Conclusion to the 5-hour car dealership negotiation saga, along with ideas on alternative negotiation strategies that may yield better results, plus tips for your first visit to the car dealership & common pitfalls to avoid.

  • Intro - Back at the dealership...
  • 21:53 - The three circles of dealership hell
  • 26:56 - Things we would do differently
  • 27:40 - Alternative strategy #1 (hardball)
  • 29:34 - Alternative strategy #2 (semi-hardball)
  • 31:23 - Alternative strategy #3 (going public)
  • 34:36 - Other tips & thoughts
💡
If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, start there otherwise this episode won't make much sense!

Show Notes

Part 2 begins right where we left off, back at the car dealership, halfway through a grueling 5-hour negotiation...

Some things we'll cover in this episode –

  • Tips for navigating the three circles of dealership hell
  • Should you trade-in your car at the dealership? What about financing?
  • How did we ultimately buy the car for below MSRP?
  • Did we win? Could we have done better?

And after having a couple months to process and reflect on our experience, some advice for those going to a dealership for the first time –

  • Are there other, better strategies for negotiating at a dealership?
  • Why they tried extra hard to screw us over (and how to avoid it)
  • How this dealership still has 1000+ four star reviews on google

👹 Dealership strategies

Tricks to watch out for when negotiating at a car dealership.

#1 - Overload & overwhelm the customer

#2 - Playing dumb

#3 - Play the good cop

#4 - Layering / Chain of command

#5 - Make the customer wait

#6 - Pretend to be firm on the price

#7 - Shamelessly & blatantly lie

#8 - Never stop trying to extract more money

😎 Buyer strategies

Tactics to counter dealer tricks and avoid common pitfalls.

#1 - Document + print everything (and bring backups)

#2 - Don't believe anything they say

#3 - Focus on the big picture

#4 - Hold them accountable to standards

#5 - Be prepared to leave (and mean it)

#6 - Be firm with your language

#7 - Know your price, know your limit

#8 - Lean into the theatrics

#9 - Never let your guard down

#10 - Don't trade in your car at the dealership

#11 - Don't finance your car at the dealership

#12 - Avoid big franchises & chains

Similar episodes

Ep 20 - Risk of Ruin Interview

Bonus episode of an interview I did recently on another show, Risk of Ruin. I talk about leaving the work world behind in favor of early retirement, how churning fits into leanFIRE, my time in Japanese jail and our homesteading plans.

Listen to Ep 20 - Risk Of Ruin Interview