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Tricks Up Your Car Dealer’s Sleeve

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liuyudi
Tricks Up Your Car Dealer’s Sleeve

On a $22,000 five-year loan, that extra 2% will add $1,277 to your payment. The lender bargained with the dealer. It collects the excess money, keeps half for itself and sends the other half back to dealers.

 

Although perfectly legal, the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been investigating whether dealers and lenders tended to discriminate against women and minorities by increasing the markups on loans.

 

Dealer Tip # 4: Make deceptive promises of returns.

Suppose you want to buy a new car, but you still have a balance on your current car loan. To close the deal, the salesperson often promises, "We'll pay you back no matter how much you owe."

 

Most dealers will make up for this by charging you more for your new ride, reducing the trade-in fee and charging a markup on finance fees. The bad showrooms will pay off your old loan as they promised, and then secretly add the money to your new loan.

 

To avoid this, they count on you to focus on your monthly payments and ignore the total amount of car deals and loans you raise.

 

Initially, you might be told that your monthly payment would be about $400, which is what you would get if you offered $20,000 over 60 months at a 6% interest rate.

 

When you sit down to sign the document, the finance manager points to the monthly payment bank, and it must be $397.

 

You can't see that the dealer increased the payment by $4,000 and provided a contribution of $24,000 within 72 months, promising you to pay for the car for an additional year.

 

Interest rate search: purchase car loan interest rate.

 

Dealer Tip 5: urge you to rent.

Some salespeople may steer you toward leasing because it may allow you to get a new car for less than half of the monthly purchase cost.

 

The problem is, you'll still be paying monthly fees for several years - and at the end of the year you'll have nothing.

 

If you need to rent a car to be "affordable," you may not be able to afford it at first.

 

Read our story to learn why leasing is a bad thing.

 

Dealer Tip # 6: Say the deal is good now.

Salesmen like to put pressure on buyers to make a quick sale by saying "this deal is only today".

 

This is a common tactic to prevent you from checking other dealerships or having other ideas. They worry that if you leave a lot, you won't come back.

 

If you return, there's a good chance you'll get the same deal.

 

One exception is around the end of the month, when incentives offered by car companies (rebates and discounted loans) typically expire.

 

In any case, you don't want to make an impulsive decision or feel so much pressure to buy.

 

Don't be afraid to sleep on it.

 

Dealer Tip # 7: Get rid of old baits and switches.

You will see an AD for a high price on the car under consideration.

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