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When I bought my truck I handled all of the financial details through e-mail so that the out the door price was settled before I even set foot in the dealership. The only reason I went there was to inspect and test drive, and then pick it up.
And I got my financing through my bank ahead of time as well. I would never sit there and try to dicker and deal with a dealership. Their entire job is to get as much out of you as possible. And if you make the mistake of getting financing through the dealership (unless it's an extremely low rate that you can't match elsewhere), they'll use that financing as a means of obfuscating / jacking the final price of the vehicle way up.
Again, if you are looking to buy a car, here's what you need to do:
1: Do all of your research online. Use sites like Cargurus or whatever to find something in your area that you're interested in. E-mail that dealership and work out the final, out the door price of the vehicle. They'll most likely try to get you to come in, or to at least talk with them on the phone. Tell them you're not interested in communicating outside e-mail.
2: Only go to the dealership if you want to test drive and inspect the vehicle, or to pick it up.
3: Get your financing elsewhere if possible so that the only thing you need to concern yourself with is the actual price of the vehicle. If you have to get financing from the dealership, nail down the actual price of the vehicle, and get it in writing, prior to discussing financing in any way.
Also, don't let any financial institution trick you into thinking you need to buy credit insurance for your auto loan. You don't. Ever. If they tell you otherwise, they're lying, and you can report them to your AG or the FTC. I rejected the credit insurance offered by a credit union and they proceeded to go into the back and then come back with an interest rate 4 points higher than what they had previously agreed to. They told me it was because my credit score had gone down. I showed them that my credit score had actually gone up, and they went into the back again and came back out with the original 1.59%.
A lot of people would have just accepted it and ended up paying thousands of dollars extra over the course of the loan. When it comes to buying an automobile, everybody, including your bank, is probably going to try and fuck you over at some point.
Also, show up unannounced for your test drive, especially for a used vehicle. Do not let them "go in the back and get it warmed up for you". A rough cold start could be a sign of potential issues that would be masked otherwise.
And I got my financing through my bank ahead of time as well. I would never sit there and try to dicker and deal with a dealership. Their entire job is to get as much out of you as possible. And if you make the mistake of getting financing through the dealership (unless it's an extremely low rate that you can't match elsewhere), they'll use that financing as a means of obfuscating / jacking the final price of the vehicle way up.
Again, if you are looking to buy a car, here's what you need to do:
1: Do all of your research online. Use sites like Cargurus or whatever to find something in your area that you're interested in. E-mail that dealership and work out the final, out the door price of the vehicle. They'll most likely try to get you to come in, or to at least talk with them on the phone. Tell them you're not interested in communicating outside e-mail.
2: Only go to the dealership if you want to test drive and inspect the vehicle, or to pick it up.
3: Get your financing elsewhere if possible so that the only thing you need to concern yourself with is the actual price of the vehicle. If you have to get financing from the dealership, nail down the actual price of the vehicle, and get it in writing, prior to discussing financing in any way.
Also, don't let any financial institution trick you into thinking you need to buy credit insurance for your auto loan. You don't. Ever. If they tell you otherwise, they're lying, and you can report them to your AG or the FTC. I rejected the credit insurance offered by a credit union and they proceeded to go into the back and then come back with an interest rate 4 points higher than what they had previously agreed to. They told me it was because my credit score had gone down. I showed them that my credit score had actually gone up, and they went into the back again and came back out with the original 1.59%.
A lot of people would have just accepted it and ended up paying thousands of dollars extra over the course of the loan. When it comes to buying an automobile, everybody, including your bank, is probably going to try and fuck you over at some point.
Also, show up unannounced for your test drive, especially for a used vehicle. Do not let them "go in the back and get it warmed up for you". A rough cold start could be a sign of potential issues that would be masked otherwise.
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