NADA and KBB worthless

[denverpilot]

To me it seems like if you mix a trade-in with the price of the new car you've created a two variable problem with both variables unknown to the customer.



What do you experienced car buyers and sellers think of my straegery of arriving at a cash price and then saying, 'oh by the way Mr Dealer, what will you give me for my Focus as a trade-in'?

It's fine, but show up knowing what you're willing to pay on the new and what you're willing to accept for the old. There shouldn't be any variables at all, you should know before you walk in the door.

By the time you walk in you know what numbers will work, and which ones you'll walk away and not care at.

There's no point at all in even mentally thinking a guy who gets paid on commission gets to set your prices. You're he seller and the buyer, and he's looking for extra lunch money, not holding your best interests in the transaction. At all.

"I'm here to shake your hand and smile and make this an excellent experience for you,"

"Great. I'm here to buy a car, can you go find someone who does that and only that? You're wasting my time. I don't need handshakes or smiles, and they're certainly not why I'm here today."

If you walked into McDonalds and they took all the prices off the menu board, would you negotiate? No. You'd ask for the price and not put up with any games. Same thing if you were selling them drink cups, if they wouldn't tell you what they would pay for them, you'd hold on to your product and not deliver it to them until they agreed to a price you found acceptable for your cups.

You're already in "mind games" mode if you're walking in expecting a negotiation. Refuse the game.