URGENT Car Buying Situation - Need Advice on Negotiation

I don't know much about this stuff, but I can tell you I semi-screwed myself when I bought my last car (which was also relatively new but pre-owned): I told them a somewhat-bullshit price I'd been quoted on a similar car from another dealer. The truth was the car at the other dealer was missing some options I had to have, so it wasn't a fair comparison, but I told them it was. The downside of this is that this meant that I showed the price I was hoping to pay - more than $0. This meant that they could grind on me for the difference between what I told them I would pay for the other car, and what they wanted for the one they had. It would have been better to have been bartering between $0 and their price, not the ~$2,500 spread between the two cars in question. You might have blown it, but I would go back with a more serious idea of what the car in question is worth (you probably won't get it for black/blue book value). Make them a slightly better offer, and then start haggling. If they won't budge, start pushing. Tell them you're ready to make a deal immediately and would like to sign "today" but that they will have to start talking. Point out issues with the car, however minor. Even if they're stupid, you'll get them talking, and once they're talking, they're engaged and in my mind will start to feel like they've put some effort in and need to continue. My dad tells me that when he was a kid, his own father hung around a dealership for an entire day until the salesman finally capitulated. Grandpa never changed his offered price. Old Dutch immigrant mentality for you there. By the way, their price seems damn high for a five year old Accord.

Walk Away. You already screwed yourself by showing the 16.9 ad from the net. You can do WAY better than an 06 Accord for 16.9.

Price sounds high to me too. If I were you, I would give it a week or so and see if they get back to you. In the meantime, look around at other cars. If you call them, you are bargaining against yourself and they know they've got you.

+1. Just forget this one. There's plenty of better deals out there to be had.

Find another dealer selling that same car. Offer the first dealer $14,750 (or whatever price you think is reasonable) for it and if they refuse let them know you're going to another dealer to make the same offer for the same car. If you offer the second dealer $14,750 for the car and they decline, inform them you are going back to the first dealer to offer $15,000. This may take a few hours, but doing so puts the salesman in a terrible spot once you get close to the right number. Once you hit a certain figure, the salesman will know that he can't accept your offer but the competing dealer will probably be able to accept your next offer. At that point, the dealer will probably say something like "We can sell it to you for $15,500" in which case you would reply "$15,250 or I'll go back to (competing dealers name) and offer them the same price." They may refuse at first, but once you start walking for the door they will break down and accept the offer. Forcing them to have an auction for your business not only helps you find their bottom dollar but you create a war, a competition. Eventually winning the sale becomes more important than economics and you profit from it.

I have used a used car broker a couple of times and saved a TON of money. Despite appearances from the outside, the used car pricing is well known to insiders. One large company, Manheim, controls many of the auctions and has a computerized pricing system. If you can find a broker, he will deal with the auction directly and find you THE car you want. I specified a year, make, model, color and leather and he found the car in three days. i paid the auction price plus $350 to him for his trouble. Most of the cars on the used lot actually are bought by brokers for the stealership to sell.

Steven Lang from the Truth About Cars has quite a few great articles about it online and is an auction regular himself.

FYI a brand new 2010 Camry in manual goes for 17k with options off the lot in w/e color you like. The moment after purchase, it's grey market value is probably something like 13k. A 2006 Accord is probably worth shit. Ignore the trade in, your car is worth crap but their price is way worse. And depending on who they bought the car from, they probably paid somewhere between 5k to 10k for it (the Accord). If you haven't signed anything, leave.

Guys, keep in mind he is in Canada, where cars are overpriced by about 20%.

I know where you can get a great volvo for 8 K.

I did all the negotiations for my brother not too long ago at a Lexus dealership. I got thrown out but we got a solid deal. Don't expect dealers to like you at the end of the process, if they do then you're doing it wrong.

Details?

This is where the buying public gets lost on used cars. You see, new cars are fungible. Used cars are unique. You can get close comparisons, but you can't get exact ones. Right in this thread, someone tells the story of two used cars, similar, but not exact (must have options).

If I was the dealership, I would not sell you that car for less than 16.9k. Why? They already know you were willing to pay it. Either you will or someone else will, as they know from your data point it's not outside of market price. Also, as for your Camry? He didn't look at it because he's putting exactly $0.00 real dollars into it. You can look at that as 1.5k off the 16.9.

Next time, go for a straight buy and sell your old car yourself.

16.9k for a 2006 Accord is INSANE!!! you could get an 05-06 G35 for that kinda money. I know people are a little apprehensive about buying cars without a warranty (which im assuming this CPO Accord has) but really the best deals out there are ones with private sellers. I dont know about your state, but in GA, there is no sales tax when buying from a private seller. Also, private sellers have better cars listed for WAY less than the stealerships. As long as you look/inspect the car over thoroughly and do all your homework before buying, privately owned vehicles are the way to go (or if you can get a knowledgeable person to look it over for you). take this for what its worth coming from a former used car dealership owner. I would never buy a used car at a dealership, not because they are all crooks (most are) but because there are MUCH better deals from private sellers (better cars too).

I worked at a new car dealership for a couple of years and can tell you that unless you are paying outright cash for any car you are getting jacked. The price agreed doesn't really matter as much as the APR you'll pay as they can just make it back there.

Moral?

Buy what you can afford straight cash.