If you go into a dealership and the salesman or sales manager "works you on payments", you'll never know what you're really paying until after it's said and done. Many people try to buy cars based on monthly payments. $100, $200 or $300 dollar payments can be a $5,000, $10,000 or more car. If you really want to save money, you need to know what's going on when you're sitting down at the negotiating table at a car lot.
Getting a customer hooked on the monthly payment amount is very, very dangerous.
When you're presented with the first "numbers" that the dealer gives you, it will have an inflated down payment and monthly payment. When you initially object to the amount of the monthly payment, you're falling into the trap. The dealer WANTS you to get caught up in trying to get a lower payment, because as long as your not focused on the price and your trade-in amount, you're toast.
When you're focused on payments, the interest rate, dealer add-on fees, the length of time that the vehicle is finance for and the price of the car... all leave the picture.
You see, if a dealer presents you with a $350 a month payment, only to "reduce" it for you to $280 to "earn your business", has he really done anything for you? It seems like a BIG discount, right? What if instead of paying $350 for 60 months, the loan is changed to paying $280 for 72 months? Have you really saved any money with your "big discount"? I'll let you do the math.
There's more to negotiating a car purchase than just your car payment. Obviously, everyone has a budget to stay within, but the payments are the last thing that you should negotiate if you want a good deal.
