If you really want to get beat down and have it made to feel like a triumphant, enjoyable experience, just go buy a car. There is a saying in the car business: "A good deal is when the customer thinks he got a good deal." This isn't just some ethereal concept reduced to words, most dealerships actually teach this to new salespeople. I know people who have driven off car lots with their chests protruded in triumph (so they think) while back in the sales office, the salesperson and the sales manager and sometimes the general manager are high-five-ing each other, counting the money they just trucked that customer out of (no pun intended).

Let me debunk one myth right up front: car dealerships absolutely, positively DO NOT lose money. Ever. They don't even break even (they will let you leave the lot before they do either). If you think you went some place and outdid a salesperson and got yourself a good deal in spite of their processes, then you feel exactly like they are trained to make you feel. If you don't believe what I'm saying, there's an easy way to prove it; just find out who owns the dealership and go look at his home. The same can be said for the General Manager, the Sales Manager (many dealerships have more than one) and the Finance Manager. Once you see how these individuals live, you will not get any better a deal next time you go to buy a car, but at least you will not hold on to the delusion that you somehow "beat them at their own game:, a game they play every single day for a living.

To be fair, car dealerships are in business to make money, just like any other business, and they have the right to make a profit. They rarely (I can't really say never) actually break laws, but they are very good at staying just inside the law. The games they play and the tricks they use can and do overwhelm some very intelligent and "knowledgeable" people, including doctors, college professors, lawyers and yes, even accountants. They are simply wizards at causing you to focus on the wrong aspect of buying a car. The smarter you think you are, the more they like you, because they will use your knowledge and the pride in that knowledge against you and laugh as you leave. How they do this involves far too many details to go into here, but there are some things you can know in order to at least reduce the severity of your beat down.

Most people have been conditioned to buy too much car. Think about it; do you really believe that, for example, an Infinity FX35 is $10,000 more car than a Nissan Murano? It's not. In fact, it's the same car with some engine and suspension tweaking and some nicer eye candy that probably costs Nissan a couple or three thousand additional dollars to produce. That gives them about $7000 in ADDITIONAL profit to play with your head with. Someone once asked me why, since I'm in the computer field, I don't drive a Lexus. My response was that I will drive anything they think I should drive...as long as they make the payments. Since I have worked in the car business, I know better than to drive something that's going to make me look more successful to people who, number one, don't care as much as most of us think, and number two, aren't making the payments! Buying a car is not an emotional thing, but dealerships train salespeople to make it so. Remember, all cars do three things: they go, they stop and they depreciate. All of them do this, period.

Taking into account mass production, automation and the high volumes of raw materials purchased by car builders, have you ever wondered how much it actually costs to build a car? I have been told by a person who worked in a car factory for over 30 years that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 for the average car (less for lesser cars of course.) I'm sure this fluctuates, depending on such things as the quality of leather interior, audio systems, wheel types and other variables, and I admit I haven't been able to fully verify that figure, but still, when the average new car costs aboout $23,000, that's a bunch of profit! Ford, for example, has been offering rebates of several thousands of dollars since 2001, and they have been reporting almost record profits the last few years. How's that? Well, consumers have been getting beat down, thinking they are getting these great deals when they are doing little more than creating reasons to party in the salesroom.

Here are some tips you can actually use, and if you simply do these things, and don't get all cocky and think you're going to bully, outsmart or out-game the dealership, you can save yourself a lot of money (unless you have so much money that saving a few thousand doesn't matter to you). First, realize that the dealer must (and is going to) make a profit or it will go out of business. Next, keep these in mind:

• Don't believe that the invoice price is actually what the dealership ultimately and finally paid for the car, because it's just not. Many salespeople will lie to your face about this, and some will play at being offended if you challenge that notion. Don't fight about it, just don't believe it.
• There are four aspects of paying for a car (down payment, monthly payment, trade allowance and selling price). Realize that the first three are completely irrelevant until you know the fourth. In other words, down payment, monthly payment and trade allowance have to do with HOW you are paying for the car; what you need first is HOW MUCH the dealer wants for the car. Never, ever get into negotiating the first three things until you have negotiated the price. It's not easy, because the sales people are trained very well to get you to focus on everything but the price. I have seen people pay full sticker price for a car because they were trucked into focusing on everything else. Until you know how much the car is going to cost, how you pay for it is irrlevant.
• Get pre-financed if possible. Many (maybe most) dealerships will actually quote you a higher interest rate than what the bank approved. This isn't illegal, but it's wrong in my opinion (it translates into more profit for the dealer). Of course, the dealership may be able to get a better rate than you, because they bring the bank so much business, so consider that. Before you sign, just ask if the rate they are showing is exactly what the bank approved you for, and if you feel any discomfort at all about the answer, do not sign anything; get up and leave. In fact, in the finance office, you need to ask EVERY question that comes to your mind, and if you aren't comfortable with the answer, you need to leave and at least give yourself time to think. The idea that "this is a one-time-only" deal is a lie, straight up. At any rate, if the dealer quotes you a rate higher than what a bank quoted you, stop there, tell the dealer you'll be paying cash, and go borrow the money directly from the bank.
• Don't buy (especially a new car) without shopping around. It's just plain foolish to do so. There is no such thing as a unique car, and if the dealer only has one car that fits all your criteria and they tell you it might get sold before you get around to buying, don't worry, when you're ready to buy they can get another one, even if they have to swap one with another dealership. This is more frequently done than most people realize.
• Never give your car keys to a salesperson. Since you don't even need to be talking about trade-in until you know the price of the car you're thinking of buying, there is no reason for them to have your keys. In many cases, they want them so that you can't leave until they have thoroughly "worked" you. Once you decide to buy, THEN you can deal with trade allowance, and only then will anyone from the dealership need the keys to your car. If they ask for them before then, just say (truthfully) you haven't made a decision yet about trading in your car.
• Do not bluff a salesperson, and especially not a sales manager, and definitely not a general manager (should you encounter one) The simple fact is, they are better than you at bluffing and at spotting a bluff, because they see people like you every day, and believe me, it doesn't take long for a salesperson to have heard it all. If things are not going right, you need to leave; not threaten to leave, but actually (and be polite; swearing and pitching a fit are only going to get you laughed at) excuse yourself and get up and walk out. You can always come back in a day or two if you want. Don't play games; you will lose.
• Finally, if a salesperson whips out a "foursquare" (this is a worksheet with four large blank areas on it), prepare for the worst beating of your life. A salesperson who is really good with a foursquare will kill you on a deal. This monster serves the purpose of getting you to focus on things incorrectly in a way that pretty much guarantees you'll pay much more than you need to for a car. One of those blocks deals with the selling price of the car, and that's the one they DON'T want to talk about, but they only need to "win" one of the four blocks to clean your clock. Therefore, remember the rule of not negotiating anything other than the selling price of the car. If you can't come to an agreement on that, don't go any further. Don't try to figure it out, just keep your focus on "How much will you sell the car for?"

How much should you pay for a car? Some "consumer" sources actually help the dealers by telling you that you should expect to pay 2-3 percent over the invoice price. Ha! I laugh at that. I have seen people (it's very, very hard to do) pay as much as $500 BELOW the invoice price and the dealer still not lose money. for that reason, I'd try to get as close to the invoice price as possible, and if necessary ask to see the invoice. If you don't think you're a very good negotiator, why not pay someone a hundred bucks or so to go in and negotiate for you? Such a person could probably save you much more than that.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer if I can.