Dealerships Rip You Off With The "Four-Square," Here's How To Beat It

This is one of the most informative articles I have ever read about high pressure sales and the specialized techniques car dealerships use. This is a MUST READ for anyone who owns or will ever own a car... new or used.

Read the whole article, it's long, it's important, and it will save you thousands... for example.

Sometimes, if the manager feels especially nasty (or has gone a few rounds with you via the worksheet), they'll come out of the tower and say "Folks, I'm (Douchey Douchebag), the sales manager here. Congratulations! You've just bought a car! We were able to get the payments to $310 - I know you wanted $300, but that was the best we could do. That's close enough, right?" They'll nod their head (another psychological trick to get you to agree), and almost every time the person says "Yea, that's fine!" The problem is, they didn't realize that a $10 payment bump over a 5-year loan nets an extra $1k in profit for the dealership. It's called "the $10 (or $15, or $20) close", and I only saw it fail when a person was really, really exasperated with us. The deal ends, and you wake up in a year realizing that, somehow, you're $6,000 upside down on your car, while the dealership is laughing all the way to the bank.

The Consumerist - Dealerships Rip You Off With The "Four-Square," Here's How To Beat It