Buying cars and selling cars, it can all just be too much fun. Where do you start from? Do you start with the internet, bank repossessed cars for sale, driving around to all the car dealers on a Sunday or the automobile cars autos guides at the grocery store.
Our Plan – Shop Around For Automobiles, Cars, Trucks
I just had the privilege of going with a friend of mine to a used car lot to buy a car on a late Saturday night last week. He had just returned from living in China for a year and had no car to drive upon his return. He was in a real transportation bind and needed to get a car fast.
We had dinner and found ourselves on the Toyota resale lot at 9pm on a Saturday night. We were not planning on buying anything that night, we were there as “we’re only looking.”
The plan was to go on Sunday to look at Honda, Mazda and Toyota cars. After a day of looking on Sunday, we would then head back to my house to do some research on the computer to see what things were going for on Kelly Blue Book.
As for most things in life, sometimes things happen that you do not plan on. We were not planning on getting a car for my friend on Saturday, we were going to do that on Sunday. We were on our way to a nightclub. The universe had other plans for us however.
A Good Plan Is A Flexible Plan – He Fell In Love With The Very First Car
My friend fell in love with a 2005 Accord Coupe. I must say that it was an awesome car. It had a V6 engine, leather seats, premium stereo, moon roof and dual exhaust. Our first inclination was to come back on Saturday because we were on our way to a club not to buy a car. The last thing I felt like doing was to sit with some slick car salesman. The salesman asked if we would like to see some numbers on the car.
We reluctantly said yes and proceeded inside the dealership to see what he had to offer. The car had a sticker price of $17,800. They worked out the deal and the payments and the price was way too high. We were ready to leave and the salesman said, “what would it take to earn your business tonight”?
My friend replied nothing, I am not buying it tonight, I am also looking at other options in the morning. This was also the first dealer and the first car that we had looked at as well. To me it seemed like we needed to look at other options.
They Wouldn’t Take No For Answer
As most used car salesman are, they were not about to let us off the lot. Keep in mind that it was 9:30 now and the store had been closed for over an hour. I think that they just wanted to go home. My friend did not want to go over $350 a month. They were at over $400 dollars a month. My friend was not willing to bite. The question from the car salesman came again, “what do I have to do to earn your business”? My friend came back with $350 a month. The salesman was getting frustrated and the deliberation went back and forth a few times.
Finally – Their Final Offer
Finally they came back with a final offer of $16,100 and $358 a month. We were both surprised and my friend was pleased. He did end up buying the car and is very happy with his purchase. I did not think that they would drop their price that much. My friend got the real deal.
It’s Right There In Front Of You – Just Stick To Your Guns
What my friend did right was stick to his guns. He had a maximum payment in mind and he did not go over it. The other thing that I learned is that sometimes what you want is right out in front of you. Give up the rule that you have to look at everything to the point of driving yourself crazy to get the best deal.
Sometimes the universe will just set it out in front of you. Keep an open mind and absolutely do not bend on your spending limit game plan. In the long run you do not want to be stuck with a car payment that you are unhappy with. We also saved $40 in gas by not having to go anywhere else.
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