10 Things a car buyer should know

10 Things a Car buyer should know prior to going to a dealership

Learn about the car first, think numbers second
Enjoy the process of learning about the car. One of the worse things a customer can do is thinking numbers, when they are learning about the car. You can't enjoy the zoom-zoomness unless you are paying attention.

Part of the process should be enjoyed like you are a kid
Part of the process can be enjoyed like you are a kid. You should expect nothing less than having fun buying a car, having fun experiencing the test drive, and once you decide on the right car then let the logical mode turn on. There are some people who are so defensive dealing with our industry that they go in defensive, when they should be enjoying the process of learning and finding. One should figure out which is the right car first than finding the exact monthly payment. Like the car first then go to financing.

Relax and experience the car
Once you relax, the car search experience is fun, looser, so when they go home – they say to themselves, "I had a great experience." That's one of the main reasons I am in this business.

Figure out what is fair
What is fair to both sides of the car buying equation? It does help for the customer to know that the MSRP is negotiable. It is unfair to go in with the expectation "I'm going to get $1000 less than invoice." It is not fair to have such outlook to our industry, to the city where you are buying it from, and to the economy. Before going into the dealership, find out what's fair. Find out that it's all right for the dealership to make some profit. It isn't going to make the buyer poor. Just take some time to find out what's fair. A lot of times, when the customer does that, it makes it a lot easier to enjoy the process and be happy. The customers, who go in with the philosophy: "I don't care if you lose money," are the hardest to satisfy. We are going to go beyond our realm to satisfy this customer, when he/she will not be willing to give us even a little bit of profit. Such thinking can be really unbalanced and can really destroy our relationship.

Do research online
Before taking a car for a test drive, do the research online. This way you can do less of the running around from dealership to dealership. For example, if you don't do your research, by the time you get to the third dealership – you're so tired you might end up settling. Once you are exhausted, you might end up with the wrong car, bought from the wrong sales associate, and the wrong dealership. When you get exhausted, you are going to end up buying just because you want to get done with the process. That's why I recommend to my friends and family members to do a lot of the research online to find out what you are looking for and then once you have narrowed it down from 10 different cars. From a truck, SUV, and hatchback so you need to test drive only the three hatchbacks you are interested in, instead of 10 different dealerships on your list all Saturday and Sunday. Does that make sense?

If you have a car that you want to trade, find out what's fair?
If you are going in there with the expectation "I want a 1,000 over invoice, I want this much for my trade in," is that fair, is that realistic? No. You are going to burn yourself out. If you do your research and find out what something is worth, and the fair value you would like for your trade in and stick to it, you may get what you are looking for. It is not worth it to go low and then go high, it is not worth it. Find out what is fair.

Find out what's fair in terms of interest rate
It is not 2001, so it's not zero per cent on all cars. Find out what's fair. We are all on our different financial goals. If you are young and need money up front, then leasing may be the way to go. If you are a little older and like the idea of owning the car and are not planning to change the car too soon, then finance it. Know where you are financially. Know whether you want to save money up front, or if you want to save money in the long run. Really understand what will save you the most money, for example even with leasing, if you decide to own the car at the end of the lease, you still have to pay tax on it. So it makes sense to understand where you are financially, and what the right choice for leasing is or financing that suits you financially. It is hard to say what's better leasing or financing. Mostly, with leasing you save money up front, with financing you save money in the long run. Every once in a while you save money with leasing up front and in the long run because it depends on the money factor, and how it is when you decide to buy a car. Regardless, it certainly helps to know where you are financially.

Finding the compromise as a couple
Sometimes the best way to buying a car if you are couple who intend to share co-ownership is to put it on paper. Instead of going back and forth, put down on paper all the pros and cons of each car. Determine the functionality of it, such as trunk space, style, handling, ride quality and give it some number. Then use that numbering scheme to determine the right car. What happens a lot is when you are in a relationship one person may like one color and the other another. So two years down the road one person may start disliking the color and the other disliking the hatchback. In order to avoid this, put the pen down on paper so that ultimately at the time you make the decision together – there are no compromises. Isn't that great? This can avoid having the car being an issue. Let the paper decide. Mazda is such a great brand I look forward to doing the "Pepsi challenge" with any of the other cars.

I love helping people
I come from a social work background. I love helping people. When I joined this industry, I knew this industry had a tough rap. I understood the challenges in helping people. So I work extra hard to earn people's trust. There are people out there in our industry who work extra hard to make sure the people are happy. We have your best interest in mind. We are professionals who want to make sure that you get the right car, so you are happy, so you can recommend your friends to us. At least, that's what we hope. So there are a lot of people in our industry that are going to be straight up and be honest, especially when they know you are making a big decision when making a big decision, buying a car. I want people to understand that. Give us the opportunity to earn your trust and don't condemn us just because we are sales persons. Having such stigma attached to us is just not fair.

Ultimately I think the sales person should be the one most knowledgeable
I am embarrassed when my sales guys doesn't know as much as the customer. I actually want them to know the competition as well. For example, when I am interacting with a customer, I ask them what else they are considering: Corolla, Civic, Mazda3. I want the sales associate to not only know the cars we have on the lot but also the competition. Certainly the more the customer knows the better off they are going to be, but the sales associate should also be well versed in what's important to the customer.