Walking into a dealer to purchase a new car can be an exciting time, but if you’re not prepared, you may quickly find yourself falling into some sort of scam that many dealers love to take advantage of. Now, since most dealers are looking to make a quick buck off you, it’s important to be aware of these scams.
#1 The Credit Trick
Since you probably won’t have the cash to buy your car in full, you may resort to getting financing through the dealer. Since the dealer will have full control of your future loan, they may tell you that your credit score isn’t that good, when it really is. Because of the bad score in the dealer’s eyes, you may find that they will want to give you a higher interest rate, when in turn, you didn’t deserve it in the first place. Always make sure that you try to get financing outside of the dealer to avoid this trick.
#2 Payment Twist
If you ever flip open the newspaper and see something such as, “$289 per month,” you may be running into see what you can do to get those payments. Well, what they don’t tell you is that you have to put $2,000 down and you have to qualify for the deal. This can include employee incentives and more. While this can all be in the fine print, many people don’t read into it, becoming disappointed when they arrive at the dealership. That $289 per month can soon turn into $399 a month fairly quick.
#3 MSRP Difference
Walking on the lot, you probably see all of the stickers telling you exactly what you’re going to have to pay. Known as the MSRP, this is what is suggested. Remember, though, you don’t have to pay this price. What many dealers tell you is that while this is the recommended price, they can’t sell it to you because other numbers come into play. What you need to find out is the actual dealer price. Ignore the MSRP and use the Internet to see what others are paying.
#4 Does 0% Exist?
Another great deal that you may see in the newspaper or on the web is the 0% financing. Well, while this is a great deal, you’re going to quickly find out that you’re going to have perfect credit, you’re going to have to know someone in the business and the deal is only for certain cars. If you want to take advantage of financing, you will just want to know that it’s going to be awfully hard to get this 0%.
#5 Financing Lies
Financing is usually what most people need before they buy a car. Well, let’s say that you wanted to buy a car but you wanted to second guess your decision. Well, as a responsible shopper, you want to go to more than one dealer. What you may find out is that the dealer is going to call you down the road telling you that your financing is going to expire. Never fall for this trick. Dealers can often receive
financing within a few seconds and they do this often to get you back in the dealership to sign your purchase agreement.
Hannah helps run the website,
www.howmuchisit.org – a website that helps people find prices on just about anything.