How to Find Out What a Dealer Paid For a Used Car

This one is always going to be tough to do - really, the only way to find out what a dealer paid for a used car is to have access to his computer or his inventory sheet. His inventory sheet lists the total investment in the used car. There are a number of different websites you can go to and get an idea of what the dealer paid for a used car, but the only true way to find out what a dealer paid is to ask the dealer in an upfront way what he is "in the car for."

Since most used car dealers have a propensity toward dishonesty, this is always going to be tough. If you can find a used car dealer that is upfront in the way that he does business, he may show you what he paid for the car and furthermore tell you what kind of profit he is willing to take. Negotiating in this fashion will ultimately save you a lot of time and aggravation.

If you go to websites such as NADAGuides.com, InvoiceDealers.com and Edmunds.com, you can get an idea of what a dealer paid for the used car by clicking on "trade-in value." Always rate the car as good condition and fair condition. Never rate the car as being in excellent condition. Whatever the middle of these two values is typically what the dealer paid for the car. Now, that is not necessarily what his total investment in the car is. He may buy the car at auction for $10,000 and then by law, he has to send it through the service department to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the car. After the mechanic looks at it, the car may need another $1,200 worth of work in order to establish the car in sellable condition. So now his total investment in the car is $11,200 and he would probably be willing to sell it to a customer for $12,200. He now makes $1,000 in total profit.

If the dealer shows you his inventory sheet listing his internal cost, the values on that page will list his total investment in the used car, including any re-conditioning that had to be done to get the car to sellable condition.