Negotiation to Buy a New Car
Introduction
The process of negotiating the purchase of a new car gets quite painful in situations where you have less knowledge and research, states Elkins 2019. The conditions turn out to be a disappointment at the end of it all and probably get back with no car or with a vehicle but less satisfied. Many people, just like me, aren’t hagglers, and hence no one would anticipate getting a new vehicle upon negotiation.
Personal situation
When I got buying my first car, it was a fantastic experience but then also freezing. I had yearned strongly to get the car out of peer pressure and childhood desires. The day came, and the urge was intense. To surprise my family and my crew, I took no one to the yard. I had enough courage to execute the whole business. However, I forgot that buying a new car was not like buying any other property, for instance, flour; it called for deep conversations and negotiations with the vendor.
When figuring out my dream car, a BMW, I had general knowledge about it, that is, its speed, comfortability, and model. However, when I got in the yard, the first thing that came out was the negotiator’s price negotiation. I had a small clue about the new car’s average price and the exact price for a second-hand car. I had done a few research on the cost of the vehicle on the website, and the process was quite uncomfortable, and winning the process would be tuff. I did not understand the best price to quote and how to bargain. Probably, the vendor was to overcharge me and take advantage of me. Indeed, my fears came to pass.
While negotiating, I looked forward to getting the best car ever, but keeping my emotions away in the process was inevitable. I had got attached myself to the vehicle that moving out was impossible even though the negotiation did not favor me. The negotiator understood my inability to handle the consultation, so I got so tough on price and intensified the car’s traits. I got more intensely moved emotionally, and walking away was difficult.
Besides, I argued the car as a whole while the seller, on the hand, handled the deal separately. The dealer allowed the sale of the vehicle in monthly installments upon placing a quantifiable deposit. The issue was that my price quote was so low that the seller introduced the new idea of acquiring the car in small unit payments. I was not ready to get into a loan, an experience which had turned out sour in past scenarios, and that one got huge. Buying the car on a loan basis, would take long and enter me into debt, and probably the price would be higher than the market price. For first, I stood my ground on getting it as a whole.
To kill the prey, I stood on a single unit of price without waving. I got determined to drive the car out of the yard, independent of how hard things seemed to understand. I told the seller that I would only work with a fixed price that included all the charges without a breakdown. The dealer seemed unmoved by my step, and eventually, I was ready to walk away to seek another deal. The dealer, for a moment, loosened his firm stand and began to soothe for close conversation. He had a high price quote compared to mine, and he began to adjust.
Finally, I drove the car out of the yard after a long negotiation, with both sides winning and losing from a different perspective. I got the car, but later to my surprise, even though I got it with my quoted price, it was high enough for the vendor to make a massive profit. I won the seller since he wished to sell it on hire purchase terms, but I bought it as a whole, which was less expensive. The negotiation was lengthy and from two distinctive ends. As far as I got willing to buy the car, I was poorly informed based on purchasing a new car, and that ended up being taken advantage of by the dealer.
The goal
My very goal from the negotiation was to get away with the best car. I wished to close the deal with satisfaction and fewer disappointments. On the dealer’s side, he looked forward to getting the much out of me price wise and probably that happened. I intended to get the car with my quoted price even though it varied as the negotiation continued. Our perspectives changed due to variations in personal needs and desires. The goals built pressure, and winning each other was not an easy battle.
I had intentions to keep emotions so low since I had a unique attachment to the car. I had invested heavily to attain the amount of money needed, then to acquire the vehicle and little disappointment to obtain it would affect not only my intentions but also my emotions. To take the deal away, I had to keep the feelings away and winning it through smart and confident negotiation. Keeping the emotions out of the agreement would probably keep the price optimal and total satisfaction from both sides.
Also, I had goals to have the car as a whole package, drive it out of yard free of debt, and not separate transactions. Although I was ill-armed with information on the price of the car and unprepared to negotiate into depths, I was ready to acquire it at once. I wasn’t focused on the separate payment of the vehicle since it had a debt burden of a loan. The seller got highly focused on the monthly payment methodology, which was highly risky to me. My mind was straight on having the price of the car, the value of the trade, money provision, and after-sales services as a whole package. However, the dealer’s goal in offering the price was to make extra profits and commission.
Before the negotiation, I had desires to converse the deal with a final quote of the price. My goal was to work with an out-door amount that entailed all charges and taxations payments. I had purposed to walk away in a situation where the dealer does otherwise by separating the charges into different units. The separate charge was the dealer’s goal. However, my desire got fulfilled.
The experience
When two sides have a different perspective on a particular deal, the experience gets exceptionally personal and unique. Most dealers do their homework well and frequently on the needs and most likely counterattack their customers. Out of that, they increase their experience in the field by tackling their customers with ease and expertise to see them win them all the time. On the other hand, the customers end up with little or little information on what they want, and their experience on the lot turns out miserable. In most cases, these customers end up taken advantage of in terms of price and also emotionally.
On negotiating the car, I stepped into the yard with little information on what I wanted. I had very little reliable information that could influence the dealer or win my argument. Also, I was unsafe and unsure of what I had on closing the deal. My insecurities surpassed the little confidence I had to confront any case. The uttermost fear was the pricing details on my side. I had no information about the price of a new car that turned out to my shock and misuse. From the beginning of the negotiation, I never figured out the price tag and the amount of profit the dealer anticipated. Further, I was unable to read the dealer’s cards on price play and, therefore, ended up being bluffed openly.
Almost and if not all car seller, possesses an inside power to turn the car buying experience quite emotional. The dealer, in my case, made me enter and sit in the decent leather sits of the BMW, felt the sense of a brand new car, and had a spontaneous test through gas punching process and drifting. The seller hoped that after that soothing experience, I would go for the first price he quoted desperately. In that, the dealer won me emotionally but did not get me financially, as the quote was so high to bear for the first time. Previously, I had called the dealer, edged, and seemed to have won the deal but not financially him. To catch my attention, he invited me into the showroom through an appointment without giving me a definite or fixed price. The technique caught me up emotionally through the car test price. However, his price quote did not bear fruits.
Buying the new car was my first experience, and the possibility of hiding my trading technique got impossible. From the start, the dealer could tell that it was my initiation time in a showroom, and therefore, he could understand my negotiation criteria. At some point, I reacted to change my mindset on the price of the car, but the dealer realized I had traded in the dealership process. To make me trade-in, the dealer used the new car’s profit margin to look like he had paid more money to accomplish the deal. I could not make a good deal because I could not handle trade in technique and new car quotation separately.
Also, the salesperson in the entire negotiation kept on referring to the payment of the car rather than the price. He referenced the amount much about his commission benefits received upon the deal closure. The salesperson in the entire process quoted the payment in monthly terms and left the price of the car undone until we closed the deal by signatures. The dealer smoothed the experience by lowering the payments done monthly through prolonging the return time for the loan instead of cutting down the marked price. The idea was outstanding, but hard to bear since it was risky. Monthly payments could turn into long term debts that are unbearable and less enjoyable. At last, it disappointed the dealer as I acquired the car as a single package. That to the dealer earned him high commission but denied him long terms profits.
Besides, in the negotiation, our patience got tested on the ability to bend low and go with other ideas. My will power got on full stretch and test. The seller kept me waiting to dream and imagine the new ride. Nevertheless, I bit back. His arguments got based on the size of the commission by admiring adverse sales of cars. My model of choice was rare, and I could not wait for enough for tomorrow’s chance. As time passed, the salesperson kept wondering if I had changed my mind to fit into his idea and smash a great deal on his account. In that sense, I utilized my time to get the salesperson to offer more concessions of the price tag.
Before turning into the car option, I had withdrawn my credit card report. I could not negotiate with the dealer in the absence of the car’s low price. I tended not to converse on a loan basis for purchasing the vehicle since I had little information. Before then, I had a lot of information on credit approval presented to the salesperson. Out of that, it saw the seller improve the deal by loosening the fixation of price.
Further, as our issues remained on a high note, the dealer who seemed to get experienced employed the exclusivity technique to win me out. Here, I almost got fixed within my limits. I wanted to close the deal, but I had not worked out the price initially. Therefore, I considered the seller’s condition, where I tried to walk away without closing the deal. The deal got almost dead as I had lost interest in the al negotiation. I tried to walk away to increase my bargaining chances from the dealer. Although I was not married then, I informed the dealer that I had to get away first and discuss the issue with my wife. Eventually, the dealer called back to find out how much lower he could get to close the deal. Afterward, I stacked with my position that led to a shift of lengthy conversation with the yard’s manager and granted my desire.
The whole scenario, from beginning to the end, got stressful as the picture of buying a new car turned into a different case of negotiation with each party wishing to get the best out of the deal. Following that, I had little knowledge; the dealer had the absolute advantage of me by realizing my will power to purchase the car. The only means to deal with me was to raise the commission and profit margins.
The Outcome
In a negotiation of purchasing a property, the parties in the deals end up benefiting, losing, or both dependent on the type of agreement and the participant’s knowledge. Our car dealership went on both sides, winning and losing at the same time. The first loss got on my side as the price I acquired the car with included a massive profit margin and commission to the dealer. The price quote was far much beyond a specific price even though the salesperson raised complaints that the charge was low.
On the dealer’s side, they intended to offer specific models on hire purchase terms to increase their profit gauge through monthly incomes received through the installments. The idea turned out unsuccessful as I acquired the car as a whole. Upon purchasing the car as a package, the seller extended my warranty far beyond the seller’s stated date of expiration. That came about due to less mile coverage of the car. The whole package payment resulted in full coverage of all financial and insurance costs, unlike the dealer’s proposition of monthly payment. That would have led to fast depreciation and loss of value of the car in a short period.
Further, I accrued benefit on the reduction of interest paid on attached charges and tax obligations since I acquired it as a whole. The most significant loss encountered while using the new car was the loss of value as I drove the car out of the showroom. The depreciation process got guaranteed immediately and began to lose the amount that cannot get recovered. The possession of a new vehicle made sense as it was a fundamental childhood desires even though I got manipulated to fit on the deal. Also, the insurance and financial obligations imposed rate were higher than other vehicles since it was new and had few mile coverage. The ride was perfect but came along with adverse limitations too. The dealer knew all the means and tactics as they practice every day, and out of that, they bore the field advantage fruit. Without knowledge, you dealers take advantage of you, as the car salesperson did without my anticipation.
Lessons Learned
Negotiations can turn a haggle business link into a flourishing deal with satisfaction from both ends and fewer disappointments. Everybody is best in their field, and to out-do them, one has to learn the various tactics employed and know how to counter them effectively, states Montoya 2019. Some of the best lessons I learned from the negotiation include quick mastery of numbers, timely preparation, encouraging remote negotiations on deals, price shopping through comparison, embracing the art of unpredictability, and awareness of words of mouth.
First, it’s essential to prepare adequately before getting into the showroom. That is by researching information based on the car to increase information reliability and security. Also, one should master numbers that will help throughout the conversation to cut the deal. That help in negotiation depersonalization to avoid emotional takeover and establishment of buying price. One should understand the reasonable market price of the car, acquainted incentives, the value of trading in the vehicle, and approximated charges and tax.
Besides, one should engage the dealer away from the showroom through calls or emails. It’s vital to request online questions to bargain the price since you had done an onsite test. Further, it’s advisable to price shop the cost to other dealers for comparison. Here, you seek other price quotations while you have one at hand. The dealer, therefore, goes to offer the best optimal sale to cut the deal from fellow dealers. Also, present the art of unpredictability during the negotiation. As the salesperson seems to be adamant, show low interest as you walk away, and they will keep a close eye to close the deal at your preferred quotation, notes Reed 2019.
Conclusion
Every negotiator, whether a buyer or a seller, aims at the best alternative out of a deal. Learning to negotiate help to present reasonable offers as they happen. Before closing any deal further, it’s vital to check on the breakdown of charges and compare them with the final price tag. That is because salespersons add on ambiguous charges to increase their commission margins. Once the ultimate price matches the total breakdown price, one can purchase the car confidently.
Reference
Elkins K. (2019) How to negotiate the best price on a car, according to former car salesmen. Retrieved June 15, from https://www.cnbc.com/how-to-negotiate-the-best-car-price
Montoya R. (2019) How to Negotiate Car prices. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/negotiating-101
Reed, P. (2019) % Ways to Negotiate the Best Car Price for People Who Hate Haggling. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.nerdwallet.com/loans/auto-loans/5-car-negotiating-secrets-for-people-who-hate-haggling