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Everyone has read stories about the mortgage crisis but it is minute in comparison to the corruption and unscrupulous actions that take place daily in every car dealership. I previously worked as a car salesman for over 10 years.

I would venture to say that 95% of car buyers are getting ripped-off for thousands of dollars. It is not uncommon for a dealership to net a profit as much as $15 THOUSAND dollars on a single car deal.

I am seriously thinking about writing an ebook to help consumers avoid being their next victim. I've done some research on the net and have found a few people that have done this. Although their sales page reads like a cheap tabloid you would see in a supermarket. I suspect their motives are no better than the car dealerships.

I could write a book of horror stories on the car industry longer then War & Peace. But, I simply want to arm consumers with knowledge. Consumers do need to know how dealerships pull off their scams in order to know what to look for. With a little homework and knowing where dealers hide their profit, their little play on numbers game, four-square close, etc. I guarantee I could save a consumer a minimum of two thousand dollars or probably much more.

I would appreciate any comments.

Last edited by Charlesf; 03/09/08 11:12 AM.
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Charles,

Your message is right on. I'm not sure a consumer could save $15k, but there is certainly a lot of extra savings available that's going into the dealers pockets.
That's why my business, proautobuying.com, has been so successful. For a small fee, I negotiate the entire deal for consumers looking to buy a car. It takes a lot of research and as you say, being able to know which of the many tricks the dealer may be trying to pull on you.
Most people don't want to bother with the extensive research and aggravation of having to deal with that.
Best of Luck,

Steve


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Originally Posted By: Charlesf
I would appreciate any comments.


I think it sounds like a great idea, personally. And it sounds like you have good credentials as well.

Before you write an e-book, though, think about how you'd market it and get the word out. You'll probably need to have an online platform (an established website with at least a bit of traffic). If you don't already have a website, you should think about starting one so that you have an audience to pitch the book to once it's done.


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"I suspect their motives are no better than the car dealerships."

That motive would be to make a profit? As opposed to your motive in seeking to publish a guide to car buying which would be purely altruistic?

That motive would be better served if, instead of just stating that there are a lot of scams, you enumerated a few for free instead of deciding to sell your inside information.

As to the $15,000 profit, I only note that estimates of the average price of a new car range from $27,?00 to 28,200. $15k is a lot of profit on a $27k item.

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Well, actually I would like to profit from this information. Although the consumer stands to profit much more than I.

Car salesmen could care less if they sell a new car. The money is in used cars. The ideal customer is the "Payment Shopper" the one that doesn't care what the car cost as long as they can get the payment they want. Cha-Chang!

Car dealership buy and trade for vehicles at wholesale value. Many lenders will advance up to 125% of loan. Dealerships will inflate selling prices, take the customers down payment as pure profit and max out whatever the law allows on interest rates.

Let's say a customer qualifies for a 12% loan. The finance manager maxes out the loan at (ex. 16.99% or higher) over 72-84 months, sells a service warranty ($495 cost for $1495)credit life, gap insurance and when all is said and done, the dealership has slam dunked the customer. Four to six thousand dollars front-end profit is very common and I haven't even added in the back-end profit in finance.

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Personally......if you don't do your homework on a used vehicle, then you deserve to get ripped off. Go to kbb.com or nada.com and find the wholesale, retail and person to person sales price and work from there. If the kbb price is $20,000 and the dealer is asking $24,500, then you can haggle. Always check the guide prices before venturing out to purchase a car. Never buy on the spot! Check the vehicle over....take it to your mechanic (most used car dealers will allow this if they are reputable) and always use the internet. There are ways to protect yourself from paying to much. Arm yourself with knowledge about the vehicle you want and never, never buy from a "Buy here, Pay here" lot.

Last edited by Raynefalls; 05/07/08 09:18 AM.
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I for one think you should go ahead and write your ebook. This is America and if you have the entreprenurial spirit, then go for it. There is nothing wrong with you earning a profit on your work. You are going to take the time to research it and write it and promote it. You should earn a return on your effort. Period!
Good Luck!


P.S. I get cash back on all my eBay purchases. Do you? I also get cash back from 100s of online retailers. Free to join. Learn About BigCrumbs .
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i put down like 6k on my base model piece of [censored] 07 cobalt that had 37,0000 miles on it. the car is worth little over 9k used, and brand new starts at 14-15k. it's my first car, i cosigned on it with my bf. neither of us has credit.. like 0, zip, nada, non existent. and we want to use this car to start. holy [censored] [censored].. i understand high interest rate because we have absolutely no credit.. but we owe like 10k plus on the car.

i told the guy managing us that i could buy this car in cash right here and now with more than enough left over. but i need credit, so i need to finance.

the guy who sold it to us was really nice, and he used to work in financial. he worked to get us the lowest monthly payments any bank would take. and he said to seel the car in exactly one year, or we'd be paying for all that [censored] interest. and at that point our credit would stop going up from this particular loan. but damn i still feel like im paying to much for it.. but the damn banks wont settle for anything less.


I can't brain today...
...I have the stupid.

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