Random Questions to Ask at a Car Dealership (12 items)

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  (#1) What's My Total Cost, Including Financing?

  The sad fact these days is that dealers and automakers make the majority of their money financing cars, not selling them. That is, charging interest on the payments. Interest payments can increase the cost of a car by a third or more, and can double the price of the car at many small "buy-here-pay-here" lots. Make no mistake, these people are loan sharks with collateral, not car dealers with financing. Find out what you're really paying after all the financing costs. 
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  (#2) What's My Out-the-Door Price?

  Dealers typically tack on loads of taxes, fees, and charges to turn a profit. Some of them are legit and inevitable, like documentation fees, registration, and tax. The rest are there to bump up the dealer's bottom-line profits. Just skip the BS and ask them about your out-the-door price. If you want to negotiate down from that, let them figure out which charge to reduce. 
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  (#3) What Aftermarket/Dealer Parts Are on the Car?

  Would you drive to Pep Boys and shell out $200 for a pair of mud flaps and stick-on fish-eye mirrors? Of course not. But would you notice if your dealer were charging $45,750 instead of $45,550? Dealers have a longstanding habit of "doing things" with cars - adding "custom" dealer touches and then charging customers ten times what they're worth. Ask about aftermarket alarms, tinted windows, or the "paint protection package" (aka "silicone wax"), and compare those charges to the market value of those add-ons. 
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  (#4) Can You Give Me Your Card?

  Never, ever buy a car on your first trip to the dealer lot. Car dealers specialize in high-pressure sales, and don't profit when you think too much about it. But think about it you must, especially when you've got the cold, hard figures in hand. Sleep on it. Give yourself some time to cool down and think when you don't have a professional salesperson verbally doing your thinking for you. Buying with your heart is fine... you're paying many thousands of dollars to get what you want, and your heart should be happy about it. Just don't send your brain on vacation in the process. 
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  (#5) Show Me the Carfax

  Yeah, it's an advertising tagline, but no dealer who isn't trying to scam you will have a problem with showing you the vehicle history. And it's important. After Hurricane Katrina alone, hundreds of thousands of flood-damaged cars went to auction, only to be cosmetically restored and sold again as "dealer certified" automobiles. But electrical and chassis damage from saltwater rendered almost every one of them a ticking time bomb of failure. Don't take for granted that your car isn't a refurbished wreck, or even reported stolen from another state. If nothing else, having the Carfax in hand may help to put liability for that sort of thing back on the dealer. 
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  (#6) Can I Take It Home for a Test Drive?

  Different dealerships have different policies on test drives, but as a general rule, if you're a serious buyer spending big money on a car from a reputable dealer, they're more likely to let you take the car on an extended test drive. Ideally, you'd want to keep the car overnight, and drive it at least a 50 miles before deciding to buy. Anyone who expects you to be cool with dropping $50K on a car you've only driven for 15 minutes may have something to hide.  
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  (#7) Is It on the Lot?

  Here's a common scenario: you find the car of your dreams on a dealer lot, but you'd really prefer it black instead of green. Or maybe you want the 410-horsepower V-8, and not the 360-horse engine. Dealer says, "no problem, I can get it for you." Dealers trade cars back and forth like kids trade Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and this might be completely legit. But bear in mind the terms of the deal may change, since the black car might have options or add-ons you're not willing to pay for, and you'll probably get charged an extra delivery fee for it. 
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  (#8) Can I See the Inspection Certification?

  A "certified" used car is just a used car that has been inspected, repaired, and restored to near-new condition. That's fine, and manufacturer certified used cars can be great deals. But a dealer certified car can be a wreck purchased from an auction, put together with junkyard parts, and "certified" by the dealer on the basis of... whatever. Ask to see the inspection and repair work orders so you know what was done to the car beforehand. 
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  (#9) What's the Cash Price?

  This is a separate question from asking about the total financing costs, since it can be very revealing about the extra charges you're getting hit with. Some dealers will tell you flat out they won't sell the car for cash. If you hear that, run. These dealers are buy-here-pay-here loan sharks, and will ream you on interest and unexpected charges. 
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  (#10) Can You Catch Up on the Service?

  If you're looking at a used car with 100,000 miles on the odometer, odds are pretty good that it's got an expensive service coming up soon - could be spark plugs, a timing belt, a full fluid replacement, transmission filter change, almost anything. When you go home to think about your purchase (which you should), go online and look up the manufacturer service schedule. If the car is coming up on a big service interval, have the dealer perform it as a condition of sale. 
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  (#11) How Many Times Has This Car Been Repossessed?

  Why should this matter to you? Sure, the number of prior owners matters, but why repos? This can tell you a lot about the dealer, particularly if it's a buy-here-pay-here lot. These lots make money by charging people interest, letting them keep the car as long as possible, lulling the customer into a false sense of security, and then repossessing it in the last two months if the customer is one day late with payment. If the dealer tells you they've repo'd the same car seven times, then run for your life, and check to make sure you've still got your wallet. 
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  (#12) Tip: Don't Trade In

  Okay, this isn't a "question" per se, but it is good advice. Putting your car up as a trade-in is just throwing money in the trash, for no other reason than you don't want to bother selling it yourself. If you're willing to give up thousands and thousands of dollars for the sake of simple convenience, then good on you, Mr. Trump. But those of us who live in the real world should just not be okay with handing over that kind of money for nothing. Plan ahead, have a little bit of patience, and sell your current car yourself. Don't get caught in this scam of convenience. 

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