Ahhh, Father's Day! You've earned a day of rest, a day to fill with your favorite activities. So how will you choose to spend it? Maybe you'll take in a good movie? Or play a relaxed nine holes of golf? How about dropping by the car lot and bargaining for a new car?
Come again? Would anyone actually choose to spend time at the negotiating table, across from a (shudder) car salesman - for recreation? Well, frankly, some people do. And if you understand the battle rules and acquire the weapons to make you an equal combatant, bargaining for an automobile can be more fun than going to the Super Bowl.
For most of us, the problem with buying a car is that it makes us feel like we're on the losing team. While the car salesman is an expert in his field, we're most likely rookies, accustomed to paying what's on the price tag and reluctant to bargain. Unfortunately, many car salesmen complicate the process just to confuse and confound the buyer.
"I just don't look forward to the experience," declares Dale Masher, program manager at a California think tank, who recently bought a 1990 Nissan Maxima. As he puts it, "The salesman are doing this every day, and I do it only once every three to five years. I'm just not as geared up for it as the dealer and his henchmen are."
Once properly trained and armed with the right attitude, however, you can become just as skilled at the game as the salesman. You'll find your dread will disappear, and you'll actually enjoy outsmarting him. Along with Tom Morse, who brought a Honda Accord late last year, you may say, "I really enjoy the give-and-take of bargaining."
You need to get rid of the intimidation factor. The salesman will probably try to dominate and bully you. But keep in mind, says Don La Fon, an analyst for a Southern California aerospace company, that "he's really no better informed than you are - just more practiced. Look at him as an ordinary human being under a lot of pressure. His whole existence pretty much depends on his meeting monthly quotas."
Once you eliminate the salesman's mystique, you have only to understand the sales sequence. Then you can flow with the seller and control the transaction, instead of being intimidated and controlled by him.
There are three steps to winning the Car Wars game: arming yourself, formulating a game plan, and launching the assault. And following the steps pays off. "The biggest thing knowing these techniques has done for me is to make me aware," La Fon asserts. "I feel prepared before I go, before I actually get on the lot and get intimidated."
Arming Yourself
First, you have to do your homework. The gathering and analysis of accurate intelligence have been deciding factors in most wars, so don't skimp on this stage. Begin by dealing in "soft" intelligence. What models are you interested in? What prices are they being advertised for in the newspapers? How are they rated in such publications as Consumer Reports, Changing Times, and Motor Trend?
Where do you expect
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