QuestionRoger, I am purchasing a vehicle long distance. I live about 10 hours away in NC, but I have family in OH(which is where the car is), however they are still about 4 hours away from the dealer. What's the best way to deal/negotiate with a dealership at this distance? Will they take you serious talking to them online, or just blow you off? Should I just go ahead and go up there for the initial contact as I'm in OH now?
Also, does offering downpayments help during negotiating?
Answer
car guy 
me
Hi Darryl,
I am glad you asked this question because the answer is one that will help alot of people whether they are 10 hrs away or 10 minutes away.
With regards to your specific deal ...there are a few things I need to know.
- Are you buying a new car or used car?
- Are you paying cash? Have your own financing in place? or will you be taking advantage of the dealers financing options?
- Tell me exactly what you are trying to buy: Year, Make, Model, Trim Level, Stick or Auto, Miles, and the significant options ( like DVD or Navigation etc)
Normally when buying a car the only time you want to visit the dealership is to verify it's really the car you want and to take it for a test drive.
There is never a situation where you would want to EVER want to negotiate a car deal while you're sitting at the dealership... Let me say that again, never never never negotiate a car deal while you are sitting at the dealership. You asked me if the dealership will take you seriously even though you are 10 hours away. The answer is yes! IF the know that you are 10 hours away then they absolutely will. Personally I would never volunteer information like that to them until after you have agreed on the terms ... because while they will take you seriously ... They will take you more seriously if they don't know.
Okay so here are the steps involved with buying a car the best possible way:
1. Locate the vehicle (which you have already done) if it's close enough go drive it and then immediately leave ... If it's not close, ask for additional pictures, and make sure that you make it clear that your offer is subject to the car driving as described .
2. Call the Internet manager and tell him you are interested in the vehicle and give him the stock number you get from the Internet.
3. No matter how much you like the vehicle , and no matter how perfect it is, always tell the salesperson you are dealing with: "it's not exactly what I want, but its close enough I might be able to make it work", then ask him how he would like to receive your offer (some large dealerships have online negotiation software that will negotiate the deal for them... When and if you ever run into a dealership using a program like "Wildstorm" Do not use it because it protects the dealership's profitability to a fault. You will always do much better with a live person being paid on commission.
4. The best way to buy a car is to pay cash. There are times when it works in your favor to pretend like you're financing and then after you have agreed on the terms you change your mind and pay cash. The second best way to buy a car is to have your own financing setup through your local credit union before you start shopping ... If this is what you are doing then make sure you tell the Internet manager and let him know if you come to terms that he will be required to fax a purchase order to your bank or credit union so they can finanlize the deal and cut the check. If you are financing at the dealership then you are opening yourself up to the likelihood that the dealership will mark up the rate and make a larger than necessary profit on you. Since you will be doing all of your negotiations from your home or office make sure the number you are always discussing is the price and never the payment ... The Internet is filled with car payment calculators you can do yourself .
5. Make sure you tell the Internet manager that you are prepared to give him a credit card he can run a $500 - $1,000 deposit on to hold the vehicle until you pick it up, once you come to terms.
6. If you are buying a new car then you always negotiate from invoice price up.... If you are buying a used car then you negotiate based upon the vehicles wholesale bluebook figure or the vehicles "MMR" value. (The vehicles MMR is the value assigned to it by Mannheim Market Research and reflects the actual selling prices of the exact vehicle you're looking at across the block at Manheim auctions in your area during the last 90 days) If you tell me exactly the year make and model of car you are trying to buy I will tell you what you should pay for it. You can send that information directly to my e-mail address which is roadloans@gmail.com. Please include a link to the cars online advertisement if you can,
7. At no time during the negotiations should you ever used the words..."cash down", or "down payment". Any time you are discussing down payment in negotiation then you are talking about monthly payments as well and not the price... Don't do it.
8. Since you are sure this is the car you want to buy, having somebody else drive four hours to look at it does you no good. if you need to have a closer look at any portion of car in order to be comfortable pulling the trigger on it then you should ask the salesperson were dealing with to get you more pictures and e-mail them to you.
9. How do you know what to offer?
- If it is a used car what I would do is go to www.kbb.com and plug in the information for the car you are interested in buying (year make model trim, options and miles) and get the cars trade-in value from that website.... And that is the number you will use to open the negotiations. The value you're looking for is the" trade-in value in good condition". That's your first offer. This is not an absolute rule, and every circumstance and situation is different.
I will wait to get your specific information and then we can turn this into a teachable moment for all of the readers.
IF you have a trade in (and most people do) the best way to buy a new car is to sell the trade yourself on craigslist.com ...it's fast free and easy!
