth your trouble in the end.

  In most all cases if it looks like a great payment or lease special the terms listed to get to that payment will almost always include some sort of theoretical amount of money as a down payment, excludes tax, and your credit is impeccable. This is not to say that the special is not good by no means though. They're just painting a scenario to get to that payment. A scenario most people can't do. The reality is most consumers do not want to pay any out of pocket at signing. While it is a very smart thing to do, it just isn't any fun and it kind of takes that "good deal" feeling away from the whole process to most people I think.

  The lesson? There is nothing magical in the car business that let's you buy $20K plus cars for $200 a month without some hitch. Look for those terms! Make a call to the dealership if you need them clarified. The last thing you need is going for a ride in a car you decided you love, to only find out that you need to cough up $5000 to get the payment you thought you would.

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The Car Buying Services

  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.

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The New Car Mark-Up

  In the age of technology getting your hands on the cost or invoice of a new car is easier than ever before. If you want it bad enough. Someone out there has posted it somewhere. As a former salesman I can't say there has ever been a bigger game changer to the industry as the Internet.

  However, maybe you don't know what car you want so you aren't to this point yet or maybe you just simply don't want to do the digging for these new car invoice figures. I can tell you that 10% is a common and reasonable expectaton of what most new car mark-ups wll be. Very simple actually. If I was showing a $20k car I usually knew I had around $2000 mark-up to play with. If it was a $50k car I could usually expect I could take off around $5000. I am not saying there are not exceptions to the rule but I cannot say I ever saw one worth noting.

  If it's invoice figures you are wanting, they're out there I promise. Try my 10% rule though and you will probably quickly find you are splitting hairs trying to do better. Just a simple way for you to do some quick math in your head vs hours online trying to save another $25 on a $25,000 car.

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Dealer New Car "Hold-back"

  If you have done any researching of new cars what so ever. You may have heard this term "hold-back" thrown around in regards to dealer invoices.

  What hold-back simply refers to is basically an overhead buffer below the dealers net cost on the invoice. It is a figure assumed by the dealership that covers any overhead cost that vehicles may incur during it's wait at the store before it finally makes it to it's final destination. Your garage. The fact is most dealerships may spend in a month what you make in a year just on advertising alone. Some may have advertising agreements where a bunch of dealers "chip in" to regionally promote a brand. That Ford commercial you saw on tv last night may have listed a half a dozen dealers at the end of it. This is a perfect example of what I am saying.

  In all fairness to a dealership the hold-back in the invoice is a legitimate cost. However, to the consumer that knows it is there it is often viewed as just another way that dealers try to hose you. If every dealer owned every car on the lot and didn't pay interest on them, they didn't have to advertise, or if the store ran solely on solar energy. The hold-back could go away. That just simply isn't the case and it will always remain a necessary evil in the car industry. Very rarely did I ever see anyone get too far into a dealer hold-back on a car deal and if they did it was minimal.
 
  How much hold-back is there on a new car. It's going to vary from car to car but initial cost of the vehicle plays a substantial role. I have seen as low as $500 on a car starting around $13k or so and as high as $1100 in a vehicle priced around $60k. Whether or not you can get your hands on some of this extra cash is up to you.

  I will say that whenever we did get into hold-back money on a car deal it was typically when I was an Internet manager and I was giving quotes to people shopping me against other stores on a particular vehicle. It just turned into a competition between me and the other stores of who was just going to even get the deal, not so much the profit at all. One thing is for certain, dealers are there to make profit. However, if the profit is not there to be made. There is always the "free" advertising. Now you are probably thinking, what is this guy talking about?

  What I am saying is that if a dealer cannot make any money on you and he knows you are shopping them. Depending on how competitive that store is with the others of the same brand in their region. They want the deal out of pure spite. They want you driving your new car around that you bought from them with THEIR LOGO on the back and around your license plate. They are willing to solely ride on the fact that if they "give away" a car to you maybe there is some chance that they may at least sell a few more cars that they actually will profit from because other drivers saw their logo on the back. It's a strength in numbers game.

  While I cannot tell you how to get into this money on a car deal and even if you do don't expect too much. There isn't a dealer in the world who would be willing to openly discuss what it is with a possible patron. I just wanted to explain it's purpose and why it even exists. With that said in my experience as an Internet manager I probably quoted more prices below invoice than I ever did in my whole time of selling cars. My advice, submit inquiries online via email and kindly let them know you are doing your research and shopping them. you may not want to bring that up when you first engage communication though. See what they can do first. There will ALWAYS be one store out there who is willing to accommodate and earn your business. Let them decide which one of them it is going to be.

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How Can I Get the Best Interest Rates?

 Make sure you pay your bills and keep your credit score up where it should be for starters. That is the intention of a credit score. To let the world know if you pay back the money you borrow thus rewarding those who do.

 Nearly any car dealership has financing available and every single one of them is going to insist that they can get you the best rates in town. While a particular store may have more leverage than others in reference to getting those approved because of their relationship with certain lenders. The fact is banks and other finance institutions can do what they can do. Some finance institutions specialize more in auto finance than others.

 So where can you find the bast rates? Now I don't have some spectacular link that will whisk you away to the best rates on the planet. This blog is about transparancy and it just doesn't work that way. Quite honestly, it was very seldom that any finance institutions could top what the local credit unions offered. Most banks cannot compete with the auto interest rates of your local credit unions. More than likely your car dealership has a relationship with them and they can handle the paperwork for that credit union. Saving you the hassle of going to that credit union and getting approved and then going to the dealership from there. Just be sure the dealership is quoting you the rates currently offered by that credit union. In most cases they will because credit unions post their member rates online anymore for the world to see. Online is a great place to compare credit union member rates and you can research this before you go in so you know what your rate should be given you have adequate credit. If credit is good for you. You can probably do much better than big lenders like Chase or Wells Fargo if you keep your borrowing local.

 Now of course if there is a manufacturer's special interest rate offered that is going to obviously be an exception to this rule. In the case of standard interest rates though. Credit unions are almost always going to prevail.

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My TRUE Opinion of Leasing

 Before I started selling cars I had heard the word leasing for many years. I really never knew how it worked nor did I care because all I knew was ,you didn't "own" the car. That alone was enough reason for me not to care. I mean who wants to make monthly payments on something they will never even own? The driver that leasing applies to. That is who should. After working in the business for some years I got a much better understanding toward it and learned in some cases, when the customer fits a certain demographic. It makes perfect sense.
 I am going to tell you why certain buyers will always come out a winner on leasing. I also want to point out how many people actually never receive a title for the car they make payments on and never own it themselves. Until you pay your car off your bank is essentially the owner. After all, if you have a loan right now. Your financial institution has the title to your vehicle locked up in a vault. When I brought up leasing to customers the typical response was a quick no. If you have a car payment you do not fully own your car yet and if you trade it in before you pay your loan off you never owned it. Think of leasing as paying for the part of the car you are going to use, because that is exactly what you are doing.

 Examples of when leases work in your favor is when:

• You drive around the national average of miles year (10-15k a year)
• You enjoy the security and peace of mind from driving a newer car under factory warranty
• You like something new every three years (very common trend) just for the sake of change
• You need a gas guzzling monster SUV when fuel prices are unstable (anymore they always are)
• You want the most car you can get for the monthly payment

 Chances are if there is an exceptional lease rate on the particular vehicle you want your lease payment will be lower than if you were to purchase it and take out a 5 year loan on it. As long as you are meeting the right criteria like I listed above. If you do a lot of traveling and you are miling out cars in three years then it isn't for you.

 What is the connection with a gas guzzler and leasing? Well, when the gas prices hiked some years back. Lease companies lost their asses because that gas hike just crushed the resale values of any vehicle that was not fuel friendly. You see leases are figured based on a few factors such as your rent charge, initial purchase price, applicable fees in your state, and the residual value which is the calculated amount of depreciation of the car you are leasing based on the miles and term you have chosen. It is this calculated depreciation or residual value that was not foresaw in the years prior to the gas hike. The used SUV market made a big shift while a lot of SUVs and other gas guzzlers were in the middle of their lease. So you have a lot of lease companies getting back their vehicles that are now no where near what they had projected they would be worth at the end of their lease. In turn, losses were so big that a lot of brands pulled their leasing programs all together. A few of your stronger, mostly foreign brands still offer them though. The lesson here is that leasing protects you against swings in the market that could leave you upside-down in equity on a loan. If you were trying to trade in an SUV soon after the hike and you had a loan on it. You were hating life, I guarantee.

 Some people just want something new every few years for whatever reason. People like to have warranty on their car and people just like change for the sake of change. I had customers that took out 5 year loans and came back to see me every few years for a new car. In most all cases you are falling behind in equity unless 0% interest is available every time you go to buy. Keep trading in every few years when there is a loan on the vehicle and you are most likely to find yourself upside-down by thousands after a trading a few times. While I am on this subject of trade-ins I would like to point out that if you are upside-down in a car now and you fit the criteria for leasing, there probably is not a more cost effective means of paying down that negative equity if the rent charges are good and your borrowing amount does not exceed the banks limit. When the lease is up, you're all paid up and that negative equity is gone.

 There is a simple formula used to calculate leases however to the consumer I think the formula is somewhat irrelevant because most of the variables are already going to be set. As the consumer you are the one who determines the term and mileage allowance which can have great impact on payment. The factors that make it a good lease deal are the price of the vehicle, high residuals, and competitive money factors which on a lease are used in lieu of an APR and determine the "interest" you pay. If you are interested in the formula they cover it pretty well in the link I just left in this sentence. Your only concern of whether it is a "deal" as far as lease are concerned though lies in those three factors I just mentioned. The only factor you can manipulate on a particular vehicle is the purchase price. The residuals and money factors are what they are. So what's a good money factor? I will try to put this in a scale to explain. The further right of the decimal you get, the less interest you pay over the lease.

Money factor             .00XXX                        .000XXX                     .0000XXX
                         Standard or mediocre       Getting better               Hard to pass up    

 How good of a deal still largely depends on the price they are leasing it to you for. Many dealerships will try to mow over this one but you have every right to know how they got to those figures. While they may be more reluctant than on a purchase. The selling price still needs to be negotiated. I would also like to point out that in most and not all cases any special money factors will be in lieu of any cash rebates. I have seen some special lease cash in the past that a customer could also get with their special money factor. One other little known fact about leases very few consumers know, and this could vary from state to state. In Illinois where I sold the dealerships received credits for the taxes paid on the lease purchase after they are turned in. For example if there was $950 tax paid on a lease. When it is returned that dealer gets that money back and we would apply those tax credits to sweeten a lease deal if we needed to. At the end of a negotiation asking if there are any lease turn in tax credits available would not only probably surprise them for you knowing what they are, but may drop your payment another $20 or better a month. They could only be applied to leases and if I was trying to close someone on a lease and I was out of options I would frequently ask my manager if any were available.

 I don't want to go over my miles. What if I get a big scratch or dent in it? I don't want to pay penalties. Then I am stuck with it for three years. Popular deterrents of the lease. Choose miles that are closer to what you think you will drive. Smarter to go over a little than not use what you already paid for. If you have a 45k mile lease and you use 38k. They won't reimburse you. If you go over we are not talking thousands of dollars unless it were absolutely outrageously outside of the allowance you chose. There is also a commitment of term and that is something anyone needs to consider. Most lease programs have guidelines such as an allowance for body damage per panel. $200 a panel is common. Make sure you go over this in the F&I office.

 If you think leasing may be an option after reading this tell your salesman you want to see both lease and purchase options. It can't hurt to ask. You may quickly find yourself feeling you have wasted a lot of money over the years especially if you rarely ever keep a car long enough to pay it off. You could easily find yourself looking at vehicles you could normally never afford on a purchase if the residuals are high and the money factors are hot. You might as well rent it from the lease company because right now you're just renting from your bank if you have a loan. After working in the business for some years my feelings on leasing did a complete 180 turn. I would highly consider leasing for my next car purchase given the miles a year I drive. Below I have listed a few pros and cons to leases you must consider for yourself though.

Pros

• Payments can in many cases be kept lower than a purchase if the residuals are high and money factors are good. Allowing you to get more car for your money.
• Choosing a standard term lease you will most likely you be under full warranty for the duration of the lease giving the customer added peace of mind.
• You are protected against swings in the market against the particular vehicle you are driving. Guarding you against unforeseen depreciation that would leave you upside-down in equity on a purchase.
• Leasing gives you the opportunity to have a new car every three years where in the case of purchasing you would likely be taking a substantial loss if you traded this often. Typically equity isn't gained back on a purchase until after the 4th or 5th year of ownershp.
• You do still have the option to purchase the vehicle at the end of your lease if you so choose.
• Great way to pay down on some negative equity you may carry over from a previous vehicle. So long as the borrowing amount remains within the banks allowance. When your lease is over that negative equity is gone and you can start out fresh.

Cons

• You are locked in for the term of the lease unless any "early out" specials are made available by the manufacturer.
• You do have mileage and damage limits that you must stay within to avoid penalties at the end of the lease.

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