How Car Dealerships Rip You Off (The Truth)

hey everybody welcome back to whiteboard finance in this video I'm going to show you how car dealerships rip you off using the Foursquare method so I graduated in December of 2010 with a finance degree when there was still blood in the streets and unemployment was at an all-time high so instead of sitting around on my couch watching Netflix and you know eating potato chips I decided to get a job couldn't find a job in finance so what did I do I ultimately got a job selling cars right so selling cars there's nothing wrong with that as a profession you can make a lot of money but at the end of the day I didn't just go to school for four years get my finance degree so I can do something that I can do without a high school degree right but I did learn a lot of valuable tactics and a lot of valuable skills that the dealerships use when trying to make money off of people right so if you've ever bought a car you may have seen this before this is what we call the Foursquare okay so up here you have your trade-in value this is the car that you're trading in over here you have the price of the vehicle that you're buying down here you have your down payment meaning the money that you're putting down towards the car if you're not paying cash and then finally you have the monthly payment down here meaning if you're financing the vehicle these will be your monthly payments so let's say for example you're trading in a 2006 Chevy Impala you want to get a new one right so you have a 2006 Impala with eight million miles on it what the what the actual car manager or the salesperson will do is in front of you they'll silently devalue your trade that's what we call devaluing your trade so while you're talking and he's asking you questions about the car you know he'll touch a little chip here a little dent there and notice that the wheels are scuffed it's all subconscious okay it's telling you that he knows that your car is a piece of junk right so right away he's actually silently devaluing your vehicle so when they come back to you with this Foursquare okay you're gonna have a trade-in value let's just say he wants to give you 4 grand for your piece of junk right they're gonna have a price of the car let's just let's just say you're buying a new Impala and we'll call this 24:9 these are all just hypothetical numbers down payment this is the money that they want you to put down let's just say four grand and then monthly payment they'll sketch out like three different scenarios right you'll have let's say five hundred dollars at sixty months four seventy-five at seventy two months and then they'll have like five seventy five or excuse me let's just call it four fifty at eighty four months okay so when they come back to you with this four square it's essentially a piece of paper with these four squares these are all meant to be negotiation pieces okay the dealership is really making their money on the monthly payment and also how much you put down so financing is by far the most profitable center within the whole dealership okay so when you go to the guys in the back to do paperwork and they're selling you rim insurance and warranties and all that stuff that's all junk for the most part okay that's the highest margin in the dealership the second highest is the service center so when you go to get your car serviced yeah you might as well be getting your rear end service because you're taking it right there and then lastly new cars are the least profitable area of the dealership okay think about it logically if you're a Chevy dealership and you get brand-new Chevy's what do you think of brand new Chevy's gonna cost it's gonna cost the same in Ohio as it does in Florida as it does in California as it does in Alaska it's a brand new car with an MSRP okay these dealerships are getting them for relatively the same price they can only mark up new cars so much the new car sale is the least profitable center for the dealership remember that the used-car is actually way more profitable than the new car and you'll see why that's exactly from this Foursquare so what will happen is you guys are negotiate on a car you pick out a car you like you test-drive it you like it you smell it you touch it all you're in love right especially when you're coming out of this piece of junk here so they sit you down at the table would you like a cup of coffee oh here's my manager you you know oh this is Mike yet nice to meet you thanks for stopping in today blah blah blah right it's all an act it's Hollywood so what they do is they come back with this for square this piece of paper that has these numbers on it and the numbers are meant to offend you okay they're meant to get you into kind of like oh my god these are so high what is this you know this is crazy because what they want to do is they want you they want you to beat them up too so you feel like you got a deal right it's all perception and perception is reality so the salesperson is going to say okay I'm gonna go through the trade and it's 4 grand this is the price the Impala and they're going through this really quick right down payment is this and your monthly payments or this and I say okay if these numbers work for you just initial here on this X I will take this car home today there you go so that initialing portion is very important it's because it's it's subconscious it's psychological normally when we sign things we're committing our signature that's like committing our word or trust right so when we do that when we initial on this piece of paper and go back to the manager or the salesperson takes the paper back to the manager and says you up here you go you just bought a new car or congratulations even if the terms aren't exactly what you wanted you feel bad about initialling and going back on your word so I know that's long-winded but it's very important ok so typically what the salesperson is gonna say is ok which work where do we have to work with you on for you to take home this car ok most people that have half a brain will say every square ok but some of these people they don't understand numbers so they're gonna go straight to their down payment they're gonna talk they're gonna think about the cash that they have or in this case don't have so a lot of people that are buying these kinds of cars they're not very mathematically savvy or and they're also broke to be honest with you so they're gonna say you know what I need to lower my downpayment I don't really have $4,000 with me right now you know is there any way we can go a little bit lower and the salesperson will put on an and say oh you know you know if you lower the down payment you know these monthly payments are gonna go up you know it's just basic math it's kind of like a scale blah blah blah right but my managers feeling kind of crazy today you know he's in a good mood he just he just shot really nice a nice score on this 18 round of a golf you know we'll see what we can do here your will try and move this to three grand okay you know these payments may go up a little and that's when they start talking about payments they want to keep the conversation down here payments are most important to them remember that excuse me so now you're gonna start talking payments the person's gonna say well you know what I think those payments were high to begin with you know I told you I really need to be right around you know 350 a month 300 a month people have needed to be 300 a month for the last 20 years okay that's where everyone wants to be you know probably a little bit less than that even so the sales person is going to say well you know I moved a little bit on the down payment for you it's gonna be really hard to get you into you know 350 but I'll see what I can do my managers in a really good mood today you know he's a really good guy so what they'll do is they'll cross out this on eighty four months to get him to the longest term possible and they'll say okay 375 all right what I'll do is I'm gonna take this back to my manager if I can get you at $3,000 down payment and at 375 will you initial here and take the car home today and what are you gonna do you'll say well we'll see I don't know I don't want to commit to anything or unless you're a pushover and they're clubbing you're like a baby seal okay you're gonna sign that because you're an idiot okay so most people won't sign that but they'll say hey go take it to your manager let's see what we can do the salespeople never want to talk on this right and even if they do get to that point this is all a game they know how much they have or how much they can sell your trade-in for and they'll wiggle on this but they won't wiggle on the price and if they do wiggle on the price they won't budge on the trade right the trade comes in exponentially lower than what it's really worth it's all about those margins you guys so when when a salesperson comes back and says you know what Jim you know come back with a big smile on your foot on his face yeah you know what Marco I was able to get you down to three and we can get you into those payments I wasn't able to do 375 but I can do 389 is that okay for you and you're gonna say well it's still a little bit high but you know what it's close enough you know thanks a lot and you're gonna you're gonna sign right here or initial what he just did was he bumped this payment up roughly fourteen fifteen dollars over the course of this term that just made the dealership over fifteen hundred dollars easily in interest okay they all have relationships with local banks how do you think auto financing works you guys GM Lexus credit Toyota credit you know a lie though that's where they make their money it's in the financing they don't make money selling cars okay that's the smallest portion of profit for these dealerships and also for the manufacturers so next time understanding this Foursquare next time you go to buy a car go in with your own financing already in place talk to a local credit union show them the car that you want to buy or that you're interested in get pre-approved or even get a certified check or a loan for that amount right that way your interest is fixed and it's lower than what it would be at the dealership the dealership intentionally leaves margin in these numbers that way that their guys in the back can sell you warranties for much less than what they actually cost hey it's only bumping up your payment $2.00 a month why wouldn't you do this right it's all a game you guys so now knowing what you know get your financing in place and don't tell them you have a trade okay when you go to a dealership do not tell them you have a trade negotiate the car that you really like act as if you don't have a trade and then bring this in at the last second they'll give you a you know a ridiculously low number but at the end of the day it's worth doing because you're negotiating on price you're not negotiating on the price of your trade-in does that make sense so I hope this video was valuable to you I know it's a little bit longer but if you watch through the whole entire thing please give the video a like share this video with a friend who's about to go get ripped off or you know buy a car from a dealership and just let them know about whiteboard finance you guys I put in a lot of effort into these videos thank you so much and have a prosperous a [Music]

Channel: Marko - WhiteBoard Finance

Views: 4,996,480

Rating: 4.8322115 out of 5

Keywords: car dealership scams, car dealer scams, car dealership negotiation, car negotiation, car dealership rip offs, four square car sales, four square car selling technique, whiteboard finance, car financing, dealership scams, car rip offs, car tips, auto dealer rip offs

Id: 1gtmij_uNuE

Length: 11min 16sec (676 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 02 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/enz1ey]

Ironically enough, while he pointed out several times how the salesperson wants to keep your attention away from the new car's price, he never really went there, either.

Know what your trade-in is worth, and get pre-qualified from a bank or credit union before heading in to the dealership, those are really the only two things that matter. Obviously aside from knowing how much new car you can afford, too.

[u/BenderredneB]

Not a terrible video, but he completely missed the financing interest rates. If you don’t have good credit you’re looking at over 15% easily.

I agree to have your own financing from a credit unit because fuck banks, but if you have excellent credit you could maybe get a better interest rates from the stupid banks.

[u/pperca]

This video could have been 1/4 of the length to present the same information.

[u/passiveparrot]

dude spent 11 minutes talking about something he could've done in 3 minutes in the same detail

[u/ucim4jc]

From a former car sales employee. This guy did a good job of explaining 4 square... And that is about it. Do not hold your trade until the end. Especially if you owe money on it! Just know what it is worth on KBB. You won't get that for it, but you won't be screwed over either. Also, sales doesn't give two shits about finance. We actually fight them to get you a good rate for you. Think about it. If our deal is off by $1000. We want you to get a better rate so the bank takes the hit, instead of taking $1000 of of the car so our commission takes a hit.

He is right about new cars not holding much profit. But they can also be discounted the deepest. If you are buying new, start at the beginning of the last week of the month. Odds are, if your offer is reasonable, they'll take care of you by the end of the month.

And really, if you just want the best deal on a new car, just visit 3 or 4 places to get quotes. I know it takes time, but it is the best way.

[u/DavidRandom]

No, don't bring the trade in at the last second, they don't give you shit on trade in, just sell it yourself and bring the cash from the trade in.

[u/Stumpinators]

The last car my wife and I bought, I called a few dealerships that had vehicles we were interested in. I was able to haggle over the phone without even going in person. I found a vehicle we wanted, knew our budget, had pre-approval from our bank for that amount, and told the dealer over the phone I couldn't go a penny more than our budget. We had a car picked out, the price set, and check in hand. All we had to do was drive to the dealership after work with our check and sign some papers. It was fantastic.

[u/xl1sbrett]

Most dealerships are not allowed to use four squares anymore.

Here is the truth. You pay a price for not having perfect credit.

[u/Valvador]

Why do dealerships still exist? If I remember correctly, they became a thing mandated by law so that the few car manufacturers that were around at the time can't set their prices to crazy values. Dealerships were the man in the middle supposedly negotiating for our lower prices?

But now that there are so many choices of cars anywhere you go, why do dealerships exist? Why should the price of my car subsidize salaries of some sales people?

Is it just something that has made money and jobs long enough to where people have enough lobbying power to keep it around?