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Home > I am a super skilled master car price negotiator!

I am a super skilled master car price negotiator!

May 28th, 2010 at 05:07 am

Ok, maybe not a "super skilled master" but I am kind of proud of myself. My sister has been looking for cars for about 6 months now trying to build up as much money as she could after her last car broke down. I LOVE looking at cars and talking to dealers and all that unlike some people who don't like the hassle.
She missed out on a decently priced car for about $1600 that was pretty nice plus it had a/c. People brought money like, 20 minutes before she did.

I found the listing on Craigslist (she bought her last one through it and the guy selling it was creepy btw, whole different story) for a Ford Escort '99. But not just a regular boring Escort. It's a Ford Escort Zx2 Sport and is super cute. It has power everything and a sunroof. It's a black coupe. Paint still looks good and it has a few scuffs but overall looks great.

Here is what really gets on my nerves: when car dealers or personal owners do not even bother to clean out the insides of their vehicles. I mean, if you want to sell it you would at least want to have it detailed, or cleaned yourself right? I have seen this too many times with used cars and it just really aggravates me. This car was actually clean on this inside with little to no staining. I understand it's the inside that counts but it makes me think that it wasn't maintained well overall.

Back to the story: We looked it over and test drove it, and I knew the approximate dealer price for it. Sis really loved it and I liked it too. So I then told her to possibly ask for a lower price. She then said, "But I don't know how to do that!" So I had to ask myself if I would want to try for a lower price, even though it seemed that the price was about right for the vehicle. We went inside the office and I said, "Well, she does like it, but we were wondering if there was any room in that price?" All smooth like. I expected the lady to go down 1 or 2 hundred. She automatically went from 2300 to 2000 all because I asked nicely. I thought that was a VERY reasonable price plus that left my sister with extra money for insurance. Yay!

Maybe I should start a car negotiator service kind of like William Shatner in the Priceline commercials. CAR PRICE NEGOTIATOR!!! That would be fun.

As far as my own car goes, once I get a chance to get to the credit union I will then owe approx. 1300. I forgot how to update the side of the blog though. Also this week I have picked up 62 cents off the ground, mostly coming from a car wash that had change laying all over the parking lot. It was very exciting!!

Hope everyone on SA has a great weekend!

5 Responses to “I am a super skilled master car price negotiator!”

  1. elisabeth Says:
    1275041323

    Congrats to you! I wish I was a better negotiator! I know I would love to have a negotiator with me when buying a car.

  2. Apprentice Bliss Hunter Says:
    1275043949

    Lucky your Sis has you to negotiate for her !! :-)

    Have a great weekend too !

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1275060231

    Good job! We have a 2001 Escort - a friend has a 2002 - GREAT CAR! Nothing fancy, but extremely low maintnenance.

    2 of my co-workers just got steals on some really nice used cars (in the $4k range). It's a good time to buy.

  4. dmontngrey Says:
    1275068795

    Great job!! I HATE (with a PASSION) car shopping and DH loves it. The only problem is: he just won't negotiate. I was appalled by this with the last car he bought. In under a year it was "not working out for him." I told him there just wasn't any money in the budget for another car right now - no way! Within a few weeks he was replacing parts, learning a lot, and not complaining about it anymore. It's here indefinitely now. When there IS a next time - we're going to do things MY way... Big Grin

  5. nmboone Says:
    1275089657

    Thanks everyone! Lol, Jerry I wish I could add that to my resume! I seem to want to haggle prices everywhere I can.

    MM- it does seem like a great time to buy. Next time I have to buy a car I'm going to look at places other than major car dealers.

    dmontngrey- definitely sounds like a great plan for next time! Don't let your husband wimp out on you Smile

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