When people hear the words used car negotiating, the first thing that comes to mind is something less than pleasant. Fear not used car buyers, all it takes to level the playing field when negotiating while buying a used car is a little planning before you head for the used car lots. Here are some simple tips that should help you out.

Negotiating Tips For Used Car Buying #1: Know the economy and the market. There are four main sources for buying a used car, a used car lot, a private party, a few large national chains that specialize in selling used cars and new car dealers.

Due to the recent economy there has been a trend some of you may not have noticed. The smaller car lots have a smaller inventory these days. The reason behind this is the new car dealers due, to decline in new car sales have been buying up used cars and selling them to keep their business profitable. What has changed here is, the new car dealerships are now more reliant on the used car business, so we have a little extra negotiating room with the added incentive for them to sell used cars. We still have the four basic sources, just one of them is more reliant on the used car market these days. This in turn takes away inventory and customers from the other sources. Can you see how this type of market works to the buyers advantage?

Negotiating Tips For Used Car Buying #2: Never shop for a used car by yourself. You’ve heard the old saying, two heads are better than one. This applies to used car buying too. Not only can your buddy bring you back down to earth if you are starting to become impulsive, they can also be used as a tool in the negotiation process of buying a used car.

This might take some forward planning and a little practice but makes an excellent negotiating too. Convincing two people instead of one is a much harder task and the used car salesman knows this. Your buddy can also be used to bring up “the other car you looked at earlier” or make negative points about the car you are looking at. This puts the used car salesman in a reactive mode because they really don’t know what you are going to do at this point. They are now forced to play fair and give you a fair deal. Remember this works two ways. If you ever find yourself in a situation with two salesman pushing you to close the deal, just walk away. They are not interested in negotiating a deal.

Negotiating Tips For Used Car Buying #3: Put time on your side. Hopefully you will never find yourself in the need to buy a car “today” or even “this week”. The more time to apply this simple used car negotiating tip the better. It is much easier to walk away from a deal when time is on your side. If you really liked the used car and walked away, keep an eye on that dealers ads in the newspaper. If it is still there a week or two later, go back and try to make a deal again. It costs money to inventory all those cars so the dealer needs to sell them as fast as possible to increase their profit margin. If possible try to get the same salesman as the last time. If you can’t make a deal the second time around, at least he knows that you are not a pushover and if you show up again, he will have to bargain or stand a chance of losing your business once again.

This negotiating tool can also be used when shopping for a used car from a private party. If you find a used car that is in good shape and what you were looking for, make an offer. If you can’t come to an agreement, make sure you keep the phone number and other information. Or if you like, leave them your number and tell them to call you if they don’t find the price they were looking for.

I know some people that use a different variation of this last tip. They wait until the ad for the used car is no longer in the paper and then call the number to inquire about the ad. They are hoping to find a desperate seller but I have to wonder how many sweet deals they missed on. Remember, we are looking for a good deal. If we find just what we are looking for and the seller agrees to our offer great. We have accomplished our goal. Giving everyone else a shot at making a deal and then going after the scraps is probably going to leave you looking at undesirable cars or dealing with people who are unwilling to negotiate.

Hopefully these negotiating tips for used car buying will help you when looking for your next used car. Remember keep the playing field level or tilt it in your favor next time you go shopping for a used car.