Car dealers are often portrayed as predators just waiting for an unsuspecting customer to come along. This is because many people believe that they are always on the prowl for unsuspecting buyers that are not very knowledgeable about cars. This can be unfair because we can argue that there are car dealers out there who would not cheat just to get an extra profit.
How Do You Tell The Difference?
To avoid becoming a victim of sneaky car dealers, look at the following auto financing scams.
Yoyo Scam
You will be allowed by the dealer to bring the car home as soon as possible. The dealer will take care of the financing, a few days later he will contact you again and tell you that there was a problem with your financing plan. He will tell you to set up a new financing scheme through him which, of course, will be at a higher cost and this will also entail a very high profit on the dealer's part.
Be wary of this trick and avoid it at all costs if you detect it. If you have a bad credit standing, don't have your financing done by the dealer and make arrangements for your own financing. If you ever do avail of the dealer's financing, you should never drive the car back to your home immediately. Wait for at least 24 hours just to make sure that the processing of your financing scheme has been completed already. By allowing 1 whole day to pass by, you are assured that the dealer cannot use this scam on you.
Window Etching Trick
Window etching is a very common scam. What the dealer will do is to offer to etch the VIN number of your car onto the window of the car for a price. Basically, the price ranges from as low as $300 to as high as $1,000. Some buyers think that they did a good job by being able to talk down the price to a few hundred dollars, but unfortunately for them, a few hundred dollars is still a good amount of money. The best way to avoid this kind of scam is for you to buy an etching kit that you can do on your own. This is available in most auto shops and costs around $20. See how much they profit from you!
Preparation Fees
For preparing your car, the dealer will often add an additional preparation fee to your bill. Just to conduct a test drive, replace fuses, or take the car's plastic cover off will have your bill increasing by at least $500! If you visit other shops, you can get the information that these add on costs are already included in the MSRP as set by the manufacturer. Some dealers automatically add it to the buyer's order to make it look mandatory. To take care of this scam, you can ask the dealer to classify it as credit (it should be identical to the amount of the preparation fee) on the following line. If the dealer does not agree to this, you can just simply walk away from the dealership.
Market Adjustment
The dealer will convince you that the vehicle you want is selling like hot cakes and very popular. In order to sell you the vehicle, they will do some "market adjustments" amounting to a few thousand dollars. This is usually indicated by a tag near the MSRP tag set by the manufacturer. Even if the car you want is very popular and is very much in demand, if it is in stock you should not be tempted because getting a "popular" car is not worth it if you have to pay a few thousand dollars more. You should never pay more than the MSRP set by the manufacturers. If you do, then you are allowing others to take advantage of you.
Warranty Extension
Although this type of scam is old already, it is still being used and there are many who fall for this trick. What happens in this kind of scam is that when you make a loan for the car, the dealer will tell you that you are required to purchase an extended warranty because it is one of the conditions of the bank. There is a simple way of avoiding this scam. Ask the dealer to specify clearly in writing that the extended warranty is required for the loan to be approved. The dealer will most probably find a way to have it excluded. If he persists in including the extended warranty, do not do business with this guy and go to other dealerships.
These are some of the most common auto financing scams that are utilized by some car dealers. Always keep these in mind if you are going to buy a car. If you or a friend were treated fairly by a dealer in the past, consider using the same dealership again. It’s a good indication that they do care about their customers and aren’t just looking for a “fast buck.”
Think very carefully and do not buy on impulse. Good luck to you and go get that car!
STOP! Don't buy a new or used car until you discover how "Secrets From Inside The Dealership" can save you bundles of cash and help prevent you from becoming the next victim of the dealership.
11 June, 2008
Dealership Scams Out There
Are you thinking of buying a car but hesitant to approach your local car dealer because you are not sure about the processes of buying a car as well as wary of possible dealership scams? Do you feel that your knowledge about cars and getting great deals is not good enough and you want to learn more about this matter? Then reading these tips will enhance your understanding about dealership scams.
The Car Dealer And His Trade
To have a proper understanding of car dealership scams, you must first have an idea of the car dealers themselves and how they go about their trade selling cars. First of all, the car dealer will not give you a price quotation as much as he possibly can. This is because the tendency of the buyer would be to go to another dealer and the other one will probably offer a lower price thus, the first dealer loses the buyer to the second dealer. To increase their chances of getting you to buy their car, they will try to make you commit to them before they give you the final selling price. On your part, you can do two things: maneuver the dealer into telling you the price quotation or negotiate the terms of the deal with them. If you decided to negotiate with the dealer then be always on the lookout for the following tricks:
Low Balling
This is one of the tricks most commonly done by dealers. They will try to convince the buyer that they can provide the lowest possible price for the car thereby prompting the buyer to start negotiations with the dealer. The salesman will probably tell you that you can get the car that you want for a lesser amount but when you are about to enter negotiations, it turns out that you were not promised a lower price after all. It is just an empty promise.
Best Price Matching
When you tell the dealer that you will try to look around and check other car dealerships, the salesman will ask you to comeback when you get the best possible price and he will offer to match it. By this time, you will probably be too tired and sick of looking around. Chances are that you will take their offer.
Trade In Scam
When you have already bought the car, the salesman will try to contact you before your new car is delivered and tell you that the initial pricing of the car was $500 lower and would like to collect the balance from you. If you fall for this, he will get an extra $500 at your expense.
Spraying
What the dealer will do is to pursue you relentlessly until you give up and buy the car. On the other hand, if you decided to buy from another dealer, he will call you and tell you that he could have given you a lower price thus making you upset. To avoid this, you should not hand out your contact number. Some even give wrong contact numbers just to evade very irritating car dealers.
Puppy Dog Trick
The dealer will allow you to take the car for an overnight or for a whole day, his aim is for you to fall for the car and buy it.
Immediate Sale
The dealer will give you a very attractive price but he will also make you believe that this deal can only be made until the end of the day. This will cause you to think too much and in the end, make the mistake of buying the car without checking what other car dealers have to offer.
Extra Accessories
The dealer will offer to give you extras like: car mats, window tinting, and other accessories. This aims to stop you from asking for a lower price because of the perceived "extras" that you will be receiving from the dealer. It will slow down the price negotiations and divert your attention away from the price.
All of us want the best deal available and we abhor the notion that someone will take advantage of us through modis operandi like car dealership scams. So before going to the local car dealer, you better have a good idea of what he will be talking about. As they say, only a fool will go to battle unprepared and with no weapons. Your weapon will be knowledge, always remember that.
STOP! Don't buy a new or used car until you discover how "Secrets From Inside The Dealership" can save you bundles of cash and help prevent you from becoming the next victim of the dealership.
The Car Dealer And His Trade
To have a proper understanding of car dealership scams, you must first have an idea of the car dealers themselves and how they go about their trade selling cars. First of all, the car dealer will not give you a price quotation as much as he possibly can. This is because the tendency of the buyer would be to go to another dealer and the other one will probably offer a lower price thus, the first dealer loses the buyer to the second dealer. To increase their chances of getting you to buy their car, they will try to make you commit to them before they give you the final selling price. On your part, you can do two things: maneuver the dealer into telling you the price quotation or negotiate the terms of the deal with them. If you decided to negotiate with the dealer then be always on the lookout for the following tricks:
Low Balling
This is one of the tricks most commonly done by dealers. They will try to convince the buyer that they can provide the lowest possible price for the car thereby prompting the buyer to start negotiations with the dealer. The salesman will probably tell you that you can get the car that you want for a lesser amount but when you are about to enter negotiations, it turns out that you were not promised a lower price after all. It is just an empty promise.
Best Price Matching
When you tell the dealer that you will try to look around and check other car dealerships, the salesman will ask you to comeback when you get the best possible price and he will offer to match it. By this time, you will probably be too tired and sick of looking around. Chances are that you will take their offer.
Trade In Scam
When you have already bought the car, the salesman will try to contact you before your new car is delivered and tell you that the initial pricing of the car was $500 lower and would like to collect the balance from you. If you fall for this, he will get an extra $500 at your expense.
Spraying
What the dealer will do is to pursue you relentlessly until you give up and buy the car. On the other hand, if you decided to buy from another dealer, he will call you and tell you that he could have given you a lower price thus making you upset. To avoid this, you should not hand out your contact number. Some even give wrong contact numbers just to evade very irritating car dealers.
Puppy Dog Trick
The dealer will allow you to take the car for an overnight or for a whole day, his aim is for you to fall for the car and buy it.
Immediate Sale
The dealer will give you a very attractive price but he will also make you believe that this deal can only be made until the end of the day. This will cause you to think too much and in the end, make the mistake of buying the car without checking what other car dealers have to offer.
Extra Accessories
The dealer will offer to give you extras like: car mats, window tinting, and other accessories. This aims to stop you from asking for a lower price because of the perceived "extras" that you will be receiving from the dealer. It will slow down the price negotiations and divert your attention away from the price.
All of us want the best deal available and we abhor the notion that someone will take advantage of us through modis operandi like car dealership scams. So before going to the local car dealer, you better have a good idea of what he will be talking about. As they say, only a fool will go to battle unprepared and with no weapons. Your weapon will be knowledge, always remember that.
STOP! Don't buy a new or used car until you discover how "Secrets From Inside The Dealership" can save you bundles of cash and help prevent you from becoming the next victim of the dealership.
Where To Get Great Used Cars
A franchised new car dealership is a reliable, if not the only, source for anyone who wants to buy a new car. But to those who prefer buying used or previously owned cars, there are plenty of options and sources one could choose from to be able to make that vehicle purchase the perfect one.
The following are some of the readily as well as easily available resources to consider when buying a used car.
The Used Car Superstore
Imagine it as the Wal-Mart of used cars. There have been numerous used car superstores that have mushroomed for the last five years. These superstores usually have a large inventory of used cars, more or less numbering from four hundred to five hundred vehicles. The cars found in these stores more often than not are late models. The vehicles found in these stores came from auctions that cater specially to car dealers. The good thing about buying from these used car superstores is that the warranty they provide are often equivalent to the warranty coverage provided by dealers who sell new cars. However, it is still best to compare.
New Car Dealer
The logic here is that since new car buyers usually trade in their old cars when they buy a new one, the collection that new car dealerships have are almost always extensive. So used car buyers have a wider range of vehicles to choose from. Also, new car dealerships provide better reconditioning to the used cars traded to them. They are also more reliable source of used cars because their business is more established compared to other used car dealers. Be aware though that sometimes it would take a lot of negotiation on the price of the vehicle to be purchased. They may also attempt to make you buy more cars than what you would actually need.
Used Car Dealers
There are a hundred used car dealerships in every area of the state. Sometimes, they occupy a small section that contains not more than fifteen cars in a lot. Other used car dealerships, usually the more established ones, have a total of one hundred cars in their vicinity. The great thing about buying from used car dealers is that the prices they offer are a lot less than new car dealerships. Also, it is fairly easier to negotiate with them. A little bit of not so good news though, the quality of these cars are usually less than the new ones of course. There are also not many great selections to choose from.
Private Owners
The good thing about buying from private owners, the price that they offer are usually reasonable compared to other dealers because this is in accordance with book values. One also would get the opportunity to actually speak with the owner of the vehicle and witness for yourself how the car was cared for or not so cared for. A potential disadvantage of this scenario, however, is that it could be a bit inconvenient driving to the private owner’s place especially if one is considering looking at eight different cars. Basically that would be eight different places, time and appointments. Beware though; private owners who have a stable of used cars to sell may actually be a dealer. Do not be afraid to ask if you could possibly see the title and registration. Start to get suspicious if you see it has only been a few days old.
Car Auctions
The last decade has seen the development of public auctions for vehicles. Originally, auctions like these are reserved primarily for licensed car dealers. Now, even individuals have the opportunity to bid aggressively for used cars. The quality of these cars put up for auction, as well as the selections of vehicles, actually vary from one auction to another. There are those auctions which specialize dealing in late model vehicles while there are others which dedicate themselves to cheaper and less expensive vehicles. The good thing about buying used cars from auctions is that one could conveniently compare prices and cars because they are shown side by side with each other.
Also, the prices that they offer are most likely lower than they do dealerships. However, there is not much chance for one to thoroughly inspect the vehicle being auctioned off. And since one is buying from an auction, it is therefore understood that all sales are final. Any car purchased is automatically yours. Plus, the bidding frenzy could take a hold on anyone and there is a great possibility that one could pay way too much than what a vehicle actually costs.
STOP! Don't buy a new or used car until you discover how "Secrets From Inside The Dealership" can save you bundles of cash and help prevent you from becoming the next victim of the dealership.
The following are some of the readily as well as easily available resources to consider when buying a used car.
The Used Car Superstore
Imagine it as the Wal-Mart of used cars. There have been numerous used car superstores that have mushroomed for the last five years. These superstores usually have a large inventory of used cars, more or less numbering from four hundred to five hundred vehicles. The cars found in these stores more often than not are late models. The vehicles found in these stores came from auctions that cater specially to car dealers. The good thing about buying from these used car superstores is that the warranty they provide are often equivalent to the warranty coverage provided by dealers who sell new cars. However, it is still best to compare.
New Car Dealer
The logic here is that since new car buyers usually trade in their old cars when they buy a new one, the collection that new car dealerships have are almost always extensive. So used car buyers have a wider range of vehicles to choose from. Also, new car dealerships provide better reconditioning to the used cars traded to them. They are also more reliable source of used cars because their business is more established compared to other used car dealers. Be aware though that sometimes it would take a lot of negotiation on the price of the vehicle to be purchased. They may also attempt to make you buy more cars than what you would actually need.
Used Car Dealers
There are a hundred used car dealerships in every area of the state. Sometimes, they occupy a small section that contains not more than fifteen cars in a lot. Other used car dealerships, usually the more established ones, have a total of one hundred cars in their vicinity. The great thing about buying from used car dealers is that the prices they offer are a lot less than new car dealerships. Also, it is fairly easier to negotiate with them. A little bit of not so good news though, the quality of these cars are usually less than the new ones of course. There are also not many great selections to choose from.
Private Owners
The good thing about buying from private owners, the price that they offer are usually reasonable compared to other dealers because this is in accordance with book values. One also would get the opportunity to actually speak with the owner of the vehicle and witness for yourself how the car was cared for or not so cared for. A potential disadvantage of this scenario, however, is that it could be a bit inconvenient driving to the private owner’s place especially if one is considering looking at eight different cars. Basically that would be eight different places, time and appointments. Beware though; private owners who have a stable of used cars to sell may actually be a dealer. Do not be afraid to ask if you could possibly see the title and registration. Start to get suspicious if you see it has only been a few days old.
Car Auctions
The last decade has seen the development of public auctions for vehicles. Originally, auctions like these are reserved primarily for licensed car dealers. Now, even individuals have the opportunity to bid aggressively for used cars. The quality of these cars put up for auction, as well as the selections of vehicles, actually vary from one auction to another. There are those auctions which specialize dealing in late model vehicles while there are others which dedicate themselves to cheaper and less expensive vehicles. The good thing about buying used cars from auctions is that one could conveniently compare prices and cars because they are shown side by side with each other.
Also, the prices that they offer are most likely lower than they do dealerships. However, there is not much chance for one to thoroughly inspect the vehicle being auctioned off. And since one is buying from an auction, it is therefore understood that all sales are final. Any car purchased is automatically yours. Plus, the bidding frenzy could take a hold on anyone and there is a great possibility that one could pay way too much than what a vehicle actually costs.
STOP! Don't buy a new or used car until you discover how "Secrets From Inside The Dealership" can save you bundles of cash and help prevent you from becoming the next victim of the dealership.
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