Lesson Learned

[Alex311]

I hear a lot of people say to shop around when buying a car and my most recent purchase I learned how valuable that is.

i went to purchase a car, saw the model I wanted, sat in the finanace office and they gave me a CRAZY out the door number ($4k above MSRP)  and interest rate. Even showed me my credit score(636 experian Auto 8) . So I walked out, but I was also kinda confused because I knew my credit wasn't in shambles, so when I got home I pulled my score from my FICO (I have a Experian subscription but it only shows you basic scores, which were good, but not specific scores like my FICO) and I saw that my experian auto score was MUCH lower than Equifax and Tansunion (689 and 695) so I was kinda confused why they ran my credit 10,000 times just to use the lowest one. 

so I went the credit union route, and was approved with a rate 1% lower than what was quoted to me at the dealership. With that knowledge in my hand I decided to look at other dearships along with the original one (I should've left them alone but the particular model I wanted they had and I didn't want to take a trip out of town just to find something similar) 

I found a similar car at another dealership and inquired about it. Told BOTH them I had financing already and asked them for an out the door price, I also told them that I was working with other dealerships. The 2nd dealership offered to beat the credit union rate and the price given to me from the original dealership. After that i watched them battle it out.

it was pretty exciting honestly seeing them vying for my business. In the end I went from a rate of 7.2% to 4.49% and my out the door was only $1500 over msrp.

lesson learned. Shop around, have financing before you walk into the dealership, and KNOW YOUR REAL SCORES!

last thing: the original dealership ended up giving me the best deal, but I inquired why the chose to use my lowest score when the manufacturer financing uses my highest score.....🙃

[MissLiz]

Excellent job! Congratulations!

[cashorcharge]

Nicely done...

[pizzadude]

Congrats on the great rate and holding out for the best deal ! 

They likely showed your lowest score as a negotation tactic to make it seem like you wouldn't be qualified for anything better than their bad offer.

[dunn2500]

the more better equipped you are the better the deal......its a conflict of interest between salesman and customer so they will never be working for you, they work for the dealership to net biggest profit

be well researched and prepared when buying a vehicle.....second biggest purchase of most peoples lives and they treat it like they are buying a candy bar from 7-11, while fretting weeks over blinds to cover the windows.....

sounds crazy but this is usually the case

[IsambardPrince]

Not really sure what cars are still selling over MSRP.

MSRP is a price manufacturers tend to set high so their dealers can make everyone think they got a good deal if they get it below that number.

The dealer gets invoice pricing and if you do too much worse than that you need to question yourself, especially if you went through them for finance.

[IsambardPrince]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

the more better equipped you are the better the deal......its a conflict of interest between salesman and customer so they will never be working for you, they work for the dealership to net biggest profit

be well researched and prepared when buying a vehicle.....second biggest purchase of most peoples lives and they treat it like they are buying a candy bar from 7-11, while fretting weeks over blinds to cover the windows.....

sounds crazy but this is usually the case

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Last time I negotiated on a car (not for me), I just kept them there after closing time until they gave in to go home for the night.

[dunn2500]

I have switched it to all online and save the hassle of going in....contact a multiple and see who bites.....in the process currently......one finalized go into dealer to sign and take delivery, in and out in under an hour.....takes a few weeks but I am at home, out of state  can be really good as well