As you shop around for a new car, many dealers will make statements like: "we're not able to discount this model" - or, they may drop other more subtle conditioning statements such as: "this model has just been released", "this is a limited edition model" or "stock is moving very quickly, the issue has become availability".
Although some of these statements can and may be true, it doesn't mean that you won't be able to secure a sizeable discount on a new car if you approach negotiating the price in the right way.
So what is the right way? The right way is probably best highlighted by pointing one of the approaches that certainly won't work in your favour.
That is, tackling the subject of price upfront.
Always leave the price till last.
This approach doesn't seem logical to some buyers - on the contrary, leaving the subject of price until the end of the new car buying process is a powerful negotiating strategy in and of itself.
Here's why: The longer any sales consultant spends with you, the more committed they are to selling you a new car at any price.
Let me qualify this statement further: Consider this, if a sales consultant spends the time explaining the features, advantages and benefits of a new car to you, then spends more time taking you (maybe even others in your family or company) on a test drive, how much more committed to selling you a new car are they at any price? And how much harder will they fight to win your business having invested the time and energy with you? Dealer sales staff's time and energy is precious at any level, whether you deal with a showroom Sales Consultant, or the General Sales Manager, each have only a certain amount of time each day, week and month to achieve the targets they have been given.
As you and dealer staff invest time together in the sales process (the consulting process for the consultant, and the information gathering and question settling process for you), the consultant has now become more committed to selling you a new car than you are to buying one simply due to the time and energy investment on their part - they now can't afford to let the potential sale slip away.
This why it is always best to tackle the subject of price last when attempting to negotiate a discount on a new car.
Let's face it, we need to get all our questions answered and test drive the car before we are in a position to commit to actually buying a new car anyway right? Therefore it is actually no extra effort to leave negotiating the price of a new car until the end of the process, in fact it makes the purchase much more enjoyable - for everyone.
By the time we sit down and talk price, the dealer will be making us the offers instead of us asking for them.
Although some of these statements can and may be true, it doesn't mean that you won't be able to secure a sizeable discount on a new car if you approach negotiating the price in the right way.
So what is the right way? The right way is probably best highlighted by pointing one of the approaches that certainly won't work in your favour.
That is, tackling the subject of price upfront.
Always leave the price till last.
This approach doesn't seem logical to some buyers - on the contrary, leaving the subject of price until the end of the new car buying process is a powerful negotiating strategy in and of itself.
Here's why: The longer any sales consultant spends with you, the more committed they are to selling you a new car at any price.
Let me qualify this statement further: Consider this, if a sales consultant spends the time explaining the features, advantages and benefits of a new car to you, then spends more time taking you (maybe even others in your family or company) on a test drive, how much more committed to selling you a new car are they at any price? And how much harder will they fight to win your business having invested the time and energy with you? Dealer sales staff's time and energy is precious at any level, whether you deal with a showroom Sales Consultant, or the General Sales Manager, each have only a certain amount of time each day, week and month to achieve the targets they have been given.
As you and dealer staff invest time together in the sales process (the consulting process for the consultant, and the information gathering and question settling process for you), the consultant has now become more committed to selling you a new car than you are to buying one simply due to the time and energy investment on their part - they now can't afford to let the potential sale slip away.
This why it is always best to tackle the subject of price last when attempting to negotiate a discount on a new car.
Let's face it, we need to get all our questions answered and test drive the car before we are in a position to commit to actually buying a new car anyway right? Therefore it is actually no extra effort to leave negotiating the price of a new car until the end of the process, in fact it makes the purchase much more enjoyable - for everyone.
By the time we sit down and talk price, the dealer will be making us the offers instead of us asking for them.