Buying a vehicle is a lifelong dream for millions of individuals and families around the world. It demonstrates an achievement, creates happiness, and allows you the convenience and comfort that comes with private vehicle ownership.
For most of us, the first step involves doing proper research about the vehicle type, make, model, features, price, and other considerations. The second step involves reaching out to the dealer and trying to get the best price possible on the vehicle.
Whether you are purchasing a new car or a used one, the processes are more or less the same. In this article, we are going to list down some common tips and tricks dealers use to ensure that they get the best from your business and money.
If you are looking to get the best vehicles without being experimented upon by the tricks, Think One is a reliable car dealer in Singapore that you can check out.
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Why do Car Dealerships Try to Trick Customers?
Every business runs according to a specific model. In the case of car dealerships, it is mostly about salesman commissions. In other words, a salesman will try every trick in their book to ensure that they are closing the sales and getting the best for their dealership.
This includes making the customer pay a higher base price, not offering any discounts, pushing for a more expensive insurance premium, and encouraging add-on purchases.
You must have figured by now that car dealerships want you to pay as much as possible and save themselves a lot of money. Bumping up interest rates and helping their own vendors (insurance companies, banks, accessories suppliers) is something most dealerships will do.
You might end up buying one car, but with the vendors, the dealership has a relationship for the entire year around.
List of 5 Common Ways Car Dealerships try to Trick You
1. Passing off Manufacturer’s Rebates as Dealer Discounts-
No matter when you step into a car showroom, there are always some discounts on offer. These discounts are available both at the manufacturer’s end as well as the dealer’s side. Dealerships always try hard to push for rebates in the name of discounts. This is enough to convince many customers. However, you need to push for discounts and offers at both ends.
2. Stating Accessories need to be bought at the time of purchase-
For most car dealerships, it is the add-ons in the form of car accessories that are their real sources of revenue. They will aggressively try to push for the same and in certain conditions say that deliveries will only be met if you buy the accessories package. This is one oldest tricks that help them compensate for all the discounts that they are offering on the vehicle.
3. Immediate Forecasts of Price Hikes and Adjustments-
Car dealerships always want to push the belief that you will miss out on the offers if you wait a while. They keep saying that the manufacturer is about to hike the prices next week and you will not be able to get the best deal then. This is something that is proven false nine out of ten times. Please do not fall from price hike forecasts as they are rarely true most of the time.
4. Selling you Higher Insurance and Car Interest EMIs-
A majority of us are going to opt for car loans to get our vehicles. Dealers know that the higher the interest rates they can stick to the customers, the better will be the payback from the bank. This is why it is best to compare the interest rates from several banks and lenders before going for something that the dealer recommends. The same goes for car insurance as well.
5. Selling you a Car with some Manufacturing Defect-
There are thousands of vehicles that get damaged in transit. Manufacturers ask dealers to sell them after touching up paint, changing tires, fixing dents, and so on. This is why customers should do a rigorous pre-car delivery inspection test. If possible, get your local mechanic to have a look at the car and see whether everything checks out or not.
The Final Word
While we have mentioned five of the tricks car salesman and dealerships are likely to employ, there are several more that you should watch out for. If you have any more questions or would like clarifications on which dealerships, should you get a car from, let us know in the comments below and we will try to help you out.
