as a newbie to this forum i just thought i would share this experance with you. now as some of you would have read my introduction i think i wouldn't be bias as to say that the level of my intelegence would be up there of the above average level. today i meet my wife at our local car deadlership. our plan was to buy a new navara, we wanted the stx, had to be white, our trade a 2002 falcon BA XT wagon. was asked what i wanted for it as a trade, told them. and the next thing i get is that they may offer me between 4,000 and 6,000 for the wagon, however they would not give me an exact trade price until i committed to purchasing the navara from them, i told them that they would have to do better than that. and just give me a price for the falcon. i think it would be a fare comment at this time to say that only an idiot would make a commitment before the price was offered. and as i rubbed the top of my forhead to make sure that f****ing idiot wasn't imprinted on it, my wife then gave the look, its our little secret look we have to tell each other its time to get out of here, so we left. and once again were of to brisbane to get our new navara, it seems that country dealers just dont want our buisiness, as for the falcon. we decided that we would sell her privately. and as she has been looked after very well over the pass 7 years the lucky purchaser will be buy a very reliable and clean tidy car. so its off to brissie to pick up the new navara. on friday. its amazzing what the internet and emails can do for us country buyer's

all i can say is ive seen some doozie o car sales men in my time and often wonder how they stay in buisness, you dont go to a car yard to get abused or into a punch up because the sales man is a youknow what.. maybe they get kick backs, coz you get such a bad experience then go next door, who are always wonderful, just makes them look better i supose...

the customer is always right when they agree with me
the right car is the car on the lot, the right price is the price i make the most with,
thw rong car is what you want and that i dont have.
and theirs always the other price guie they dont know what, they dictates bad trade in prices but really good sale prices n 2nd hand cars..

Dont forget to display your new Navara to the local dealer!

with great pleasuer

Good Luck in Brisbane and i hope you get a magic deal.

cheers Rod

Good salesmen are as rare as the proverbial rocking horse doo doo. We've been lucky and had the same guy since I bought my first car as a teenager. He's moved dealerships a few times so we follow him lol.

I learned long ago how to deal with car salesmen when it comes to trade valuation.

Consider this.

When they ask you how much you want for your car they are immediately putting you at a disadvantage - and they know it.

Do your research on your car's trade value, then keep to yourself what you will sell it for, and offer a similar dialogue to this:

“No - this is my deal - you tell me how much you will pay. And lets cut to the chase, I want your best price straight up as my time is valuable.

I am not interested in haggling - give me your best offer first up - if it suitable to me I will consider it - if not I’ll walk. End of story.

If I decline your offer and you then ask how much will I take, I’ll know your offer was NOT your best and I’ll walk even quicker.”

It has worked for me for at least the last half dozen cars.

You can do it politely - but just be firm and let the salesman know that you are in control of the sale - not him.

After all - it’s your money.

And don’t ever fall for the line that “this offer is only open until 4pm [or whenever]” I have a friend who is a dealer principal and he tells me that is absolute crap and just used to put pressure on.

Hi allwise,
Don't for a minute think that yours was an isolated case.When I went to buy my new Land cruiser in 2004,They had a different system to commit me.They asked me to write on a piece of paper what I wanted to pay for the truck.
Then they asked me to sign it.Of course there is the commitment....Of course I put down a figure lower than my last offer from another dealer,and then the fun started.
Believe it or not ,they actually would not give me a price on the vehicle,as they said all I would do was go to another dealer and not come back. I had no other choice and go back to the dealer who actually gave me the price and bought the truck.
To answer your question ,Yes they do think we are all idiots.
among themselves,when they see a person come into the yard they dont call us customers ,they call us just "heads"walking in.

There are 5 kinds of people in this world,
(Not in any order)
(1) Lebanese taxi drivers

(2) Journalists

(3) Used or new car salesman

(4) Politicians

and us humans.

thanks every one for your insperational comments. well i have bought my new car and did it all over the phone. we go down to brissie on friday to pick it up, and i got the one i wanted and colour. the thing that bugged me the most was i needed to make a disision on whether to trade or just buy outright and sell the falcon privately. he wouldn't simply give the best trade offer, and as such he lost a 45,000 plus cash sale on the day. so now who is the stupid one.