The dealer tricks discussed in new cars (dtml-pub new_tricks)
are going to be the same
tricks you will experience when trying to buy a used car. In regard to used cars, there are a
couple of additional tricks.
When negotiating a deal at a dealership, they are going to try to show you two sets of payments:
One to finance a used car and the other to lease a used car. First, you never want to lease a used car.
It never makes sense financially. The
dealer will set up a comparison between a
36 month purchase and a 36 month lease. This is designed to make the lease look all the more
attractive. But by the time you add all the monthly payments, the down payment and the residual
value, you will end up paying more for the car than if you had done a traditional 60 month
finance deal.
Dealers always want to switch someone to a lease because they
have the opportunity to make a lot of money on the back end of the deal. A lot of used cars
bought at the auction have salvage titles, are flood cars or have had the mileage rolled back.
It is paramount to demand that the
dealer run a
CARFAX.com report on the
used car that you are thinking about buying. The
CARFAX.com report checks the VIN number
against all the records that could be associated with that VIN number. It will check the
title, ownership, how many owners, if the mileage is correct, if the car was involved with a
flood, etc. If the dealership is unwilling to run a
CARFAX.com report, get up and walk
out of that
dealer.
Another trick the dealer will pull is to try and switch you if you are
shopping for a new car to a used car.
The reason for this switch is they have a better chance of
making more profit on a used car than on a new car. They'll often set it up on the phone.
You will call ahead asking if they have a certain new car on the lot, knowing full well that they
don't but they have one that is used with 5,000 miles that they know they could probably switch
you to. This is called the bait and switch. You will experience all of these tricks at some
point in time or another. If you do everything I suggest you do, you will avoid the majority of
them.
