I work at a huge car dealership. And I’ve heard it so many times…
Don’t go to a dealership by yourself. They rip off women. Make sure your husband, boyfriend, friend, brother, or dad comes with you. Bring a man!
WHAT?! Ladies, ladies, ladies. We don’t need a man to buy a car. We’re smart. We’re educated buyers. We don’t live in the 1950s. And by golly, we can do this! We can overcome those sleazy salesmen.
Don't be fooled by their good looks and charm.
I did you all a favor. I interviewed all of the people involved in your car purchase (I specifically picked men—even thought we have women in all of these roles—since the industry is statistically male dominated). I asked them all the same question, and they were eager to share all of the insider secrets with you!
Imagine your sister is coming to the dealership by herself. What does she need to do, say, ask to get a fair deal? Keep in mind, this is your sister. You love her, and you don’t want someone to take advantage of her.
THE SALESMAN:
- Before you even step foot in a dealership, do your research online. You should have a fairly good idea of what kind of car you would like before you arrive.
- Check the prices on Auto Trader. Chances are, the dealership you’re shopping is advertising inventory there. You can also compare prices at one dealership to another to get an idea of a fair price for a vehicle.
- Check the price one more time on Kelly Blue Book. You can also check the value of your trade here (if you have one).
- Now you’re ready to call the dealership. Do NOT come in yet! Call first. Only give them your first name. Ask them if they have the car you like in stock. Chances are, the Sales Consultant you speak to on the phone will assist you when you visit. It’s very important you feel comfortable with this person. If you don’t feel comfortable, you should hang up, call back, and ask for the Sales Manager. The Sales Manager can assign you to a new Sales Consultant.
- Once you like your Sales Consultant on the phone, you’re ready to come in and test drive the car. It’s time for some tire kicking. Do not seem overly eager to buy today (even if you want to).
- Ask for the price of the car, rates and terms of financing, and the value of your trade. If they don’t give you these numbers in writing, WALK OUT. This dealership is not for you.
- Know that it really is TRUE that we have no control over the price. We really DO have to ask our manager. The Sales Manager holds the key to getting you a lower price. This is not a game.
- Again, don’t seem overly eager to purchase that day. Stretch it out a few days if need be. And expect to be at the dealership on the day you test drive and get numbers for 4-5 hours. It will take that long to properly find you the best rates at various banks, test drive cars, and pin down a value on your trade and new car.
THE SALES MANAGER:
- My best advice? The best advice for my sister would be to have a solid idea of the type of vehicle that fits your needs and the cost of that vehicle before you ever step foot in a dealership. Auto Trader and Kelley Blue Book are great resources. You can read reviews, see prices, inventories, and trade values. Remember, on your trades, market value determines the value of the trade. While Kelley Blue Book is a great resource, and you need to check that because I also look at it, I have to make a profit on that car for it to be worth my time to take it on trade.
- Test drive a few cars. For example, you told me you would never drive a minivan. And now? You’re happier than ever with your van because it best fits the needs of your lifestyle. Be open to driving a few things.
- Don’t get numbers the first time you go to the dealership. Shop, drive, and then recontact them for numbers. It makes them want you more.
- Do not shop on the last day of the month. This is the busiest day at a dealership, and you won’t get the time and attention you deserve. Sales people are also more pushy at the end of the month because they have quotas to meet.
- Make this a 2-3 day process from start to finish.
- Ask for a CarFax on a pre-owned vehicle (the dealership should give you this for free!).
- Find a reputable dealer. Check out their Google Reviews, ask your friends and co-workers, and try to avoid small buy-here-pay-here lots.
- You can deal directly with the manager. I will to tell you, when a woman calls me first and talks to me, I feel humanly inclined to help her. For example, I had a woman call me and tell me she was buying a car for the first time by herself and she was recently divorced. She told me she was very nervous. She didn’t want to feel rushed or pushed around. I was very careful to match her up with a patient Sales Consultant, and I made sure she was given a fair deal. So know that it’s okay to call in and ask the Sales Manager for help before you ever come in to test drive.
- Yes, they are telling you the truth when they say they have to ask their manager for pricing (Ladies —I just needed to double verify that for all of you).
THE FINANCE MANAGER:
- I could write a book about advice when it comes to the Finance Department at a dealership. Where do I begin? Well, first you need to know your credit score. You get one free report each year. There are three credit reporting agencies.
- If you have bad credit (this is a score below a 700), you will pay a higher interest rate.
- If you have great credit (this is a score above a 750), you will pay a lower interest rate.
- Dealerships will most likely be able to get you a better interest rate than a bank because we price you out with several banks at the same time. Since we have such a high volume of business with various banks, they often cut our customers better deals.
- Consider leasing. A lease is often much less expensive than a purchase, and it is a great option for customers who do not put many miles on their cars in a year.
- Don’t come into my office, sit down, and be mean to me. It makes the situation worse for you because now I don’t really feel like helping you. You can be tough, hard nosed, and stern. But don’t be mean to me. I really am here to help you. I want to get your deal done because I am also paid on commissions.
- Finance offices are highly regulate by the government (just like a bank). So if something feels wrong or shady, you need to WALK AWAY. Finance is held to a higher standard and you should know exactly what you;re paying for a vehicle and why.
- I should go over all of your contracts with you. If you buy an extend warranty or GAP insurance, you need to know how much that adds to your payment each month. I always tell my customers, “I do this all day long for a living. Sometimes I go fast, and I don’t mean to rush you. If I’m going too fast for you, just slow me down and we can pick this contract apart piece by piece.”
See, ladies, we can do this. I want you all to print this article, and review it before you purchase your next vehicle. After all, buying a car is a major purchase. Let’s go in armed with all the tools we need.
Tell me about your car buying experiences. Have you ever been burned? Or have you mainly had positive experiences?
I was burned by spot financing. We were told we were approved for the loan, here are the terms, here’s your monthly payment, and you’ll receive the loan info in the mail in a few days. Sounds good right? So we left with our new car. A MONTH later we get a phone call saying they couldn’t approve our loan on the terms they gave us and we needed to pay another $1,000 down or return the car. Catch was we would have to pay a $70 a day useage fee for our time in the car, which would have completely wiped out the down payment we already paid, leaving us unable to purchase another car. So we borrowed money to put the additional $1k down to keep the car. Turns out, in the teeny, tiny, almost unreadable print on the back of the contract, it stated we were agreeing to the terms based on spot financing and we agreed to the usage fee if we couldn’t get financed. Lesson learned. NEVER leave the dealership with the car unless you have the loan paperwork in hand, they don’t have to “mail it to you in a few days.” That means you were spot financed. Leave the car parked at the dealership until you get that loan for sure. I absolutely LOVE my car, but I wish I had been smarter.
Great tips! My comment is more of a side note – not all used car sales people are sleazy and terrible people. My parents have run their own used car business for decades. I have heard all of the bad that people think of their profession, but they are good people trying to make an honest living just like the rest of us. So, my advice – don’t go in assuming they are trying to screw you over. Give them a chance and don’t assume the worst.
One bit of advice we’ve used with the most recent car purchases, and it really helps, is to avoid discussing a trade until you’re happy with the cost of the car you’re buying. If at all possible, don’t even mention you have one.
If you have the patience for it – sell your trade yourself and not through a dealer. You’ll most likely get more for it.
Well, since the last time I bought a car the dealer actually asked if my husband or father was going to be there soon, I’m naturally skeptical. I got screwed on the deal and I won’t be buying from that dealer again. A new car, bad loan, no taxes paid…screwed.
Wow!
I just read through this. Sounds like I did things right without knowing any of the above info! Good advice!
I love this! We have a lot of female buyers, and I definitely plan to link to this on the dealership’s facebook page.
My friends and I have similar stories of going to dealerships with our moms. We walked around and not a single sales person came up to us, but when our fathers turned up we were suddenly swarmed.
Any time I’ve gone with my mother to buy a car, I’ve always taken a mechanic with us. I guess I’m still stuck in the Harry Wormwood mentality too. I’m always a suspicious person when it comes to any kind of purchase. I won’t even buy a cell phone or go to a doctor until I read multiple reviews. I like the advice, but since I literally know nothing about cars or financing, I’m just gonna stick with playing the damsel in distress when I buy a car in a few months. I will definitely remember these tips though.
Matilda!
Oooh! We’ve been on both sides of the fence with car dealerships!
The Bad: When I was about 7 mos pregnant with our second baby, the dealership gave us the car to drive while we waited on loan info to come back. I drove the car for 3 days and when we hadn’t heard anything back from the dealership, we took the car back. When we got there, the salesman finally gave us the loan terms with the monthly note being about $150 more p/mo than we told him we could afford. Due to only being 5’0″ tall, I looked like I could LITERALLY have a baby at any minute, and the salesman told me–with a completely straight face and a shrug–that I could just work a little bit of overtime to help make up the difference. O!M!G! I looked at him and dryly told him that I would be going out on *maternity leave* soon and would not be able to work AT ALL much LESS work OVERTIME! OMG, I was LIVID! At that, we left and vowed to NEVER give them our business.
The Good: A few days after the bad experience above, my husband went to a used car dealership and purchased an awesome SUV that was driven onto the lot WHILE he was looking at their inventory. My hubby made an offer, the salesman upped it by about $300 to get it to what he could sell it for, and my husband bought it on the spot. It hadn’t even been washed or vacuumed out yet! LOL! Hands down, that was THE BEST experience EVAR and the whole thing took about an hour from start to finish! I still miss that SUV… *sniff*
We had another good experience, when I was expecting #3, with a new car dealership to get a bigger SUV than the one we purchased from the “Good” salesman. We felt like they really bent over backwards to make it a good experience; we purchased the vehicle. Afterward, they even mailed back one of my kids’ lovies that had been accidentally left in their office, under a chair.
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SO, yay for the good guys! Working in sales myself, I also understand that word of mouth advertising can help make or break a business!
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PS: Sorry that got so long.
Ah, this is definitely a touchy subject for me!
Definitely look at the small print on the financial docs — and that is even if you are outright paying cash for the vehicle. There are little loopholes that say that if the deposit is delayed (like if their intern forgets to deposit it until a day later) it counts as a bounce, which automatically finances the car at an insane APR. In this case I’m glad I brought my dad (an attorney) because he spotted this and had them re-write the contract to read that if there is any problem with depositing my payment that they would have to contact me with the issue immediately prior to automatically financing the car.
The time before, when I went alone, the salesman told me that he couldn’t even give me an example average monthly payment without my SSN. I told him to assume I had average to good credit, and wondered what the ballpark would be. He was nasty, insisting that I wasn’t “serious” about wanting a car. I politely informed him that I was still shopping around, and would not reveal my SSN until I was ready to actually do the deal… but obviously not with him. So, I walked away. Too bad, because I really adored that car, but I knew I couldn’t do business with a pushy, rude guy.
When I bought my Trailblazer I did TONS of research. I carried a folder with all of my information into the dealership. I knew everything about that car. It was going to be mine and I wanted to be sure that I knew what I was getting.
My husband and I went to one dealership and the salesperson would not even speak to me. I would ask a question and he would address the answer to my husband. David would tell him, “this is her car,” and point to me. The man never picked up on it. He didn’t get a sell either. It was so over the top sexist. When we left the lot my husband said, “what was that guys problem. I guess he doesn’t like women.”
Meredith – you must work at a much better than average dealership. My mother and I have aggravating story after aggravating story trying to buy cars from men who largely ignored us or kept going on about color instead of about more serious aspects of the car. When I’ve gone car-shopping with my husband, the experiences were so much better. I really like your advice of calling a sales manager or salesperson ahead of time. If he/she patronizes on the phone, then chances are the sales guys are going to continue that attitude in person so that would be a great way to avoid particularly bad dealerships. The best experience evah was at a Cadillac dealership. My husband and I felt like we were being completely catered to and that our time and money had value – from the salesman to the sales manager to the finance guy to the phone answerer. I would go back there in a heartbeat.
I just bought a new Subaru about three months ago and had a fantastic experience. I had done all my research, test driven the car the weekend before (along with a few others I was considering), and then went back to buy it. But the thing that made it so super easy was that I went through the Costco Auto Program. They have pre-set prices that are lower than the dealership, so there’s no haggling. I don’t know if Sam’s Club has a similar program, but it would definitely be worth looking into since you’re already going in with an advantage.
My dealership actually gave me an even lower price, and a much better deal on my trade-in than I was expecting (I had researched that too!). The whole process only took about 2 hours and it just worked out super well. If you’re in Portland, Oregon, I can’t recommend Wentworth enough!!!
When we bought my car in 2008, we did all our haggling online with the online sales manager. Once we decided on the make/model/color of the car I wanted, we were able to take quotes from one dealer to another.
We didn’t have to step foot into a dealer to discuss numbers until it was time to pick up the car. (That is, after we had test drove the kind I wanted.)
I was about to buy my first car by myself (at the age of 26). I had moved to California from Washington alone, had no family anywhere, and the car I was driving had been picked out by my dad- it was time for me to do this on my own. I had decided on which type of car I wanted, and that I was NOT going to purchase the car that evening- I just wanted to see the price range, and what was available. I went to a dealership, and had just walked on the property when a salesman came to me, asking what type I wanted. I said I was just looking, I was fine, and would find him if I needed help. He left, but 2 minutes later another man came out, and asked what I was looking for (this was a weeknight, so maybe they were bored). I again said I was fine, was just looking, and would let them know. Again, not 5 minutes before a 3rd man comes up, and says “so, they say you’re looking for a family vehicle”. WHAAAAAAAA? I had not even MENTIONED anything about what I was looking for! And “they”? Who are “they”? I yelled “I’m not looking for ANY vehicle- leave me ALONE!” and stormed off. Yeah, not my proudest moment, but I couldn’t take it! I did find a wonderful, perfect car, sold to me by a honest, trustworthy salesman at another dealership but ugh- buying a car by myself just makes me cringe!
Great tips! I’m in the process of of gettin a new car my self. 4 years ago I made the deal on my current car all by my self! Felt great to do it alone & didn’t take BS from sales peoeple. One dealership I went to was mean & tries to bully me since they saw me come alone. I said no thank you walked out. I keep getting calls for days! So definitely shop around and dont feel bad about walking away. Good luck to all!
My dad owns a very small used car business but it is in NY so the first time I had to buy a vehicle on my own without just buying it form my dad after I had moved to California was an absolute disaster. I did utilize my dad by being on the phone with him when I made my final deal, but honestly, it was the most horrible experience of my life. These were NOT the car salesmen I grew up meeting at every dealership my dad took me to. They were pushy and mean to me.
I think one of the keys here is that both the salesmen and the manager said to do your research ahead of time. But as a woman, before I do my research, I need to see the vehicle. When we were looking for vans, I wanted to see all the different types of vans and test drive them. Once I had done that, I knew more of what features I wanted, etc. Then I went home and did the research and figured out exactly which vehicle I wanted, then we looked for dealerships with what we wanted. I hated that first round though where the salesmen were not happy that we weren’t ready to drive off that day. But honestly, how do you know what you want just by doing research online? That step comes second, in my opinion!
I still think that it’s much easier to buy a vehicle with a man with you (or on the phone!). Growing up around cars and the car business, I will still never really trust the salesmen.
Those are great tips!
My husband and I used the tips in this awesome video – How to Buy a Car Without Getting Screwed – last summer when we purchased our first new car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPor5b7JLLE
I wouldn’t say I got scammed into my 1st solo car purchase (in 2008), but I definitely got quick-talked into trading in my 1998 BMW 5 series as a down payment, which was a great car and only had $1200 left to pay off. We should have kept that car and just paid the $1000 cash down; I later found out the KBB trade in price was around $4000 to $5000. That decision bit me in the ass when our 2nd car broke down and we were stuck with 1 car for over a year.
For my most recent car, I used a private auto broker. Absolutely no hassle, and she was paid by the dealer. She did the research and when I decided on a car (after test-driving at my local dealer), delivered the car and brought the paperwork with her. I ended up in a much nicer car than I had been able to price out on my own, with great lease terms. Seriously, we were looking at 1 and 2 years used Sentras and Versas, and ended up with a brand new Camry for the same price.
I went with my son to buy his first car. He made more money than I did but someone “responsible” had to be there. After the salesman left for the fourth!! time to check the price with whoever, I told him if he left again we would not be there when he got back. He quickly decided to finish the paperwork. I ended up buying or helping buy three cars that month. Both my children say when they buy a car, they want Mama with them.
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