3 Tips for Getting a Great Deal on a Car

If you are looking for a good deal on a car you are definitely not alone. Shopping for a car is usually one of the biggest purchases that most people ever make. When you are potentially going to be spending several thousand dollars on something, you want to make sure that you get the best value that you can. Your car is something that you will use on a daily basis. You want it to work flawlessly during the time that you own it and you want it to perform. Therefore, you do not want to be taken advantage of during the sale and buy a car that is not of good quality. Here are a few tips that you can use for getting a great deal on a car that will not leave you stranded on the side of the road.

1. Negotiate

One thing that you need to keep in mind when you are searching for a car is that the price is always negotiable. The prices that the car dealers list on their cars should be merely a starting point for the negotiation. When you find a car that you would like to buy, you should never pay full price.

Some salespeople will try and tell you that a car price is not negotiable. If they tell you that after you have worked with them for a while, just get up and start to walk out. Most of the time, they will stop you in your tracks and let you know that they may be able to get you a better price. You have all of the leverage in these negotiations and you should never forget it. 

2. Shop at the End of the Month

When you go out into the market at the end of the month, you will usually be able to secure a much better deal than normal. While this might not make sense to some people, anyone that has worked in sales could confirm this fact for you. Operations that rely on sales departments to bring in the money have budgets that they work off of. When the sales department hits their budget, everything is better for them. Managers get bonuses and everyone makes more money.

When sales budgets are not hit, management starts to get in a bad mood. Therefore, if you are a customer at the end of the month when they have not hit their budget, they will most likely throw extra incentives at you to close the sale. Take advantage of their sales budgets if you can.

3. Ignore "Sales"

Sometimes, manufacturers have dealer incentives such as rebates. Other than that, most "sales" that you hear advertised are just a bunch of hype to get you in the door. Do not ever feel pressured to sign a deal just to get the "sale" price. If they can do the price for you today, they can still do it for you tomorrow in the vast majority of cases.