Negotiation is a compromise agreement between two persons or a group of people dealing with a common issue or finding a middle ground to satisfy the need of each person or party. Negotiation is an art of convincing the other person to concede or give in to the demands or conditions of a sale. Most often negotiation is done between businesses or governments seeking a common goal of operation to the benefit of both parties. In everyday life for a common citizen, negotiation is a bargaining tool.
Shopping for a car can be a frustrating and irritating experience. Car dealers and manufacturers have arranged pricing in a manner designed to daze and confuse the buyer. Negotiating for a new car can strike fear into the consumer or it can be pleasant and empowering — it all depends on how prepared you are. Simply by understanding the tricks of the trade, a buyer can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a car. It is very important to have as much information about the car you want to buy and ready yourself before going to the car lot. Preparation and knowledge about the car that you are willing to buy will help you while negotiating. Negotiation is very important in the American market, otherwise it might end up costing you “an arm and a leg.”
I have a very good story to tell you about negotiation. A year ago, sometime in November, I wanted to buy a car. First, I started by visiting dealers in different cities in order to have a certain idea about the prices. The car I was interested in buying was a Volvo 2005 S40 model. Each time I entered a dealer showroom the salesmen would glue onto me and try to persuade me of the best deal I could have. However, in my experience I learned that there is always a better deal. When I entered the last dealer I already had a lot of knowledge about the car and there I started serious negotiation.
The car was priced at $31,700.00, but I knew that I could get a better price so I started negotiating. I asked the salesman to give me a better price because I was willing to lease the car right now. He counted and decided that the best he could do was $480 a month, which he considered a very good deal. But I didn’t agree because by my calculation it was overpriced. So I mentioned that I was coming from another dealership and they were offering me a much cheaper price, which I didn’t give him. He went to talk to the manager in order to get a better deal. Fifteen minutes later the salesman came up with a new deal: $400 a month for 3 years, which he claimed was “the deal of the century.” Again I refused the deal by telling him that the available deal, which I saw, was much cheaper. He said that it was impossible, there could not be a deal better than this, and he called his manager. When the manager came he asked what kind of deal I had. Honestly said, I didn’t have any specific deal from another dealer, but according to my calculations I threw out a number, which was $300 including the tax. The manager went crazy and after doing calculations he said that it was impossible. However, they didn’t want me to leave because they knew I was really willing to buy a car. So he negotiated with me and came up with a new price: $350 including tax.
What I learned from this experience is that the whole of life is about negotiation. Only you have to learn what to do and how to negotiate when you are going to the dealership to purchase your chosen vehicle. Before getting there, just find out the best way to bring down the overall cost of any car. By knowing the dealer incentives and holdbacks, the information can be used as a negotiating tool to lower the price of the car, and negotiation worked in my favor.