by Anthony Megna

Created on: February 14, 2011   Last Updated: May 26, 2012

Buying a car, new or used, means dealing with a seller, and that seller is usually a car salesman. There are an awful lot of jokes about car salesman! Gee, I wonder why that is.....?

Negotiating to get the best deal with a car seller doesn't have to be an unpleasant process. There is one simple reason why this is, and that is this: All the power rests in the hands of the buyer! That's right, the buyer only has to utter two words if he or she doesn't like the deal offered. Those words are "I'm walking". No salesman wants to hear or see that, believe me, as I used to sell cars for a brief period. Frankly, selling cars wasn't my cup of tea, but there are millions of people whose job it is to sell cars, and they're not all trying to gouge the buyer. Like anything else, it takes a few bad apples to spoil it for the rest, but that's a different story for a another time.

From personal experience, to get the best deal when negotiating do the research before doing the buying. One needs to have all their facts in hand in order to negotiate properly, and that means the homework has to be done. So what's entailed? What are some basic facts to know?If one is purchasing a used car from a dealer, for instance, get on the computer and find the Kelley Blue Book value of the car to be purchased. There is also something called Car-Fax that is a help as well, and all reputable dealers will list that right into the information listed. So here is my experience...

My wife and I own a 2006 BMW 750li, and it's a lovely car, no question about it. It's also not cheap, but we got a great deal on this car so after test driving it we couldn't resist. But that was in the past, and now we're looking to trade up to a newer year, same model. So the first thing I did was get the facts on my car, which means all the options we have and the current Kelly Blue Book value. This information is right on the Internet, and it's essential to have. Now that I've got that info, I need to find out about the car we looking to purchase. So after that was accomplished, I now know the financial ballpark me and the salesman are playing in.

Don't let anyone tell you anything different, the salesman are out to get the best deal for themselves as they can, and in most cases they don't want to piss off the customer, as repeat business is important to their bottom line. It so happens that my wife and I have been dealing with an elderly gentleman whose been selling cars longer than I've been buying them, that's for sure! This fact alone is important, as he knows he's got to do the best deal for us, because we've been down this road before.

BUILD A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SALESMAN!

There it is, in a nutshell. If one can build a good relationship with your salesman, then that is way more than half the battle on getting a good deal. In fact, it is just about the best thing one can do, as trust is a very, very scarce commodity when it comes to buying and selling cars. If you can build that trust, you will save thousands and thousands of dollars in the long run! You will be privy to some information that most people don't know, and as previously mentioned from being a former car salesman, I know this is true. It all comes down to trust when getting a good deal, and those two little words I told you about at the beginning of this article when things are going bad.

"I'm walking"!

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