Car dealers are known for their dirty tricks and unwitting customers could be fooled quite easily. Car dealers have a big advantage, because they are skilled in providing disinformation. There are many honest car leaders, but you should be careful and not allow yourself to fall into their traps. Here are things that you should be aware of when dealing with a car dealer.
- Unbelievably low price: This is where you should use your common sense. If it’s too good to be true, then it likely is. You should be wary if a car is priced far below the competition. If you call the dealership, you will be invited to come and check the car. After arriving to the dealership, much to your disappointment, the car has been “sold”. Of course, it is bait and the car never exists. But fortunately for the dealer, all isn’t lost. There’s a similar car in the dealership and it has normal price. It’s just a tactic to lure you to the dealership.
- Wrong car delivered: You may want a car that’s rarely available in your area and you need to do a factory order. All dealers say that you need to wait for 4 months for the car to arrive. But, one dealership says that there’s actually one car on the way and you are just lucky. The dealer says that you only need to wait for a few weeks to receive the car. You give the dealership a hefty deposit and wait eagerly for the car. When the car finally arrives, the dealership apologetically tells you that something is beyond their control and a different car model is delivered. Although you can get your deposit back, the dealership will strongly offer you another car in the same category. This is just a trick to create a relationship with you and you will just waste your time with them.
- Unacceptable trade-in price: If the dealership sees that you are enthusiastically eager to purchase a type of car, they will offer you a great price for it. However, you will find that the trade-in value is actually far below what you get elsewhere. Another variation is that you are required to pay full RPP to get acceptable trade-in price.
- Very low rate: The dealership may advertise a special rate, which could be very appealing for any potential car buyer. If the dealership offers 3.5 percent interest rate, it is only half the rate for many home loans. Cars depreciate rapidly in value, so it doesn’t make sense if the dealership offers very low rate. The amount of the interest rate is generally based on the risk and it is risky to finance a car. In order to compensate this, the dealership will simply sell the car higher than the average market price. If you want to get a low rate, you will need to pay top dollar. In some cases, the amount that you need to pay end up being slightly higher than the normal rate.