Whether it is your first time, or you are buying a car again, it can be an experience of lifetime. Not only a lot of you hard earned money is involved in the deal, you have to make some major choices as well. Leave alone the pains of finalizing a vehicle, there is also a lot of negotiations with the dealership staff involved where you need to be aware of every decision you make in order to avoid being taken for rides and swindled by the said staff. So here are a few pretty common ways how a dealership may make small swindles to squeeze more money out of unsuspecting customers.
Selling Demo Cars
This is a highly illegal activity where the dealerships touch-up a demo car they had bought when the model was released, and sell it off as a new car. Most of these demo models are sold after the facelift or updated model of the said car has been released. The conventional way for the dealerships to get rid of such cars is offer major discounts on them once the new model has been released.
As these demo models are often used by dealerships as a test drive vehicle, they will often have signs of wear and tear on them. Often these models are also repainted and are easy to spot. The dealers also tamper with their odometers to give them the appearance of a new car. Therefore, inspecting a car before taking the delivery is a wise thing to do in order to avoid demo units.
Misrepresentation
Often showrooms try to sell the older model of a vehicle to unsuspecting customers. The make year of a vehicle bears an important influence on the resale value of the car. Often makers also offer major discounts on older make year models of car. So while purchasing your new vehicle make sure that you take a note of the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of the car which gives several details about the car including the make year of the car.
Handling
Having read the ex-showroom price of the car, one always assumes there will be other expenses involved with the car as there are several taxes and fees one needs to pay off in order to make the car road legal. This whirlwind of charges can often come with a few charges that were invented by the dealer in the first place. A common culprit is the handling charge. Dealerships often tend to slip this into the bill. You can straightaway say no to such charges as the makers themselves take punitive action against dealerships using such tactics.
Accessory Pack
The high margin of accessories makes the dealership force sell them to new customers. Apart from hard sell over some accessories, some showrooms often state that a few ‘accessory packs’ are absolutely necessary and the car cannot be delivered to the customer without the purchase of said accessory pack. There is no rule as such and you can always buy the accessories as per your need in future and refuse the dealership’s offer of such useful accessory packs.
Insurance Matters
Like accessories, insurance too is a commodity for dealerships and they get a commission for every sale they make. So in order to get higher commissions, the showroom staff often hard sells a low premium, subpar policy to you. Therefore, always go through the fine print of the policy this will help you in choosing the best policy for your needs and also keep you safe from future liabilities.
Teflon
Perhaps the most irritating and obvious scam on the dealership is the pushy salesmen pushing you to purchase a ‘protective’ ‘teflon’ coating for your car. While you already know this is a scam, you are so euphoric about your new car that you soon get ready to spend a lot of money on something that won’t give you as much value. It is always advisable to get such protective coating from an aftermarket car detailing service as they are not only relatively less expensive, they also provide a better coat.