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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Service Contracts - What's the Deal? Financial Car Buying Tip

   Ok, on top of the extended warranties, gap insurance, and rustproofing the finance office will try to throw at you you they will likely throw a service contract your way. What the hell is this thing you ask? Well to put it simply it is a maintenance plan bought in bulk. Is this a bonafied product you ask? Absolutely it is. Do you see any links I could benefit from to tell you otherwise? Hell no you don't. If your dealership is offering any service contracts and vehicle maintenance is of importance to you I encourage you to listen to what they have to say. There is a very good possibility it could result in the average oil change costing you $12.


  Look. Aside from all of the other bullshit a finance manger could be trying to sell you. A service contract could actually prove to be beneficial to you in the long run. To put it simply it is a designated term of service for a bulk price. Do you intend to give your vehicle all of it's intended maintenance? That's awesome. I wish more people did. If so. By purchasing a service contract with your vehicle you could potentially save a ton of money. You may be presented with various service contracts in the finance office. In most cases they can be justified by an estimation of what each actual visit will cost. If it is justified for you it will likely be a no brainer at that point. They are designed to save you money.......and get your commitment at the point of purchase. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach as far as the sales department goes. I just don't want you to disregard it as another "trick" the finance office is trying to sell you. It's a deal and that is the only reason they are trying to sell it to you believe it or not. Look at it as buying your recommended service in bulk. A good deal on an oil change these days is $20 so if they are averaging out better than than that in a service contract......you are getting a deal. I have yet to see a service contract that did not benefit the customer in the long run. That is what they are designed to do. Secure some service work for the dealership and save you some money at the point of purchase. If they din't save you money they wouldn't be a very good sale would they? From what I have ever seen. I can only say these programs are awesome. I will always encourage independant investigation though. See what these plans average out to per service and you may quickly see the value in them.

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Extended Warranties - Financial Car Buying tip

  Contrary to some beliefs. Extended warranties are a valid product and they do basically what they say. They cover items beyond the factory's specified original warranty. Depending on the extra coverage you purchase. An extended warranty may cover more items than the factory warranty and allow you to stay under warranty for a period of time and/or miles beyond the factory warranty's life. They could allow you to do anything from extend a powertrain warranty by a year to extending "bumper to bumper" warranties for years beyond factory conditions.

  Generally speaking. When I sold cars I frequently would inquire on the various costs of these warranties for my own personal knowledge. I can honestly say I never felt anyone was getting their heads ripped off by the dealership for the price of the coverage they were receiving. Like anything else that the Finance Office will be selling though. They do carry a markup and that finance officer is trying to make a commission. For the most part they usually were marking them up around 25%. Warranties they sold for $1600 were costing them around $1200 in just one example. That was also the price I saw most warranties start around. From that point. Upgrading to a Gold or Premium coverage usually only costed hundreds more rather than thousands. Kind of like buying in bulk. The more coverage you buy in the beginning, the better break they give you on the cost. Upgrades can also include things like reducing or eliminating deductibles all together and/or adding roadside assistance and covering rental cars while vehicles are being repaired.

  Extended Warranty cost is gong to vary greatly from brand to brand. The costs are based on the repair trends per vehicle. Some vehicles are of greater financial risks than others and does reflect what the costs of the warranties will be. I have seen the costs on some European brand extended warranties and found them to be astronomical. However, the reality is they can be vary expensive cars to repair and getting someone to just pop the hood and look at it could cost $500. Just one more reason an extended warranty may be something you may want.

  I won't endorse buying such coverage outside of your dealership though for a number of reasons. One reason being. I don't think you will find any better coverage out there for the money on your own. I have seen people get burned buying their own warranties and anything that they thought was covered really wasn't when it came down to using the warranty. Dealerships use reputable companies for extended warranties simply because the store's reputation is at stake. By buying your extended warranty though a dealership you also have a mediator between you and the extended warranty company if there is ever a dispute. The finance officer is going to have a good understanding of the warranty terms and will review these with you upon purchase. Buy a warranty from a third party company and you could find yourself frustrated and trying to take care of matters over the phone rather than just going to the dealership and getting repairs swiftly handled. Buying the warranty at the dealership will also make cancelling the policy later much easier should you ever chose to do so. Yes they can be cancelled at any time and will be pro-rated to you based on the amount of unused coverage.

  Let me give a personal example to help extenuate the value of an extended warranty. A personal friend of mine was very interested in a vehicle we had for sale. A vehicle I personally did not hold a high regard for quality on. I even told her that over and over again. However, she wanted what she wanted and her heart was set on the vehicle. There was no talking her out of it. I told her though. The only way I would sell her that vehicle is if she bought extended coverage because I wanted to keep her as a friend. She was reluctant at first because she was so payment conscious and the warranty was adding $30 a month to her payment. She did finally agree though and for the sake of our friendship I was so glad. As nice of a vehicle as it was. As I predicted. It turned out to be all the mechanical nightmare I thought it would be. Her navigation and A/C compressor took a crap on her in the first year of owning it. If you have any idea what these two repairs cost you will quickly understand the value of one of these warranties. To put it simply. She spent around $2200 on the warranty and had well over $3000 worth of warranty work done. Do the math. The warranty actually saved her money in the end and we stayed friends.

  I wanted to write this short article to alleviate any concerns about buying extended warranties. They are a legitimate product and the only "smoke and mirrors' in them is what it will cost you so don't be shy about dickering on the price of one. Personally, I think they are a great product and I would consider buying one if I were to buy a car. Based on a vehicles reputation for quality though I can say there would definitely be times where I wouldn't be as concerned about buying an extended warranty. If you are someone unlike me though that repairs their own vehicles. The peace of mind you get from these warranties could carry great value to you for the extra $20-$40 a month. Like any type of insurance. We love it when we have it but hate to pay for it when we never seem to need it. If there is a financial car buying tip I can give on extended warranties it's buy them at the dealer and at least give them a consideration.

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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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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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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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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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To Trade or Not to Trade... That is the Question

 Dealers frequently use what is called The Black Book when determining the trade value of your vehicle. Or at least reference it I should say. The Black Book is a little pocket book about the size of a calculator and is a weekly publication that dealers frequently subscribe to. Chances are if you look around in a used car manager or general manager's office you may spot one of these tucked away on the desk somewhere. Nowadays in addition to that they will also reference such sources online such as Manheim.com or Ove.com . These are auction sites that the dealers have access to so they can see what vehicles like yours are currently bringing at these mysterious auctions you seem to always be hearing about.

 Let me start off by saying you will most likely NEVER get what you really want for your trade in at a dealership. They may be able to "show" you what you are wanting for your trade in if they have you locked in on the right car. Which is one with a substantial markup that is capable of absorbing some of that money you want for your trade. There is a good chance the salesman will even use the word "show" when he is discussing your trade in value. Which since I don't sell cars anymore looking back, I was an idiot to ever say it. Let me explain. When a salesman first appraises your car he is going to typically fill out what is called an appraisal form or ACV form. This form is not meant for your eyes to see after the car has been appraised. The salesman may go over it with you in regards to equipment and any of your personal information they may want to put on it such as names and contact info but after that, you'll probably never see it again. ACV is always going to be abbreviated on any form that refers to it but if that store has any brains they wouldn't put it on any paperwork at all the customer sees. The last store I worked for did but most people don't know what it means or they just assume it doesn't have anything to do with the sales figures. ACV stands for "actual cash value." The number to which your car is actually worth to that store and the actual dollar amount that it will hit the books for after the sale.

Is it time to trade in that car?

 So what does ACV have to do with your car deal. It is very simple actually. I am going to use some theoretical numbers and explain this very easily. Lets say you are buying a $25,000 car. In this case we are going to say its used. We will say they own that car for $21,500 . $3,500 markup. You have a trade in that you would be happy getting $12,000 for. However, you did your research and you also think you can buy the car you are wanting for $23,500. So you want $12,000 for yours and want to pay no more than $23,500 for theirs. Salesman then appraises your car and he sits down with the figures. He's gonna low-ball you to test the waters. He may say something like "We're going to show you $10,500 for your trade and we will knock $500 off the car. That what you were thinking?" You say "No , not even close." He then says "Well, what were you hoping for? Is it the price of the car? Is it the trade?" This is where you laugh and say "both." This is where the chess game begins. What you are not seeing at this point is the ACV of your car. Now I wouldn't suggest ever saying "so what's my ACV?" They will just think you're a jerk and be cynical towards you for it most likely. You can keep your eye open or listen for it though and keep is as a silver bullet for later if things don't go as planned. By all rights your ACV card may say $11,000. In this case he is holding back on you. Some guys are incredible at holding back on trade, some rarely if ever do it. They are usually the good guys in the biz. Lets say that your car is worth $11,000 ACV. Based on the numbers he gave you, all he did is discount the car to look like a sweetheart and charged you the discount out of your actual trade in value. That $3,500 markup is still on the table. "What could we do to earn your business today?" he then says. You then say "Well I was hoping for $12,000 for mine and I have seen the same car you are selling for $23,500." He will likely then give you the old "Let me see what I can do" and go to his manager for rehashing.  This time he comes back with "The manager said he would put $500 more into your car and sell the car for $24,000 , he's really just trying to put this deal together." Ok so we're getting close. They are truly giving you what ACV (even though you don't know what ACV is) and you are within $500 of where you want to be on the car you are purchasing. However, with the numbers we are using there is still $2,500 on the table. Pretty typical used car profit really. Now I cannot tell you what they are going to own a certain car for. That is impossible. Is it wrong for them to make a profit? Absolutely not. Is it wrong for them to make big profits for overpricing cars and "dragging" (industry term) trades. Hell yes. In this case, with the numbers given you are $1,500 from where you truly want to be. On a five year loan that could be about $30 a month. At this point if you play your cards right. There is probably a good shot you could still get what you want. Most dealers will do a $1000 deal just to roll a unit. Sometimes less if it is an aged unit they are paying interest on and they just want the damn thing gone. If there are tumbleweeds blowing through the showroom that day that can be a big factor too. You just have to decide how much hardball you want to play. They can still "show" you that $12,000 for your trade. It just means they are getting a profit of only $1,500 when selling the car for $24,000 with an ACV of $11,000.

  I want to clear up a bit of what I think is a misconception about trading cars in. At least depending on what state you are in. I heard people say to me a lot in regards to trades "well, my neighbor said he would give me $15,000 for my car and you are only giving me $14,500." Now bear in mind, I sold in Illinois. Which means at a rate of 6.25% you won't pay that tax on the $14,500 going toward your purchase. This is a tax savings of $906.25. So at this point you are actually, in theory getting $406.25 more for your car than Joe down the street wants to give you. People overlook this all to often and it can usually be to a persons benefit to trade if it is worth a substantial amount and the tax savings is high. There are a few states that do not offer trade credit. At this time I know what they are but this post will be up for years and that could change so see if your state offers it before you head in. Also, same thing with tax in general. Some states don't collect on car deals period so please do your research on this.

  Does that car of yours need some work? Maybye you cracked a bumper skin at the supermarket or you have not gotten around to change that pesky 02 sensor keeping your check engine light on. Check to see what the dealer will give you for it and see how much they are penalizing your vehicle before you go dumping a bunch of money into it. All dealers will take any mechanical or superficial repairs into consideration when taking your vehicle on trade. Dealers have their resources for making all of these repairs. Internally within the store or not. In the end they get repairs made for as little money out of their pocket as they can. Don't rack your brain over small issues with your trade-in. There is a good chance that dealer can bring it up to par cheaper than you or I could go have it done for. Just don't put $3000 into your car to see a higher return when you trade it in. It most likely will not happen this way.
 The best I can say is do your research on NADA.com and KBB.com and decide before you go in what you are willing to pay for their car or receive for your trade. Averages between the two are reasonable expectations from what I saw over the years. Also, remember these salesman low-ball you. So when they ask what you want for your car, HIGH-ball them! If you really want $12,000, say $12,500 or $13,000. Low-ball them on their car too. Sure maybe they will chuckle or perhaps you may offend them a bit. Salesman have pretty tough skin so it isn't likely. The bottom line is it doesn't hurt to ask. They make their big money on people who don't ask. The absolute worst that is going to happen is they will say no. If the money is there and they want the deal, they'll do it. Period. Below is a list of general pointers that I hope you also find helpful. Also, if I lost you in the figures at all on this lay it out on some paper to perhaps help you to understand it better. Gosh, I LOVE giving this stuff away. Please pass it on.

• Best times to put a good deal together are when business is slow. Store owners hate to have a "no sale" day. If you are the only one there you are in the spotlight and that manager is hungry for a deal no matter how small.
• If you cannot reach an agreement in regards to trade, this will blow their mind. Ask them if they call other stores for "buy bids." Car dealerships have relationships with each other and another store that carries "your model" of car may put more into the ACV. In this case the store you are buying from is still taking your car in on trade but they have another store lined up to buy it for the "buy bid" amount. The fact that you know what a "buy bid" is will send  warning shot over the store that this isn't your first rodeo. Chances are they may just cave in and step it up on your car even if they do get "buy bids" from other stores.
• That car you have had your eye on has been there for months. Ask for a carfax and make sure people aren't afraid of it for some reason. Dealers usually don't want cars on their lot for more than 60 days especially when they are floor planned. Floor planned is when the dealer's bank owns the car and they pay interest on them everyday. Trading in towards an "aged unit" could get you a really good deal.
• Last days of the month or even last day of the year could get stores to step it up on trade. Dealers live by the month and they want as many units on the books as possible at the end of those months.
• Trades are seasonal. Don't trade in your convertibles in the winter. They will bring below book values. Same with 4X4 bringing all the money with a foot of snow on the ground. You get the picture.
• They're just cars. Unless it is something really rare that is bringing good money. Don't let anyone push you into a deal that doesn't feel good. There are plenty of Camrys, Tauruses, and Impalas to go around.

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The Infamous 4-square Sales Tactic

I was introduced to this at the second store I had worked for. It is just about what it sounds like. It is a deal worksheet divided into 4 areas with all your personal info written on top to look "official" lol. Typically the areas are divided into sales price of the car you are buying, value of your trade, how much money you are putting down, and what you can expect your monthly payment to be based on all of those figures. I am going to be honest and say that the sole purpose of this tactic is to make your head spin with all these numbers and literally break your heart. It is fully intended to shock the hell out of you and get any numbers out of your head you were hoping to do before you walked in the door. In a nutshell, make you feel as if your expectations to this point have been unreal.  It is also designed to mentally prepare a person with an inflated payment before they walk into the finance office to make any upselling easier when they get there.

 Now that you have seen these figures and you have a big lump in your throat like you are 6 and didn't really get what you wanted for Christmas. This is where the salesman goes over the figures with you and says things like "what were you hoping for?" There is still plenty of money on the table at this point. After all he just gave you his first proposal. Now that he has broken your heart he is going to play good cop/bad cop . He is going to poke and prod at you and try to figure out which one of those numbers really makes you tick. What I mean is. Generally there is an aspect of the deal that is most important to the customer such as trade in value or no money down. If you really want to put a salesman between a rock and a hard place at this point. Tell him you don't like any of the numbers lol. They are only going to manipulate the one that makes you happy anyway. In their defense though you cannot have it both ways. Trades are worth what they are worth and they can only sell a car for so little.

 What you need to do is look at your personal situation. Maybe you don't even have a trade. Maybe you are paying cash. We're down to 2 squares already now which really kills the tactic dead in its tracks. Truthfully, as long as our FICA score isn't a 450 and you truly know you have the ability to buy. You can tell them straight up how you want to see the numbers. If they have a problem with this then they are obviously so successful they don't need your sale and you probably don't want to buy a car from these folks anyway.

 Personally I recommend a good old white sheet of paper or their "other" worksheet for people like you lol. I am going to give you one piece of information at this time now which will allow you to tell them to leave the payment end of it out until you get into the finance office. With today's rates and sufficient credit you can expect to pay about $100 a month for every $5000 you finance on a 5 year note. Give or take $20/month .Example: financing around $20,000 you could expect to pay in the neighborhood of $400 a month on a 5 year loan. With that said, you can be sure you are looking at vehicles you can afford now so they don't use payment as leverage on you. With that said. Don't forget your fees as well. If you are wanting to be around $400 a month make sure you are looking at a car you think can be "bought" for around $18,000-$18,500 if fees come to $1500-$2000. Fees vary from state to state so get a general idea of these before you head in. We are at the sales desk at this point and we just want to hash out the price of the "car" itself. We are not interested in inflated payment figures full of gap insurance, extended warranties, and service plans. As for the money down, you can decide this as well when you get to the finance office. That's your business until you sign.

 So now that we have thrown "payment" out of their little scheme. We are just down to the price of the car and the value of the trade or maybe just the price of the car. Isn't it amazing how much the whole thing has been simplified just by taking the payment out? This is not what they want trust me lol. At this point though it will take some of your own research to determine fair values on either the car you are trading or the car you are buying. As a general rule. A new car you can typically expect around a 10% markup on a sticker price. This excludes factory incentives. If you are buying used get the average retail values between KBB and NADA based on condition and this should be fairly close to what you can expect to pay. If you can get it lower than that you're doing good. If you can't get to the averages between these two books though and strike a deal there is a possibility they own this car for more than they should. Up to you at this point if you want to look elsewhere or buy theirs. If it is something unique you can expect it to bring above book value though. In regards to trades do the same thing. Get collective average of both books and be sure you booking it as a trade. Trade and retail numbers are different for obvious reasons. Also, make sure you be honest with yourself about your vehicles condition. I seen all to often that the customer was a bit biased toward their trade. I myself would have to probably catch myself on this one. That line in the book values that reads EXCELLENT at the top. Well, that's more or less show room condition and about less than 5% of the vehicles out there will really qualify for this title. However, make sure they are playing by this rule as well. If they are showing you the best book numbers with their printout they made trying to justify their price make sure the car lives up to it. If he is claiming it's in excellent condition except for that little bumper scuff. Guess what buddy, it ain't in excellent condition.

 Now that we have broken it down to 2 (and maybe 1 in your case) simple figures we just want a difference number before fees. In other words. What are you going to sell me that car for with my trade? There is no smoke and mirrors at this point. If there car is $22000 and you think you can buy it for $20000 and you have a trade you are wanting $10000 then a difference of $10000 is what you are shooting for. It's fairly simple.

 One more thing I wanted to touch on quickly before I go is vehicle payoff. I plan to do a segment on this later but I want to touch on it so you know how it applies to a deal like this. Call the financial institution before you go work a deal anywhere. If they are a 4-square store or even not they will pry at this one to try to appease the "payment" issue. The best thing you can do on this is play dumb and factor the payoff number in your head into it when you are working the deal. For example. I will use the figures from the last paragraph. Lets say you worked a deal down to difference of $10000 and your trade-in payoff is $8300. Fees will be based on the $10000 (that could vary state to state) and your payoff will then be added to the total. So you are back up into the $20k neighborhood at this point.

 I would say the best advise to taking away a stores 4-square ammo away is to be vague about your finances (money down and payoff info) and don't express concern of payment. I have given you what types of payment you can expect for certain dollar amounts spent on 5 year terms and I can assure you that as long as the finance office does not have them loaded with "extras" and your credit is substantial it will be close enough to what I have said given the rate is competitive. If you should want to further payment estimates for different length terms or to play with different rates Bankrate.com has a wonderful payment calculator on their website. I hope you found this helpful and I hope it save some of you folks some money. Stay tuned, and I will post more of these.

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