Luxury cars are the ultimate vehicles, packed with performance, capability, and features. But luxury cars are also expensive, and deals can be far and few on these top-of-the-line cars.
If you want the luxury car of your dreams at an affordable price, you just need to negotiate. Here’s how to get the dealership to sell you a luxury car at the price you want.
Let the Salesperson Do All the Talking
The best way to start negotiations with your local dealership or salesperson? Keep your mouth shut.
Let the salesperson or dealer be the one to do the talking. That way, you don’t give away too much information or reveal that you’re willing to pay a little more for a great car. If the salesperson names a price before you do, you can then make a lower offer. Staying quiet lets the salesperson do the difficult work: trying to make a sale with someone who’s firm on their budget.
There’s also an added bonus the dealer won’t even consciously notice: if you’re keeping quiet, there’s bound to be plenty of awkward silences. The salesperson will likely try to fill those silences, and as the Washington Post writes, they often try to get you chatting by making a few concessions.
Research the Dealer Cost and Use It to Your Advantage
The best way to gain the upper hand in negotiating the price of new luxury car is to do your research. Make sure you research the specific car (or cars) you’re interested in before you visit your local dealership to negotiate. You’ll want to look for one key number: the dealer’s cost, or the actual cost, of the car.
As CarsDirect reports, luxury car prices are marked up way more than the average vehicle. This gives the dealership a huge profit on every sale. So, if you can get a new car for the dealer’s cost, or the amount on the dealer invoice, you’ll pay the actual value of the vehicle and save thousands.
In order to find the dealer’s cost or invoice price, research different makes and models on sites like Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds. These sites give you the dealer’s invoice and the prices offered by different dealerships in your area, helping you determine exactly what each luxury car is worth and the lowest price you may be able to pay.
When you visit the dealership to negotiate, make sure you mention the dealer cost. This can get you a lower price, since the dealer wants to make a sale above all else. Dealerships are willing to let a luxury car go for less if they’re making even a small profit – after all, they have sales quotas and numbers to hit every month, so the sale is what’s most important.
Ask About the Total Price, Not the Monthly Payment
When negotiating with a dealership salesperson, you’ll notice that the salesperson places a lot of emphasis on the amount you’ll pay monthly. Instead of talking about the total sale price of a luxury car, they’ll focus only on what your cost will be each month. And this is a negotiation trap.
Don’t fall for this. Instead, ask – and insist on knowing – the total price, like the Washington Post recommends, so you know exactly what the terms of the loan will be. The reason dealers want you to focus on the monthly price is it’s lower, and it often sounds far more affordable. After all, would you rather pay $400 a month for a car or $75,000?
However, you don’t want to agree to a low monthly price and then realize while you’re signing on the dotted line that you’ve just committed to a six- or seven-year loan. These long loans leave you paying way more for your new luxury car in the long run thanks to interest and depreciation.
Don’t Forget to Shop Around
The most important piece of the negotiation process is comparison shopping. Just like you should do your research to find the dealer’s cost, you should also compare different prices, offers, and incentives offered by different sellers and dealerships.
If you’re looking to score a luxury car for less, you need to shop multiple dealerships. You don’t need to visit each one – you can do this research and comparison shopping right on your couch thanks to the internet. Search online for the make and model you’re interested in and compare what others are charging or offering.
Then, head to your chosen dealership armed with information about competitors’ offers and prices. You should use this knowledge as power in the negotiation process – let the dealer know their competitor is offering a better deal. Tell them confidently that you know you can get a lower price elsewhere, and you’d like them to beat it.
This is a crucial step in negotiating your new luxury car deal. Find lower prices online and bring that information with you so you can’t be swindled or talked into a deal that isn’t as great as you’d hoped. Remember, dealers need to make sales. And you can score a lower price than you see on the lot – as long as you follow these negotiating tips.
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