Are you planning on getting a new ride for the new year? You need to know about these common car sales scams before you head to the dealership.
Social media car expert Andy (@andysautoadvice) recently posted five things that should set off your alarms when dealing with a car salesman. These common car scams could have you walking off the lot with a heftier price than you want to pay.
Andy posted his advice to TikTok in December of last year. Since then, his advice has garnered over 144,800 views.
Experts agree. Watch out for these questions and practices.
He says watch out for these car sales scams
In his video, Andy addresses five red flags you should be on the lookout for when you hit the dealership.
1. They ask what you want your car payment to be
“If a car salesman does this, they’re trying to maximize the amount of profits they make into your car payment, even if the car you’re buying is less than the car payment they write up for you,” Andy says.
They will make sure that the car payment is the amount you say “even if they could make it less,” Andy claims.
2. They ask if you’re financing or paying cash
“This is another question you should probably not answer because they’re gonna treat you differently based on financing or cash,” Andy continues.
Andy claims that you may get the best deal if the dealership assumes you are financing.
3. Don’t let them keep your keys
“This is a tactic they use just to keep you in the dealership so that the longer you’re there, the more likely you are to cave in and buy the car you were looking at,” he says.
4. When they tack on extra fees
“They’re charging 2x or 3x the regular cost. Say no,” Andy adds.
5. They steer you towards the finance department
“If they’re trying to get you over to the financing department immediately when you walk in the door?” he says. “I would walk out immediately.”
Should you beware?
Car Payments
Yahoo Finance agrees that you should avoid answering what you want your car payment to be.
Per Ray Shefska of Your Advocate Alliance, “You never want to tell the salesperson what that comfortable monthly payment is for you. They can stretch out the term to get you into that monthly payment.”
Instead, research the make and model you want and the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). Start with your lowest offer, negotiating upward. And don’t negotiate down from the MSRP.
Cash vs. Finance
According to financial advisor Clark, “A dealership may balk at upholding the negotiated price if they’re depending on a financing deal to make a profit on the vehicle.” So keep the fact that you will be paying cash close to your chest.
“But don’t expect that switching your payment method to cash, or a pre-approved credit union loan, at the last minute will be a magic bullet to getting a great deal,” the financial advisor suggests.
Instead, research what makes more sense. Sometimes a financing arrangement may be cheaper in the long term than an on-the-spot cash payment. But the dealer doesn’t need to know that.
Keeping your keys
As the Daily Dot has reported in the past, don’t let the dealer keep your keys when negotiating a deal.
“In short, it’s a sales tactic. They’ll say it’s to evaluate your car, but a Quora poster elaborates. “It’s an old-fashioned pressure selling technique.”
Extra Fees
Bankrate notes that while some fees, like the tax, title, and license, are unavoidable, many fees are tacked on by the dealer. These include preparation fees, extended warranties, gap insurance, and market adjustment fees.
These fees, according to Bankrate, “are completely up to the individual dealer and can be negotiated.”
The finance department
While you will have to consider financing if you aren’t paying cash outright, a dealer pointing you to the finance department before you even look at a car is a red flag.
Per Edmunds, you should expect to spend “hours at the dealership, test-driving and negotiating and agreeing on a price.”
This should be done well before you look into financing agreements.
@andysautoadvice Avoid these shady tactics! #tips #cars #cartips #tipsandtricks #dealership #salesman #cardealership #vehiclemaintenance #5tips ♬ original sound – Andy’s Auto Advice
Viewers have opinions
Andy got plenty of viewers disagreeing with his red flags. Many appeared to be dealers.
Derrickathonda (@derrickathonda), a Honda dealership social media account, wrote in response to Andy’s list: “1) we use it to make sure you’re on the right car 2) cash deals are quicker 3) the only thing I agree with 4) those fees would be on the pencil, not after agreement 5) don’t have bad credit.”
Another viewer claimed, “Lmao I work at a dealership and none of this is true at 80% of dealerships.”
“A lot of this is outdated. Does it happen maybe? Probably at old-school dealerships. Most are pretty easy to deal with now. The car payment needs to be upfront always,” another viewer added.
However, one viewer agreed 100% with Andy’s third point. “I’m only asking for my keys once. The next conversation is with the police.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Andy via TikTok comment and messenger for a statement.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
