kutulu

Unless you were looking at interest rates there was absolutely no reason for them to run your credit.

I just remembered that the guy I worked with last weekend did a trick I'd never seen before. When he took my keys to evaluate my car (I should have been standing there as it happened, but I was distracted), he never gave them back till I asked for them (about an hour later when I realized he still had them). In the past, when I'd walk out, I usually left while the salesman was "talking with the boss" It was a non-confrontational way to sneak out. He eliminated that opprotunity by holding on to them. It was slimey, but very smart. My wife and I had a good laugh about it.

Always talk actual amounts, never talk monthly payments. First of all, it breaks it down into an amount that is too small to see the overall change in price. Second of all, with a 15,000 vehicle the difference between a 6% loan and a 11% loan is $36. It doesn't seem like a lot but over a 60 month loan it's $2,160. A lot of extra charges can be hidden in interest rates.

Sell your old car privately before you buy the car. A dealership will do whatever they can to get you to take as little as possible for your trade. In many cases they might make more by selling your car at auction than they made off the car you purchased. Selling it privately will not only maximize what you get for your vehicle but it will also simplify your negotiations, tilting it more in your favor.

Selling it privately can be difficult if say you owed $2k more than what you can sell it for. If you were planning on making a down payment, spend it on making up the difference between what you sold your car for and what you owed. Nobody really needs a down payment anyway. They just want more cash up front for their pockets rather than in the financing guy's pockets.

The last thing I'd say it to never buy a car by yourself. First of all, you tend to spend a lot of time alone while he "talks to the boss" and you can have some company. Second, they like to gang up on you and back you in a corner. The person you bring with you will remind you that you're not alone, you have the power to leave, and that someone else is on your side because the sales guy is not.

Also, if the person you bring is a SO, sit close together rather than on opposite sides of the table where they set the chairs. They want to divide and conquer, if you stay together it might help you subconciously.

Overall, if you are going brand new, just talk to the fleet/internet manager over the phone or by email. There's a reason why the salesmen in the article were complaining about the internet sales. People get a better deal, hell they can get a car for under invoice!