# Is car price negotiation even a thing now, with all these online fair pricing guides? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2021, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226 "2021-01-11T05:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/21 "2021-01-12T01:30:14Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > My good friend works at a local bank and is head of the consumer finance department, which mainly involves approving loans for auto purchases. Over the past 15 years, I’ve bought two new cars and one pre-owned (after one of the new cars got t-boned), and each time I’ve sent him the VIN, along with the mileage for the used car. He has sent me back a figure and has told me “Don’t pay any more than this.”; that figure is always significantly lower than the advertised price. Each time I’ve shown the dealer that figure, and I’ve told them that it’s take it or leave it. They have taken it each time, although not without some bellyaching. Where do you think he got that information? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/22 "2021-01-12T01:34:27Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Where do you think he got that information? I THINK it’s an online service to which the bank subscribes, although he won’t tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/23 "2021-01-18T21:16:27Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I bought a new car for my youngest in the spring. The price on the dealer’s website was actually OK with me, but it turned out they were way low on my trade-in. In my experience the trade-in is where dealers try to gouge you. > [@pullin](#): > > I genuinely wanted forget the whole thing, since we were thousands apart and politely started to leave. Often a good move. There’s always tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/24 "2021-01-19T04:26:22Z")
Toyota salesmen have the Four square, with Four ways to scam you: your trade value, the purchase price, down payment, and monthly payment. They especially love people who buy based upon Payment. > **[Dealerships Rip You Off With The “Four-Square,” Here’s How To Beat It](https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/dealerships-rip-you-off-with-the-four-square-heres-how-to-beat-it/)** > > Former used car salesman Alan Slone grows a conscience and reveals one of the major strategies dealership use to screw you when buying a new car. At the heart of it all is the "4-square," a sheet of paper (sample above) divided into four boxes: your... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/25 "2021-01-19T04:45:07Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > When I go to the dealer, I have already decided exactly what I want. I tell them, “you have one chance and one chance only. Today you will give me your best price for the new car and for the trade in. I will be going to at least two other dealers and the best price wins. I will not come back and negotiate with you. If we don’t come to agreement, we part as friends. If you treat me like an idiot, I will leave you a shitty review on every platform imaginable.” I do something similar. I live in an area with multiple car dealerships and I’m willing to shop around. If I visit a dozen different Toyota dealerships and compare the offers I’m getting on the same vehicle, I feel pretty confident I’m getting a reasonable deal. And like you, I openly tell the salesmen that I’m shopping around at multiple dealerships. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/26 "2021-01-19T14:10:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Toyota salesmen have the Four square It’s a standard of used car dealerships, but it’s almost entirely predicated on the loan. When I was shopping for a car last year I wound up at a used car dealership. I almost giggled when the salesman pulled out his four square. He started to fill it out, then said…“and you’re paying cash”…paused, set it aside, and never referred to it again. The trick just doesn’t work if you’re not taking a loan. I didn’t buy a car there. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226/27 "2021-01-19T15:33:38Z")
The “will you buy a car today if the numbers are right” ploy is one of the most offensively moronic tactics in the dealership toolbox. My answer is usually along the lines of “probably not”. What, you’re going to toss me off the lot if I don’t “commit” to a purchase? I don’t think so. I’ve walked out of at least a couple of dealerships over the years after it became obvious that I wasn’t getting anywhere (one of them tried delaying negotiations long enough so it would be past a competitor’s closing time). Somehow the earth didn’t cave in, and I still wound up getting a car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-car-price-negotiation-even-a-thing-now-with-all-these-online-fair-pricing-guides/930226.md?page=1)