IN THE KNOW
I’ve been a car dealer for 43 years…we hate when you know five things because they will get you money off
Including a trick to getting a better car finance agreement
A CAR dealer has revealed five things people like him don't want you to know because they get you money off your motor.
Ray Shefska, who has spent more than four decades in the industry, urged drivers to tool up with vital knowledge in order to get a better deal.
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In a YouTube video with his son Zach, Ray took viewers through a simple five-step process to slashing the price of their next vehicles.
He emphasised that the most important thing is to do your homework before you even set foot in the dealership.
Make sure to research the particular car you are targeting in-depth, which you can often do through a number of free online services.
This can even get you a price below the car's RRP, according to Ray.
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Know the data
The first thing you need to do is get into the nitty-gritty of all the stats and data about the car.
Vehicle insight services are a useful tool and are often very affordable or even free online.
They can tell you important information including how many of your prospective car are stocked in your local area, how many have been sold in the past few months and even recommend a fair price.
For example, if you find that the car you are looking into is struggling to sell or that the supply is much higher than the demand, then you are more likely to be able to negotiate a discount.
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As such try and target cars that dealers are having trouble shifting (as long as this is not due to any fault) as they will often be more willing to knock down the price to secure a rare sale.
Know how long it has been for sale
Similarly to the first point, knowing how long a specific car has been on sale at your local dealership is a great way to save money.
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Fundamentally, dealers want motors that will sell quickly and won't sit on their books, and take up space on their forecourts, for long periods of time.
Again, vehicle insight websites are a handy hack.
You can search for a particular model and find examples at local dealerships that have been on the lot for a long period.
Ray explained: "Dealers like to move their new cars between 60-75 days at the oldest.
"[They] would be more amenable to moving an older unit at a discount.
"It helps [them] and it helps me."
Look up potential incentives
Now, the first two steps should already have secured you a bit of a discount, but it's important to know how that is actually made up.
Often, manufacturers will provide dealers with incentives, allowing them to drop the value of the car to motivate sales while still making the same profit.
Look up if there are any national or regional discounts that have been applied to the car you're looking at, including things like customer rebates and promotional offers.
If the majority of your discount is covered by one of these, then the dealership isn't taking as much off as perhaps they could afford to.
In that case, set out the figures and try and get them to eat into their margin a little more to get some extra cash off.
Check forums
Forums can be a great way to check in with other drivers and see if anyone is getting a better deal that you can then put to your dealership.
You can search by dealership franchise, model or even just join a car community online to see what the going rate for a particular car is.
There are plenty of dedicated sites out there, while Reddit is also a good option for the casual buyer.
For example, if you find a customer buying the same car as you in a nearby area for a lower price, you can ask your dealer to match that.
If they refuse, take your custom to the other dealership to get a better rate.
Get pre-approved
Finally, Ray had a handy hack for anyone trying to negotiate a finance deal to buy their car.
Roughly 80% of cars in the UK are bought on finance according to the latest figures, so the vast majority of drivers have had to negotiate a loan.
The motoring whizz urged Brits to get themselves pre-approved at a set rate and term by a credit union, community bank or other financial institution independent of the dealership.
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As with local price comparisons, you can then take this offer to the dealership and ask them to beat or match it.
Again, if they refuse, then just go with your independent offer but chances are they will try and do better so they still earn the commission from the deal.
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