A seasoned businessman and investor, Neef Akbar is no stranger to the automotive world. Currently, his mission is to negotiate the best car deals on behalf of the average consumer, saving them thousands in the process.
Having been in the industry for over a decade, Neef understands the difficulties faced by consumers when buying or selling their vehicles, which usually stems from a lack of research, knowledge or experience. Today he’s here with us to share his best tips and insider knowledge to help consumers get the best bang for their buck!
Neef, let’s start by sharing with our audience some of the tactics used by car salespeople to help consumers become more prepared when walking into the dealership.
Definitely. The first tactic car dealerships use is meant to gain control over the customer. As soon as you walk into the dealership, the salesperson starts asking you for your license, your insurance card, and your car keys upfront, to gain control over the consumer – in a sense to hold them hostage, which is called disarming the customer.
The second tactic is devaluing your vehicle. As a customer when you walk in you’re most likely trying to get the most equity or the most ‘bang for your buck’ as you’d say. So the salesperson will walk around your vehicle and point out all the scratches and imperfections while convincing the customer of all the work that needs to be done on the car.
This plants the idea in the customer’s mind that the value of the car is diminished and therefore they’ll expect a lower number and less equity. Almost everyone in America has negative equity either from paying high interest for so long or coming into the dealer inaccurately educated on the true value of their car.
So what would you recommend for a customer to do, prior to bringing their car in, to ensure that they get the best outcome at the dealership?
The best thing to do is research to determine the value of your car. So the question is, what do you use to do this research? Most people say, well, I looked on KBB and the first thing we’ll say is we don’t use KBB – banks don’t buy off KBB and KBB doesn’t buy your car.
Most people don’t know that you actually need to research the value of your car on NADA, because that’s where all the banks buy, and that’s what dealers go off of. So if you enter the dealership prepared with true NADA value, you’ll have the best chance at getting the best value. Salespeople will always try to take advantage of the fact that a consumer may not be knowledgeable about the value of their car, so the best defense is having accurate information.
That’s valuable information. Tell us more about other tactics used by dealerships that you know of.
Most salespeople will start off at a high number to see where the customer’s expectations lie and how much they’re willing to negotiate. Salespeople want to determine if you’re the kind of customer who is negotiating strictly off-price or payment.
Alot of consumers come in saying I need the price, I want the price, just give me the price, price, price. If that’s the case, the salesperson will show you a price that will make you smile and close you on payment. What they don’t know is that The Dealer will pack all of the profit on the backend of the deal by selling you a warranty at a marked-up price and when the deal closes the salesperson can mark up the rate by two more points.
That’s very interesting, Neef, can you tell us more about these rates?
So you actually have a buy rate and a sell rate, but most customers don’t know that they should come in and ask for the buy rate. ‘What’s my buy rate?’ no one has ever really heard that, so they’re mostly coming in asking ‘what’s my rate?’ With that unspecific question, the rate can be whatever the salesperson tells you. They can say the rate is 7% and see how the customer reacts to that. In most cases, the customer will say ‘hey, okay that’s not bad and the Finance Manager will wrap it up with that, when in reality the bank probably gave them 5%, so that’s extra markup right there.
Thank you for the explanation. So Neef, let’s sum everything up that we’ve discussed to ensure our understanding.
Sure, no problem. When you first walk in, dealers will take your keys and license to gain control, followed by the inspection of your car to diminish the value in the consumer’s mind. To protect yourself from this, the best thing to do is some research to find the NADA value of your car before coming in. Also ask for the buy rate of your vehicle, which is where most of the profit lies, to ensure that this goes into your pocket instead of the dealer’s. Every dealer loves a customer whose only concern is the price.
Dealers will make sure they give you the price you want but tack on all the real profit onto the back of the deal, so make sure that you are aware of any additional costs outside of the “price” before you close the deal. When you’re leaving the dealership, the salespeople took your keys at the beginning, right?
So even if you don’t like the offer the salesperson is giving you, you have to wait to get your keys back at which time the salesperson will likely bring out their manager to help convince you or negotiate with you on the deal. So remember to maintain control over the situation by understanding the reasoning behind the dealer’s actions.
Wow, Neef, that’s some great advice for consumers! In closing, tell us what you do for customers currently.
First I get you the check! Then I will find you the car! Then I negotiate the deal on your behalf, hassle-free, stress-free. You pay me an upfront fee, but I save you time, tons of inquiries on your credit, and thousands in your pocket! Auto rates as low as 1.8% and complimentary credit card with purchase! 90 days until payment! LET’S DO BUSINESS!
If you’re in need of my services as your Broker Call me Now at 478-293-3613 or find me on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/neef.akbar.3 and Instagram @KingNeef_Royalty.
Or drop me an email @NeefAkbar@IroncladProduction.com
This is a Contributor Post. Opinions expressed here are opinions of the Contributor. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and cannot investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the Contributor to disclose. Contributors, amongst other accounts and articles may be professional fee-based.