Haggling Over the Price of Apples

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By artgib

Buying a car is an interesting experience that cannot be matched by any other major purchasing decision. When a person goes to an appliance store to buy a new refrigerator they do not ask the sales person if they can lower the price that is listed on the item. The same holds true for televisions, groceries and gas station purchases, but for some reason American consumers have been trained to look for a lower price on a car that they are interested in buying rather than accepting the actual price marked on the window sticker.



The phenomenon of buyers looking to discount the price of a car is one that has been passed on for generations buy people that once haggled over the price of apples and cabbages. When automobiles first became available to the general public after the Second World War the American consumer had to go to the dealer to purchase a car and the dealer had a good idea of what sort of profit was available in the car and allowed people to negotiate the price in order to make a sale. Back in the early 1950s people were required to pay for a car outright and had to bring cash to the dealership to buy a car with. If a person come up a little short the dealer would not allow them to leave empty handed and risk letting two or three thousand dollars in cash to walk out the door. Thus the negotiation process was born out of desperation of the car dealer to sell a vehicle rather than let go of an amount that was not quite enough to buy the cars of the 1950s.

The people that were able to buy a car at a discount told their friends about how much money they were able to save and the habit of negotiating over a car purchase was born. As the years passed it became a habit that spread across the county. As the unions took control of the automakers, the prices of cars increased in step with inflation. As the unions took control of the expenses or building cars the actual amounts of profit were reduced and now a days new cars are much harder to negotiate and few hundred dollars off the price rather than negotiating for a used vehicle.

There are some people that walk into a dealership totally unprepared to negotiate and unwilling to compromise when it comes to buying a car. More often than not after leaving the dealership whether they were able to close a deal or not come away from dealer with a belief that somehow they were ripped off or did not get the deal that wanted because they were unwilling to compromise and meet the dealer half way.


Truthfully car dealers are in business to make money, just like every other business out there, and as such car dealers see every person that walks onto the lot as a potential buyer and in any business no one wants to allow a customer to leave without making a purchase. No one goes to a car dealer without having a reason to be there. The only reason to visit a car lot is to look at the cars and the people that do visit car lots have a clear purpose for their visit and that is to buy a car. The sales people know that people are shopping for what they want and what they want is a new car. Sales people are trained by the dealers to sell cars to the people that want them.

By being prepared to make a deal and negotiate for the deal that will satisfy both the buyer and the seller of the car both people will walk out of the negotiation feeling that they made and got a good deal. By doing the homework ahead of time and learning what is reasonable, what is affordable and what is exchangeable a person can make a deal on a new vehicle that will give them what they want without having any regrets about their vehicle purchase.

The four keys to working out a deal cover the main reasons that people feel regret or remorse when they leave a dealership that they were unprepared for. If buyers would do a little homework and be prepared for negotiation process they would be much more excited and happier about their new vehicle purchase and share their knowledge and experience with their friends, coworkers and family.


The four areas to be prepared for are having a down payment, even without one a deal can happen; monthly payment, what is available for the budget of a new car that is being financed; trade in value, the amount of money that a dealer is willing to pay for a trade that is being included in the deal; and finally the actual price of the car that is being purchased. With a little study and research any car buyer can walk into any used cars Orem Utah dealership and negotiate a fair deal without feeling that they were ripped off or that the dealership is in some way crooked. The fact is that dealerships and car sales people are not out to gouge their customers they are there to assist the buyer in finding solutions that will enable the buyer to drive a new car off the lot and be happy with their automotive purchase.

The experience of buying a car is in the hands of the buyer not the sales person, and the buyer that knows what to expect when they enter a dealership will have the best experience. Instead of feeling trapped or fearful that they will be out of control when negotiating buyer should have a solid and realistic idea of the amount of money they can spend, what they can allow for their monthly budget for a new car, have an excellent idea of the actual value of their trade in if they have one and most importantly to check their emotions at the door and enter into a car dealership well prepared and knowing their own finances and having a solid grip on reality in knowing that they cannot take thousands of dollars off the price of a new car and add thousands of dollars to the amount of their trade in. If they have in mind a clear picture of what is possible and what is fantasy the car buyer that has done their homework will be able to negotiate a good deal and drive away with their new vehicle and an attitude that they won.

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