I’ve been a car dealer for 43 years – my three tips on what you must do before buying a motor… salesmen hate them
A CAR dealer who has been in the business for 43 years has revealed the three key tips on what you must do before buying a motor.
The YouTube stars known as CarEdge, aka Ray Shefska and his son Zach, revealed the steps anyone buying a vehicle should know about.
Speaking in the video, the social media influencers stressed that the tactics were aimed at making the buyer more knowledgeable and informed so they could strike a better deal.
Up first was the need to talk about payments.
Here, they stressed it was important to only talk about the “out the door” price.
Ray said: “The sales person is going to want to find out what your payment range is.
“You don’t want to discuss payments at all until you’ve established an out the door number for the vehicle.”
The “out the door” price refers to the total amount you would need to spend in order to drive the car away as yours, this would include any dealer fees or hidden extras.”
“Once you’ve established that, you can talk about payments with the finance manager.”
Ray added: “Nothing scares the sales person more than having to review the selling price and all the fees as opposed to just talking about a payment”.
That then leads into their second point – shop around for the best finance deal.
The pair advised not to just walk into the dealership but to shop around beforehand and do your research.
Zack advised to go in with “pre-approvals” from places like banks or credit unions, before even stepping into the dealership.
Ray said: “When the finance manager says hey great news I was able to get you an interest rate of 6.9 per cent you can whip out your pre-approval, and nothing feels better than whipping that out, and say ‘well great my credit union will do it for 3.9 per cent let me know when you can get there’.”
Zack added the interest rate on a car loan at a dealership was “incredibly negotiable” with typically a mark-up of two points.
He said a great way to take control of that situation was to have pre-approval in order to get a better rate.
The third point has to do with the trade-in.
Similarly the key thing to do was to get some figures on how much your trade-in vehicle is worth even before walking into the dealership.
This involves doing your research by searching online or in magazines for cars which are a close max to yours and seeing what their selling price is – and take that information with you when you talk to the dealership.
Your rights when buying a car
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 protects you in almost all purchases you make, including of new or second-hand cars from UK dealerships.
Under the Act, you can expect your car to:
- Be of satisfactory quality, taking into account its age and mileage
- Meet the description provided to you before you bought the car, either in the advertisement or in discussions you had prior to sale
- Be fit for purpose, meaning it can safely take you between places
Ray said: “Remember your trade-in is a separate transaction from the purchase of the car.
“First you want to establish the at the door price on the car then you want to say ‘hey I have an opportunity for you to buy a car’ and you can talk about your trading as a separate transaction and have your information to back up why you want what you want.”
Armed with all that knowledge, the pair said, any buyer then puts the dealer “on notice” and you will get a better deal which is likely to save you money.
Previously, the pair explained how to secure the best deals for your brand new car.
Meanwhile, another car expert has revealed his top tips for dealing with car dealers, including what not to say when trying to make a purchase.
It comes after a car expert warned drivers how a popular cleaning hack could cost them hundreds.
And this motor guru shared a newly popular “scam” on Facebook Marketplace that has drivers worried.
