When purchasing a vehicle of any kind new or used always know where you stand!

The worst thing you can do is go into a dealership with no understanding of how you rank among others as far as your credit rating. By credit rating I am not talking about credit score (fico). The scoring system used by the credit reporting agencies is something I don’t think many people understand, including their employee’s. There are steps and procedures you can go through to improve your credit score, however this can take months. You just need to know if you were to go the into your local bank or credit union what interest rate and term you can get, this will determine the payment you will receive if you finance it yourself. Make sure when you go into the finance office you are absolutely sure you can be approved elsewhere, it will give you the confidence needed to negotiate. If the Finance Manager cannot beat the rate you have already been quoted then there is nothing else to talk about, I can assure you they will work considerably harder to beat the rate when you are ready to secure your own financing. The dealerships will usually undercut outside rates if they have a knowledgeable finance department.

My name is Alan Rhoad I am the General Manager of a used car dealership in South Carolina. I have been in the automotive sales industry for over twenty years and have performed just about every aspect of the business from selling to financing. I was the GM of a new Honda Dealership for eight years and was in the used car industry prior to that.
One thing you want be sure of when purchasing a new or used vehicle is the dealers reputation. It is not a bad practice to ask a dealer representative for a couple of references. The sales rep is going to have to call his customers and ask if it is alright to use them as a reference, which will include giving out their phone number. I have made quite few contacts that I consider business friendships and have several that would allow me to do this. It will allow you to find out if your salesperson is genuine or not. So many salespeople are all show. Make sure you have one that will take care of you down the road. If your representative has a problem with this it would be acceptable to ask to speak with the sales manager and ask for another rep or better yet find a different dealership. A good dealership will make sure they keep quality representatives
on staff, unlike the larger dealers that replace them all on a whim.