Car Buying Mistakes – The (lack of) Trade In Timing

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Remember when you are out buying a new car, there are basically three separate areas that you will need to research and subsequently negotiate. And they are:

Selling price of the new car.

Trade in value of your car.

Interest rates and length of financing term.

The key word and very important aspect here is ‘separate’.

Always negotiate and work the deal on the car you are buying first.

Don’t allow any conversation about your trade in. As far as you are concerned there is no trade in involved. And as we have previously discussed, always negotiate the price on the new car from the invoice price up. Never, never, the MSRP (sticker) down.

Salespeople make their living off the MSRP selling price, so don’t expect this to be easy. But be stubborn on this point.

When it comes to your trade in, if you are not comfortable with this then leave your trade in at home and tell the salesperson there is no trade in involved in this deal.

You have a much better chance of getting your best car deal if you work the components of the deal separately. It may seem a lot easier and less time consuming to just lump the trade in negotiations in with the new car negotiations, but trust me, if you do, you will probably come away spending more than you wanted to.

Also, allowing the salesperson to mix all of the components together during the negotiating in effect has you playing on their home field.

Sales people are heavily trained on how to maximize the profit for the dealer using various sales tactics including a car sales lynch pin know as the four square close.

When you mix your trade in negotiating with the new car negotiating it is hard to keep track of all the number shuffling that you will be subjected to and easy to get confused. When you keep the various components of the car deal separate, you can focus on exactly what the pertinent numbers are.

Don’t get lazy! Laziness will cost you money.

Once you have agreed on the selling price of your new car, then and only then, do you introduce your trade in into the deal. And now here is the crucial point…

KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR TRADE IN!!!

Sorry for yelling... but there is no excuse for not knowing the value of your trade in.

Go to Cars.com and click on 'research' or pick yourself up a copy of the Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide. If you don’t know the market value of your trade, how will you know whether you’re being offered a good price or not?

And a quick note while I'm on the subject of your trade-in.

Before you go out in your potential trade-in car shopping, take the time to clean and shine up your trade in. Remember, every dollar counts and you do want to get the best value for your trade.

If you take your trade in all dirty and nasty and then try to tell the dealer how great of car it is and what great care you have taken of it, you'll not garner much credibility during the trade negotiations.

Be confident in your research, negotiate your trade in value separate of the other components of the car deal (don’t get lazy), and stay persistent.

Next Mistake Negotiating Car Prices