Have you ever been at a dealership and you’re thinking man I wish I had all the answers? I wish I knew the answer to this question or that question. How much am I really paying for this car?
You’re at the dealership and you’ve been there for about four hours. It has been a long grueling process… you’ve been negotiating… and you’re getting close to the end of the deal where you can make the transaction and you’re thinking to yourself “I wonder if I have all the information that I need in order to make the right decision for my family.” In a car transaction the salesperson is there to SELL the car. YOU are there to buy the car. Your specific needs are your own, and they’re not decided by the salesperson. So today I’m going to give you three things that you may not think of that the salesperson definitely won’t tell you.
THE SALESPERSON IS NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU THE BEST ANSWER
Point number one, the salespeople’s job is not to give you the best answer for all of your needs, for your long-term view of yourself, and your vehicle ownership. So that being said, and you might find this funny, but a salesperson’s job is not to tell you, “Hey your family doesn’t fit in this car.” Take for instance a Dodge Challenger, if you’re sitting at a salesperson desk and you’re looking at a two-door Dodge Challenger with a 5.7-liter Hemi and you’re excited about all the power… that salesperson is not going to stop that transaction to tell you your kids are going to get too big for this in two years. Don’t forget, you’re stuck in a 72-month contract so it’s up to you to take that information and look at it yourself and not let emotion get in the way.
If you’re waiting for the salesperson to tell you, “Hey I see you’ve got another baby on the way. You guys are having baby number three and you can only get two child seats in the backseat of this car. Maybe you should look at something different for your long-term view.” That’s not going to happen.
THEY WON’T GIVE YOU YOUR TOTAL PICTURE OF YOUR TRANSACTION
Number two, it is not the salesperson’s job to give you the total financial picture of your transaction. Take this into consideration, I know that in Colorado Springs the average person keeps their vehicle 32 months. It does not matter if you sign a contract for 72 months, 84 months, 60 months, 36 months, anything in that time frame. On average most people keep their cars for 32 months. There are things that come into play when you sign a contract for a long term funding financing on a car. Like, what is the total of your payments? Most people lock-in and the salesperson will give you what your payment is today, but they won’t tell you what your total of your payments will be over 72 months, 60 months, 84 months whatever you’re signing up for…and even though you purchased a $30,000 car you’ll end up spending around $37,300 after 72 months has gone by and you’ve made every single payment. So it’s up to you to realize what your financial burden is when you buy a car based on your interest rate… based on your creditworthiness. You need to take a deep look at what you’re paying over the term of the loan.
You cannot wait for a salesperson to say that you need to stop and take a look at this… and diagnose it… just to see what you’re paying for the whole term of the loan, and if you’re really going to keep the car for this much time. Those decisions are going to be left up to you. So keep that in mind when you’re buying a car… the salesperson is not going to tell you exactly what you’re paying for the vehicle for the term of the loan. His job is NOT to provide you with that information.
THEY WILL NOT GIVE YOU OTHER OPTIONS
The third thing I’m going to share with you today about what salespeople won’t tell you at the dealership is… your OPTIONS even if it means something they don’t have to sell you. Let me repeat myself, a salesperson at a dealership is not going to tell you what your options should be if they don’t have that option to sell you.
I remember a long time ago when I started becoming an auto broker and I was helping people figure out exactly which car fit them and it really hit me right where my heart is. One of the best reasons for doing that was to offer people what they needed and not what I had to sell. Now let me break that down for you, that means we sit down with you and help you figure out exactly what car fits your needs. Your need, it has very little to do if at all with anything that I have to sell, and once that sinks in you really start to understand it. Salespeople are never going to tell you about a better option for you if they don’t have that particular option to sell you.
I remember working at Honda a very long time ago. I was sitting in the car with this customer and we were discussing the vehicle and how it fit her and things of that nature. I realized halfway through that transaction that a Camry would really fit her a lot better. Well, we didn’t have Camrys to sell. So every aspect of that transaction was dictated by this is what I have to sell you, so this is what works best for you. It’s not a salesperson’s job to tell you that you fit better in another product. You’re going to have to do that yourself OR work with a broker like myself.