When you walk into a car dealership to look for a car, who do you think has the advantage? Does the customer have the advantage, since he has the money? Not on your life! Even if you buy a new car every two or three years, the salesperson who is about to greet you talks to at least three or four customers EVERY DAY! The dealer has this down to a science, and you don't. This book will tell you what to watch out for, and how the salesperson is trained to control the customer. I became a car salesman after I went shopping for a new pickup truck in 1979, and the dealership offered me a job because the salesperson couldn't control me, and couldn't break me. In fact, I bought another brand entirely, because I got such a great deal. But I just could not turn down the kind of money I could make selling what I knew were the most reliable cars on the road, so I took the job. Every dealership belongs to an organization that employs Psychiatrists and Psychologists to interview customers, and determine what words and phrases the salesperson should use at each point in the selling process. I can help you negotiate the best deal. More than that my experience includes working as parts, service, and warranty claims manager for two smaller sports car dealerships, and as a service writer for a larger dealership, as well as working as a sales representative for three different dealerships in two states. I have also worked as a mobile home sales rep, a motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft sales rep, parts guru in the same shop, and parts counterman in a boat dealership. This book is twice as long as most books of its kind, and I go into how to not get ripped off by the service department, and how to handle warranty repairs, and I even discuss phony warranty claims, and how you can help the manufacturer control this cost of doing business, which I believe amounts to hundreds of dollars of the sticker price on every new car. Then I tell you how to get the best deal on financing, and whether you should finance or pay cash, if you can afford it. I tell you all about dealership added accessories, like rustproofing, fabric coatings, and paint glaze, and about extended warranties. Topics in this book include:
Pay Plan for salespeople, mechanics, and service writers, and how that affects their conduct
The Five Principle Steps in selling a car
The Test Drive
Negotiating the Deal
The F & I Guy (Finance and Insurance) aka Customer Service Manager (LOL)
Delivery (No, not to your house, at the dealership, but they call it delivery)
How to see and read the invoice, or determine the dealer's true cost
How to determine the Actual Cash Value of your trade, or any used car
The Quota System, and how it affects the dealership and you (including the best month to buy and the best TIME of the month to buy.)
Getting the best financing deal
Buying a used car
Dealing with the Service Department
Warranties and Warranty Work
How to choose between the dealer and an independent shop for after sales service
Keeping an eye out for phony warranty claims
The most important thing to look for in test driving a used car, and why you should always do this
Why your salesperson is your best asset in the dealership, and why you should not buy a car over the phone or over the internet
Dealers who say they have only one price--you can do better at a conventional dealership if you learn to negotiate the best deal
"Bird Dog" fees your dealer will be happy to pay you
When you have finished reading this book, you will be ready to buy a new or used car, at the best possible price, and what to do when problems arise after the sale. I also suggest that you "practice" buying a car from other dealers before you shop with the dealer you are most interested in buying from. And I advise you to check with friends about what they think of the dealers they bought from, and find out whether there is a high turnover of personnel there.
Our First Review (yay)
Jay Hamilton (motorsports journalist and former manager & salesman for several automotive dealerships) wants to make sure if you’re buying a car, it is you and not the dealership in the driver seat of the negotiation. His straight-talking ninety-two page primer is folksy and filled with personal anecdotes and insider information designed to give a buyer the money-saving advantage needed to make a smart deal. It is well worth the price of the quick-read book. In fact, with the information provided in the nine chapters of HOW TO BUY A CAR WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SHIRT, the reader will come to know exactly what the salesman knows, and more.
Like having a personal consultant at your side, Hamilton’s casual but detailed primer is a fun and easy read. Topics range from researching your dealership to motivations of a salesman, and even to specifics regarding some of the tricks and traps which plague the industry of automobile sales. Using personal experience and anecdotes, Hamilton breaks down the psychology of buying by illustrating the complexities of the buyer/seller relationship in layman’s terms.
Particularly in the chapter, The Five Steps in Selling a Car, we learn how salesmen can play to a buyer’s habits, tap into a customer’s behavior patterns, and subtly connect to their customer's psychology in order to dampen intellect, amplify passion, and compel them to just say ‘yes’. But with the help of HOW TO BUY A CAR WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SHIRT, the reader will be informed not just in the buy/sell process (including used vehicles), but also in the servicing of the vehicle for the future, and even right down to the nitty-gritty of the warranty package.
Beginning with a simple concept--actually practicing to buy a car out in the real market before opening one's wallet--Hamilton’s no-nonsense advice and personal experience will literally save the buyer hundreds and possibly even thousands of dollars. And with hand-drawn comic illustrations (by artist Michael Garvin) and witty personal examples from real life, this book distinguishes itself as a serious, but seriously fun way to very quickly become a wise consumer—and not just for automobiles, but also in the practical buyer/seller situations we face each and every day.
If you are in the market for a vehicle, preparing with this book is an invaluable asset!
~ Tom Miller, Wikipedia-Listed Performance Artist, Personal Public Relations & Media Consultant.
Tom Miller currently has two paperback books for sale: