aklucsarits

http://consumerist.com/consumer/four-squar...t-it-248445.php



Interesting article. I guess most educated car shoppers already know the main points of the game, but there are a few subtle tricks the author mentions that I had never heard of before.

Andrew

duboseq

Nice article.

I beat the box when I got my S2k. I actually had a friend of mine on speaker phone when going over the terms!

My friend, who is in my Reserve Army unit, buys cars at the auction and was trying to locate one for me but it would take some time.

Anyway everytime the sales man threw a figure out, Bart, the guy on the phone would say "Dude that is bull shit" if something was jacked up. I even left and did not come back till they called me later that day

I even got out of paying dealer prep charges and walked out with a 2004 S2k
with 18K miles for 23,000 out the door on Jan. 17 2006. They were trying to get 27,799 for it.

Oh btw I got financing with my Credit Union for 3.9% prior to signing.

The S2k had OEM lip, side strakes and spoiler and was clean as clean could be.

The only thing I was pissed about was the tires that had about 2,000 mile left on the tread!

Karl O.

You can minimize most confusion by simply selling your own used car and arranging your own financing; sometimes the dealer can beat it, sometimes not.

I buy all of my cars from the same Acura dealer. They always give me a fair price; I'm sure some people get better deals somewhere, but they offer great service. I'm certainly willing for them to make a profit if they remove some of the hassles of car ownership.

Everybody's gotta make a living. So long as they're honest, it doesn't bother me.

Slamnasty

Hmm, I don't recall ever seeing this at any car dealership I've been to, though I've only bought one brand new car ever. The only thing I found that I had never really heard of before is the price shuffling discussed near the end and the example $6000 markup that the (fake) dealer extracted.

Is this person saying the dealer will put up the smoke screen of actually giving you $5k for the trade-in, while moving the $3k they weren't willing to pay you for the price of the trade-in, making it $28,499?

Everything else I've experienced multiple times though. I cannot stand the "tower" trips. I just go into car dealerships with open distrust, so I barely agree to let them even talk to me. Unless they seem like something resembling some sort of car enthusiast, I'll just keep walking away and not making eye contact. I've had one or two that were fine, but most are the usual get-em-in-get-em-out cattlewhippin' hog-tying sort that I can't stand being around.

vinsanity

I cannot emphasize enough how much credit union financing makes it easier to buy a car

and I work for a bank (credit union's arch rival)

Hawkstrike

If you're still playing the four-square in this day & age, you're either a sap or just enjoy bargaining.

I've used internet sales on my last three car purchases, and had multiple dealers in a price war trying to sell to me each time. I do my research ahead of time, expect that the dealer will make a little money, set a maximum price point and let online bidding (think reverse auction by email) do the rest. I had my own financing, or was paying cash. Quick, easy, and relatively painless. And I've yet to have a dealer give me a hassle when I show to pick up the car -- no tricks.

duboseq

I LOVE my Credit Union.

I also LOVE USAA!

I actually got to talk with the finance guy face to face in my deal. It got to that point

b00stn

USAA FTW here too

Thanks for the article. I hate car dealers.

Karl O.

I used to have a credit union client that would actually negotiate car purchases for their customers.

The thinking was that keeping their clients out of shitty deals saved the cu a lot of money. It worked, most of the time. The default rate was almost zero because they protected their customers from agreeing to repayment terms that they could not afford.

Also, the loans were almost never upside down- if the customer was unable to make the payment, the cu would help them sell the car to someone else, saving the cu the cost of a repo and saving the customer's credit rating in the process.

steven975

yea I do all my loans through USAA as well. It's nice not ever having to worry about financing.

I also have a spreadsheet on my treo with auto loan and lease calculators, just to let me know if I'm being lied to when payments are quoted. Often I am, grossly so.

Of course, I they're the last creditor I'd ever be late or default on.