Black Friday: Best Day for Discounts on Cars?

While a lot of people race off in their cars to their favorite stores to grab Black Friday deals, who would have thought to drive to a car dealership for deep discounts the day after Thanksgiving? Apparently, the car dealers know that most people are either waiting in long retail lines at shopping malls or staying at home, trying to avoid those lines! Knowing this, car dealers try to offer a deeper discount than usual on cars, making Black Friday a surprisingly good day to buy a car. Why not take advantage of this competitive day of shopping?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JznTTRnhf5Y#watch-main-area

I knew someone who used to work at a car dealership and let me tell you, that is the best way to get real insider knowledge about what to ask the salesperson, so you look like you know what you're talking about when it comes to buying a car.  Here are some things to keep in mind when buying a car (this willl also help you get a leg up by speaking "car dealership talk"):

1. The first thing to know as a consumer and customer is your rights. By law, if a customer requests to have a copy of the invoice papers for a vehicle, the salesperson has to give you a copy.  So, if the salesperson is being evasive with price bargaining, then just pull out that nugget of knowledge and immediately, the salesperson will know that he/she is not dealing with some amateur off the streets!  If the salesperson won't give you the papers to look at, then immediately request to see the onsite supervisor or manager.  
2. The second thing you can say to make the salesperson's jaw drop is that you want that vehicle for $100 over invoice price (or, if you have the guts, just ask for invoice price and see what happens!).
3. The third thing that is very important to know is that you can change your mind about the vehicle at ANY point in the buying/bargaining process, even if you have signed papers.  How is that possible? Well, in fine print, at the bottom of the sales contract, it clearly states that the customer must take "delivery" of the vehicle in order for the contract to be valid.  Now, before I obtained insider information, I did not know about--nor had I ever heard of--taking delivery of a vehicle.  All that means is that the customer must physically drive the vehicle off the car sales lot in order for the purchase to be considered legally complete.  (Notice I said, customer, not salesperson.  The customer must drive the vehicle off the sales lot). Now, why is that good to know?  Well, if you get a sudden surge of buyer's remorse as the salesperson hands you the the keys to your new vehicle, you can still change your mind and you don't have to pay a penny.  If the salesperson looks at you funny at this point, then simply tell him/her that you have not taken delivery of the vehicle, so the sale is not complete. Thus, you can actually change your mind!  Who knew?!!!  
4. It's always a good idea to shop around.  It doesn't matter how nice the salesperson is to you or how many free cookies you get at the dealership, you can always get a better deal if you can get two dealerships to bid against each other to fight for your business.

These are all things that car dealers do not want you to know, of course, but if you keep these things in mind, you will never get lured into a spontaneous car purchase!

My husband and I employed all these tips when we bought our Honda minivan a few years ago, and because we got two dealerships from different cities to compete for our business, we were able to take control of the sale and save a lot of money.  It also never hurts to ask if certain fees can be waived, either, because that can save you even more money.  But if you don't ask, they won't do it!

If you've missed this round of Black Friday car shopping, you can always be prepared for next year!

To read more about Black Friday deals:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/17/autos/black_friday_car_deals/

http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/545818.html?nav=5018