Rip-Off Techniques Used Against You When Buying a New Car

January 21, 2008 By Matthew Paulson

The competition in the automotive sales market is fierce. In any major market, you’ll easily be able to find 50 car lots that you can go to and come home with a new vehicle. Increased competition seems like it would be a good thing. Prices have been driven down severely, but they’ve been driven down to the point where car dealers use dishonest techniques to make what they believe to be a reasonable profit margin. Wherever you go, you’ll probably be hit with some sort of technique designed to cause you to fork over money that you don’t need to. Here are some of the most common techniques used by car salespersons to try to rip you off.

Bait and Switch – The lot will advertise a car at a lower price, but when you get there, they’ll claim that they’ve sold the last model that they had, but offer you a similar one with a couple additional features and a much higher price. Knowing that you’re out to buy a car, you’re likely to buy one anyway even though the price you came for isn’t there anymore.

The Extended Warranty – Automotive sales companies often try to push extended warranties on vehicles because it’s extremely profitable to do so. You’re not only paying for the insurance, but you’re also paying for all of the marketing and commissions. In almost all cases, it doesn’t make sense to buy one of these. Don’t fall for it!

Wearing You Down – This is a technique that’s used quite a bit. The sales person you’re talking to goes into some back office and comes back out “trying to negotiate you a better price.” The idea is that the longer you stay there, you are likely to be more committed to a purchase. Tell the sales person you’re dealing with to bring the manager out there and talk to you, don’t accept any of their come-backs. Don’t get yourself stuck in a good-cop bad-cop situation.

Someone Else Is Interested – I’ve personally had this line fed to me. The dealer claimed that while I was on lunch, someone else came and looked at the exact model that I was interested, and if I didn’t buy the car then and there, he’d sell it to “the other guy.” I laughed at the sales person. The idea is that if you want the car, you’re going to have to go for the deal that the dealer wants, not the deal that you want.

It’s the Last One – If a dealer tells a customer that it’s the last one of the item that they have in stock, it can have a very powerful effect. It makes the customer think that other people were happy with the purchase, and that if they don’t make the decision now, that the opportunity will be lost forever.

Today Only – Car dealers often have one day only sales to try to get additional customers on the lot by offering great special deals for a limited time. Don’t let this hurry or rush you into a purchase. There will always be great sales somewhere; you just have to find them.

The Turn Over – If you hear something like, “let me go get my manager to see if you can get a better deal”, likely you are being turned over to another sales person who’ll put additional pressure on you to make the purchase. Don’t fall for this trick, you might talk to the second guy, but don’t budge in your position.

When buying a new or used vehicle, these tactics will be used on you, don’t fall for them. Remember, the most powerful thing you can do is walk away. If they’re being totally unreasonable, just get up and walk toward the door. Likely they will change their tone rather quickly.

Posted in automobiles