How to Buy a Car from a Dealership

Intro

I have a love/hate relationship with car dealerships. On one hand, they’re frustrating. When I pull up to the lot and I’m just trying to look around, I get chased down by some asshat in a golf cart. On the other hand, when I make a purchase, the transaction always feels safe. At the end of the day, I buy from dealerships, but I have some rules that I follow when I do. Here’s the gist of it in three simple tenets.

Know What You’re Buying

When you walk into a dealership, most of the sales people don’t really know what they’re selling, other than the fact that it is a car, truck, or SUV. If you show up open to "suggestions" and “advice”, you’re at the mercy of whether or not the salesperson wants to make money or genuinely help you.

You have to come in having done your research. Otherwise, you might get talked into a mid 2010’s Nissan, because “Japanese cars are reliable and easy to maintain.” Or perhaps you’ll get talked into an overpriced warranty because, “that Toyota has lots of miles on it, so you never know!” 

Don’t fall for sales tactics that don’t have your best interest in mind. You have as much info available to you as they do and when in doubt, there are car buying resources all over the internet. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Edmunds
• Consumer Reports (~$30/yr and worth every penny)
• Car and Driver
• Motor Trend
  

Know How (Sales) People Work

Most sales people don’t want to help you. Rather, they want to help themselves.  You can’t expect to get what you need if you leave the other person out of the positive side of that equation. So, generating a win for both you and your salesperson is one of the greatest negotiation tactics you can ever learn. Find a way to give them a win that fits within the ecosystem of your win.

As an example, a buddy of mine was once buying a car from a dealership. He was firm and said, “I want to buy this here, but I want it at this price and I want to buy it in cash. I don’t want to finance, but I’m open to it, if you can meet me at X amount below what’s listed.” 

Him and the salesperson hashed it out for a second and my buddy found out that the salesperson really wanted him to finance through the dealership. So, he made a deal that he'd finance it, but only if they agreed to my buddy's price. They did the deal and then by buddy came back and paid the car off one month later.

Remember:

No Car is Unique (and if it is, then you can’t afford it)

Okay, so some cars are unique, but this isn’t a blog for people buying LaFerrari’s. Odds are, whatever car you find on your local lot has about 30 or 40 brothers and sisters at lower and higher prices. One of the tried and true tactics I’ve seen is salespeople saying things like, “yeah man, these don’t come around like this. I got a guy coming to look at it and he’ll probably take it if you don’t.” You’ll be tempted to make a decision quicker than you need to, but I’m telling you that you don’t have to. 

That car may be unique to that dealership, but it is likely not the best deal out there. We are in 2026 (at the time I am writing this) and you can scour the internet in just minutes with tools like AutoTempest or Edmunds and find the best deal in the country. Now, it may seem scary to buy a car from states away. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to make this safe (which is probably a blog in and of itself).

If you got something out of this, that probably means you're serious about car shopping and doing your research. If that is you, then keep an eye out for our upcoming app, Drive Counselor!