Need your help/opinion CR...

[Buck531]

So I got a guy that came to look at the car last night. The 99 GS I'm trying to sell for over a month now. He was nit picking on a lot of little stupid shit. Then he turns around and offers me like 3k for it (it's listed at $4200 on CL). He tried to persuade me with a huge pocked full of 100 dollar bills. (big deal). I told him I'd do $3700 and I'd swap the tires on my 03 with the 99 (the tires on the 03 are better than the 99). He called said he was going to eat dinner with his wife and for ME to call him if I wanted to do $3400. I never called. He called this morning about an hour ago asking for $3600 and the tire swap.

 

The car blue books at 4900 in excellent shape (which it is). Do I suck it up and sell it for $3600 and say to hell with it or do I stick to my original thoughts of $3700 or do I just tell him to go away thinking someone later down the road will pay more for it.

 

I know it's only a few hundred bucks but in my position currently, every bit helps.

 

Oh on top of that he was asking if I can cut him a deal on the taxes of the car. I'm not sure if he thinks I'm going to tell the BMV $2k or not, but I don't want this to come back to haunt me later on in life.

[El Karacho1647545492]

A couple things:

 

-If he's nitpicking little things about the car, it means he's interested enough to look in extreme detail at the car.

 

-After asking you to call him and you didn't, he called you. Didn't even follow the new girl rule of waiting 3 days. He DEFINITELY wants the car.

 

-He's haggling with you like crazy; throwing numbers all over the place. He wouldn't take your $3700 offer because he thought he could strongarm you by walking away. It didn't work; he's getting antsy now.

 

My advice, from a car salesman perspective: tell him you've got another offer at 3700 with the tires that are on it and you're inclined to take it, but you wanted to offer him right of first refusal. The reason he called you back this morning was because he hasn't found another car he wants as much as yours, and he won't let it go.

 

When you call him and get $3700 and keep your good tires, let me know how much you're gonna cut me in for increasing your gross profit :bangbang:

 

 

EDIT: Also, KBB is no longer really a valid way to value a car. Edmunds.com True Market Value calculator is much more accurate and disappointing, but it reflects reality a bit more accurately.

[BrianZ06]

He wants the car for sure. As far as the taxes why give him that break if you already came down that much.

[wnaplay1647545503]

Are you going to lose money on it (this includes everything it cost to get the car as well) if you sell it for $3600? If not is the profit your going to make worth the trouble? Whats your educated guess on how long you will have to hold onto it to get what you want and whats the actual likelyhood of this happening?

 

 

I have never seen what Alex is suggesting work. Best bet is to say "you want it or not". If not "stop calling".

[Buck531]

Are you going to lose money on it (this includes everything it cost to get the car as well) if you sell it for $3600? If not is the profit your going to make worth the trouble? Whats your educated guess on how long you will have to hold onto it to get what you want and whats the actual likelyhood of this happening?

 

 

I have never seen what Alex is suggesting work. Best bet is to say "you want it or not". If not "stop calling".

 

Here's the deal. I took out a loan for $3300 to get the 03. Anything over $3300 is a profit for me. The more I get out of it now the more the family will have a decent Christmas. Yeah, I could sell it for $3600, but why? I mean, the car is in perfect shape, I took very good care of it. Why let it go that cheap when I should be able to get more out of it.

 

I was thinking that too about how long I will need to hold onto it. Selling it will free up probably $200 a month (loan on 03 and insurance). I just don't want to hold onto the car forever and never sell it.

 

I got the car for $4900 almost 3 years ago, replaced the motor with a lower mileage motor and hardly drove it (20k miles in almost 3 years).

[El Karacho1647545492]

Are you going to lose money on it (this includes everything it cost to get the car as well) if you sell it for $3600? If not is the profit your going to make worth the trouble? Whats your educated guess on how long you will have to hold onto it to get what you want and whats the actual likelyhood of this happening?

 

 

I have never seen what Alex is suggesting work. Best bet is to say "you want it or not". If not "stop calling".

 

Not trying to offend, but have you worked in car sales? Sometimes having a competing salesman with customers on the same car is your greatest asset when negotiating a deal. If a prospective buyer has a sense of urgency, your negotiating position improves dramatically. Likewise, if a vehicle has not sold for 9 months, your negotiating position is dramatically hurt.

 

Its all about overcoming those obstacles, and judging by how his buyer has treated the car deal, he's just trying to get as much money off as possible; the bottom line is that he has the funds available to purchase the car (likely at the $4200 asking price) he's just looking to get a deal. You don't want to burn bridges by saying "take it or don't" because should he decide not to take it, you've got to crawl back to him and say "please take it." If you give the impression that you're pitting buyers against each other, you can go back and say "well my other buyer backed out but I'm willing to honor our $3600 deal" without looking like you're desperate to sell.

[wnaplay1647545503]

Certainly not trying to offend you either and I can only speak from personal experience. I have been selling upwards of 15 cars a year for the past few years just for extra income. I tend to buy low sell high. I have however been in sales(non auto although family have owned used car dealerships for over 40 years) for nearly 16 years having owned 2 sepearate business' for almost 10 years before successfully selling both off. If someone were to come to me and say they are giving me first dibs, I would immediately think they are lying and make an even lower offer with the full expectations(from experience) that I would be receiving a call soon saying they accept my counter offer. While I dont doubt it could work, I think the average buyer is smart enough to realize that theres not to many people out there that has offers a product to one or another rather than would sell it to whomever comes in with the means to purchase it first. I think on average most people dont expect a private seller to attempt certain gimmicks as dealers do and often see right through them. I am also sure he has the funds to pay full asking price but the seller also has to have an idea of how low hes going to go and not go any lower. Often this number is already known however the seller will do everything possible to justify not coming down to this number. Often to the regret of realizing he made a mistake soon after the buyer walks away.

[El Karacho1647545492]

I have been selling upwards of 15 cars a year for the past few years just for extra income. I tend to buy low sell high. I have however been in sales(non auto although family have owned used car dealerships for over 40 years) for nearly 16 years having owned 2 sepearate business' for almost 10 years before successfully selling both off. If someone were to come to me and say they are giving me first dibs, I would immediately think they are lying. While I dont doubt it could work, I think the average buyer is smart enough to realize that theres not to many people out there that has offers a product to one or another rather than would sell it to whomever comes in with the means to purchase it first. I think on average most people dont expect a private seller to attempt certain gimmicks as dealers do and often see right through them. I am also sure he has the funds to pay full asking price but the seller also has to have an idea of how low hes going to go and not go any lower. Often this number is already known however the seller will do everything possible to justify not coming down to this number. Often to the regret of realizing he made a mistake soon after the buyer walks away.

 

I'll take that into consideration in my future car sales career

[Buck531]

Well I called him back and kinda stuck to $3700. He agreed on that so hopefully it'll be gone in a few hours.

 

Thanks .

[wnaplay1647545503]

Well as I went back to state, everyone has their own personal experiences. There really is an easy way of telling in this world whos doing things right vs. whos doing things. I tend to think the salesman that eats beans out of can everynight probably isnt doint it right. While the ones who eat steak once a week have figured it out however probably go about it two different ways.

[wnaplay1647545503]

Good luck with the sell Buck.

[El Karacho1647545492]

Well as I went back to state, everyone has their own personal experiences. There really is an easy way of telling in this world whos doing things right vs. whos doing things. I tend to think the salesman that eats beans out of can everynight probably isnt doint it right. While the ones who eat steak once a week have figured it out however probably go about it two different ways.

 

Amen

[John Bruh]

he will buy it for 3700. I deal with this shit all day. just dont give up the money. 99% of customers are full of shit.

 

edit: And as far as taxes do what you feel is best with the guy. I use my best judgement.

[El Karacho1647545492]

he will buy it for 3700. I deal with this shit all day. just dont give up the money. 99% of customers are full of shit.

buyers are liars

[John Bruh]

buyers are liars

 

quoted for troof

[Otis Nice]

buyers are liars

 

In any buy/sell situation, who isn't?

[John Bruh]

In any buy/sell situation, who isn't?

 

i try to disclose every know issue with any vehicle i sell. if it has any. and if it does its normally cheaper stuff where you should expect some issues. (like sub 4k)

[Otis Nice]

i try to disclose every know issue with any vehicle i sell. if it has any. and if it does its normally cheaper stuff where you should expect some issues. (like sub 4k)

 

Good. Glad to hear it. I have extensive work in sales also. I always tell employers up front in interviews that I'll never lie or do anything unethical. It's bad business.

 

Unfortunately not everyone is like that. I caught a guy in a lie at Hatfield VW a few years back. Sold a car out from under me. Told him late Saturday I'd be in Sunday after church to get it so my wife could sign with me. He says, "No prob, we'll have it all cleaned and ready for you and your wife." I pull in, someone is pulling off the lot with 30 day tags on "my" car. Unfortunately for him he didn't know I had a buddy at Hatfield Kia so when he called and told me, "Yeah, someone sold it before I got in today" after I asked enthusiastically, "Hey! Glad to hear from you. Is the car ready? We're on our way." (said while standing in the Toyota West lot). He BSed a bunch and finally I told him that I had a buddy working there and that my buddy found out HE had sold the car to someone else for $2K more than we had agreed.

 

Worked out for me. It was a VR6 with some good options. My buddy got me a same year 1.8T loaded for what I needed to spend with 30K less miles. I was courteous though. I smiled and waved to the guy as I drove it off the VW lot. LOL.

[RC K9]

A couple things:

 

-If he's nitpicking little things about the car, it means he's interested enough to look in extreme detail at the car.

 

-After asking you to call him and you didn't, he called you. Didn't even follow the new girl rule of waiting 3 days. He DEFINITELY wants the car.

 

-He's haggling with you like crazy; throwing numbers all over the place. He wouldn't take your $3700 offer because he thought he could strongarm you by walking away. It didn't work; he's getting antsy now.

 

My advice, from a car salesman perspective: tell him you've got another offer at 3700 with the tires that are on it and you're inclined to take it, but you wanted to offer him right of first refusal. The reason he called you back this morning was because he hasn't found another car he wants as much as yours, and he won't let it go.

 

When you call him and get $3700 and keep your good tires, let me know how much you're gonna cut me in for increasing your gross profit :bangbang:

 

 

EDIT: Also, KBB is no longer really a valid way to value a car. Edmunds.com True Market Value calculator is much more accurate and disappointing, but it reflects reality a bit more accurately.

 

 

+1 on what he said. The dude is interested.

[El Karacho1647545492]

In any buy/sell situation, who isn't?

 

I'm the same as CarWhore. One or two of my coworkers are the sleazy do-anything-to-increase-gross guys and I think its despicable. I'd rather sell someone a car for invoice and have them be happy to send their friends/family to me than make $2000 commission on a deal that I know the customer will regret making in 3 months. ESPECIALLY in the case of car history, my experience is that when you tell someone about a problem with the car (accident/vehicle history issue) without them asking, they're more likely to buy a car from you because they value honesty as much as a great deal.

 

That said, there are many customers who DONT value honesty over a good deal. These are the people who expect you to sell every car at invoice and who are insulted if you try to earn any money for the dealership. I actually had a prospect call me back after he bought his car from Milt Taylor to tell me I was a crook of a salesman for trying to sell him a car for $43,000, because his buddy at Milt Taylor found out that $43000 was $500 over invoice. God forbid we, a BUSINESS (not charity), actually try to turn a profit. I told him I was sorry I couldn't earn his business, but I look forward to seeing him in our service department. He handled that quite *ahem* maturely.

[wnaplay1647545503]

For you guys that work at a dealership, if the dealership is massive with alot of overhead, are the price of the vehicles directly reflected because of this? I would think that the dealerships get the vehicles for roughly the same price. I understand that the big dealership is meant to invoke interest and "savings' due to buying in volume but size=overhead.

[Buck531]

Car is gone. $3700 in 100 dollar bills. Swapped tires too. I don't care as I was going to get new tires in the spring anyways and since I work from home I rarely drive anywhere.

 

Thanks dudes.

[Otis Nice]

Good deal. Glad it worked out in the end.

[John Bruh]

Car is gone. $3700 in 100 dollar bills. Swapped tires too. I don't care as I was going to get new tires in the spring anyways and since I work from home I rarely drive anywhere.

 

Thanks dudes.

 

told ya.

[El Karacho1647545492]

For you guys that work at a dealership, if the dealership is massive with alot of overhead, are the price of the vehicles directly reflected because of this? I would think that the dealerships get the vehicles for roughly the same price. I understand that the big dealership is meant to invoke interest and "savings' due to buying in volume but size=overhead.

 

The dealerships can make more $$ from banks/financing than in the actual sale price of the vehicle. Which is why we hate it when people come in and say "Well you tell your manager I'm paying cash, and I expect a discount because of that".