3 Min Read • September 27, 2024
Car Price Negotiation: Essential for Shoppers and Dealers
Haggling, at least for the average consumer, may reach its zenith in the car-shopping process. However, that doesn't mean that the stereotypical image of a car shopper doing battle with a dealership’s entire Front Office actually holds true.
In fact, the opposite may be the case. In a recent study by CDK of over 1,000 car buyers*, we learned that nearly 85% of them reported spending less than half an hour negotiating the overall price or their monthly payments. That’s it: just 30 minutes or less — about the amount of time it takes to get through a TV sitcom.
Not Every Dealer Needed to Bring in a Manager
Just over half of customers reported that they met the dealership’s Sales Manager as part of their negotiation process. While a visit from the manager can help gauge a customer’s intent, it can also turn them off.
More often than not, the customer worked directly with the salesperson for most of their negotiations. About a third of those surveyed indicated that they were left alone at some point — perhaps in the salesperson’s office or in a common lobby area. And, for the most part, the salesperson only left the customer once or twice during the entire process.
Customers seem to understand that the salesperson generally needs to run any deal by their Sales Manager. Nearly 50% of those surveyed indicated that they were left with a positive or indifferent feeling when they were left alone. Fewer than 1% said they were angry about the situation.
It’s Up to the Salesperson to Make Special Deals Clear
Salespeople are slightly more likely to spend time visiting the F&I Manager than their Sales Manager.
More than two-thirds of survey respondents said they were left alone for more than 10 minutes while their salesperson spoke with the F&I Manager about any special programs. About the same percent of respondents said they were ultimately offered programs like low-interest financing or delayed first payments.
Impressively, around three-quarters of respondents said that the salesperson did a good job explaining the terms and conditions of those deals.
Bottom Line: Customers Think Negotiating Car Price Is Important
A majority of customers surveyed indicated that it was important for them to negotiate either the value of their trade-in or the purchase price of their new vehicle.
Moreover, about a third of those surveyed said that price negotiation was one of the top three reasons they chose to buy a car from a dealership rather than online. Additionally, about 20% said they wanted to trade their vehicle in person, close to 20% said they wanted to negotiate their new car’s warranty, and more than 10% said they wanted to get a better financing deal at the dealership than they could online.
While negotiating the final price of a car may conjure different emotions for different people, most of today’s car buyers are finding it almost easy. In fact, 68% of car buyers in CDK’s latest Ease of Purchase survey said it was indeed easy to negotiate the final price.
*Data collected from a shopping habits study of 1,048 new car buyers CDK conducted in the spring of 2024.
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