Free preview · from the dealership side of the desk
The hardest place to negotiate a car is at the dealer’s desk, on their turf and their schedule. The easiest is your kitchen table, with four dealers competing in writing. Nearly every store has a team built for this: the internet sales department or BDC. Because the store knows an email shopper is comparing prices, that team is often authorized to quote sharper numbers than the floor gives a walk-in.
Know their goal going in: internet salespeople are measured on appointments set and shown, so many answer a price question with ‘When can you come in?’ Your goal is a complete, written out-the-door price first. Below: how to pick 4–6 dealers, the exact first email to send, how to handle the usual dodges, how to compare quotes line by line, how to play them fairly without getting played, and how to lock it in and show up prepared.
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In the full guide
- How the internet department thinks
- Step 1: Know exactly what you’re shopping for
- Step 2: Pick 4-6 dealers
- Step 3: Send the first email
- Step 4: Handle the dodges
- Step 5: Compare quotes the right way
- Step 6: Play the quotes fairly
- Step 7: Lock it in and show up prepared
- Your game plan
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