Tricks to watch out for when shopping for a car

In your mind, you were just theorizing, but to the salesman, you just committed to a certain minimum monthly payment.

Instead, when a salesman asks how much you can pay each month, tell him you will not discuss monthly payments and only want to talk purchase price; you’ll decide on monthly payments after you’ve settled on a fair price.

Fees and extras: Delivery charges, titling fees, and a few other closing costs are inevitable extras associated with buying a new car.

But aside from a few essential add-ons, most fees or extra-cost items are either inflated or altogether unnecessary.

Negotiate fees down, or outright refuse to pay them. And deny any extras offered by the finance and insurance manager.

Basically, if it’s anything he offers you after you’ve negotiated your sales price, you don’t need it and you shouldn’t pay for it.

Particularly egregious are paint protection and fabric guard, essentially wax and Scotch Guard dealerships often charge hundreds of dollars for.

Interest-rate bumping: You should always shop for your own financing before you head to the dealer. Maybe you’ll get a better rate; maybe you’ll just get a better idea of what rate you qualify for so you can police the finance manager.

It is not uncommon for the dealer to secure financing for you but offer you a rate one percentage point higher—and then pocket the difference.

Altering the bill of sale: Never sign a bill of sale with blanks or terms that are “subject to bank approval” or have similar wording.

Some dealerships will let a customer sign such a document and release the new car to its happy owner, only to call the buyer back a few days later to say that the loan fell through and they need to come back in to sign some new paperwork, which just happens to cost the buyer more than the negotiated price.

Never drive your car off a lot until all the paperwork is filled out completely.

Car and Driver.com