Dealing with Dealers

"There is, undeniably, nothing characteristic of a dealer's commissioned sales environment which provides motivation or encouragement for their employees to convey to you a good deal during your purchase of a new or used vehicle."

The Dealer Environment

Before you go to a dealer to buy a new or used car, truck or motorcycle it is important to be aware of the array of forces present in a typical dealership sales environment.

You must understand that the dealer and their dedicated sales and service team are NOT your friend. Not only are they not your friend, they see you as a paycheck every time you walk in the door. They train to make the absolute maximum dollar from each sale or service. Almost every dealer employee works on commission, so in order for them to make a few dollars they must get you to pay many dollars. And there are quite a few people involved in each transaction, so it is easy to see how a real-world $60 dollar job can quickly become a $600 dollar job at a dealer.

Dealers spend a lot of time and effort training their sales and service personnel. I doubt very seriously if anyone reading this has ever spent any effort training to buy a car or truck. You are now and will always be outmatched by the deaaler sales team.

The key is to not play their game. Their training only helps if they get to play by their rules. You can always play a different game.

The first thing you need to prepare for is that you must be ready to leave the dealership at any point in the sales process. This is easier said than done, especially when many dealers will take steps to make sure you cannot leave until they are finished with you. They will keep your keys and/or your driver license if they can get you to give it to them, they will block your vehicle

Typically, dealers have a sales manager (who is responsible for training the sales staff); along with numerous assistant sales managers and many salespersons, Dealers also have a finance department headed by a finance manager. All of these persons are generally under the direct supervision of a General Manager.

All of these people are paid through some form of commission and have absolutely no desire to help you obtain anything approximating a good deal on your vehicle purchase. You must constantly be mindful of the dealer's intentions and the forces directed against you when buying a new or used vehicle.

Use our comprehensive information guides to help you when dealing with automotive dealers.