Do car dealers prefer loan or cash?
Take Out A Loan Instead
It's all about how dealerships can make the most money. Through financing, dealerships make money through interest on loans, making sales people encourage this option the most.
Although paying cash helps you save money, you'll miss out on an opportunity to build credit. Making consistent, on-time payments on an auto loan can be helpful in improving your credit score. You can't take advantage of dealer incentives. Dealers commonly offer incentives to finance a vehicle through them.
A cash buyer for a new car will almost always have room to negotiate, even when dealing with a salesperson at a dealership. If you are doing a trade-in and want to get a deal on your next car, paying cash can be great leverage for making that happen.
- 'I love this car! ' ...
- 'I've got to have a monthly payment of $350. ' ...
- 'My lease is up next week. ' ...
- 'I want $10,000 for my trade-in, and I won't take a penny less. ' ...
- 'I've been looking all over for this color. '
Reduced Opportunities. When you take cash out of your accounts to purchase a car, you reduce your potential investment opportunities in stocks, mutual funds, etc. A loan might make more sense to save your cash for investments. Remember that a new car's value depreciates as soon as you buy it.
You may have a limited selection: If you stick to your cash budget, some models will likely be out of your price range. You may not be able to access some dealership incentives: Many dealers offer rebates and other incentives, but often only if you finance your vehicle.
Paying cash may hinder your chances of getting the best deal
(If only all of us should be so lucky to have that kind of coin lying around.) If you do intend to pay cash, Bill tells us that's something you may not want to say right up front.
The main difference will be how much you can negotiate off the retail price: New cars. It is considered reasonable to start by asking for 5% off the invoice price of a new car and negotiate from there. Depending on how the negotiation goes, you should end up paying between the invoice price and the sticker price.
You'll save money.
If you forgo getting a loan or financing, you'll also miss out on paying loan fees and interest charges for the duration of the loan term. With the average interest rate for cars[1] being around 5.27% for 60 months, that is money that can add up to big amounts pretty quickly.
Why dealers don't take cash?
Car dealerships prefer customers who finance their purchases based on the profit they receive as part of the deal. While lenders may absorb much of the profit earned in financing borrowers, many dealerships earn a commission for arranging financing.
Paying for a car with cash can sometimes give you the upper hand in a negotiation, but it isn't always the case. If a dealer knows you're paying in cash, they might decide to charge you more. Some dealers would rather have you finance the car so they can make commission profits on the loan.
Can you ask a car dealer to lower the price? Yes, you can negotiate on the price of a car. However, it helps to do your research on the vehicle's fair market value and out-the-door price beforehand so that you know how much room you have to haggle.
Best Days To Buy a Car
“Mondays and Tuesdays tend to be less busy, as many people are occupied with work and other weekday commitments. By visiting the dealership on these days, you're more likely to receive prompt attention from salespeople and have more negotiating power.
Re: Can you beat car dealers at their own game? The only meaningful way to "beat" car dealers is to keep your purchase price down. Any options, upgrades, higher trim would mean a lot of $ go out of your pocket. Maybe you can make a compromise to select the middle level trim, but don't go for the top trim level.
Paying cash for your car may be your best option if the interest rate you earn on your savings is lower than the after-tax cost of borrowing. However, keep in mind that while you do free up your monthly budget by eliminating a car payment, you may also have depleted your emergency savings to do so.
Negotiate the Final Price
Just make sure to back up your offer with compelling facts. For example, if you want to offer $5,000 less than the vehicle's MSRP, come prepared with information indicating that the vehicle's fair market value is slightly lower than what the seller is charging.
A car may lose 20 percent of its value in the first year. If you have a high interest rate, you could owe more than your car is worth — what's called being upside-down on your loan. Being upside-down on a car loan is a bad situation.
The only way it makes sense to pay for a vehicle outright in cash is if you have plenty on-hand. And while that seems obvious, you don't want to completely deplete your emergency fund. You should ideally be able to make the cash purchase and still have plenty leftover.
Law enforcement seeks to trace where the money came from, as well as where it is going. In addition, tax authorities have an interest as well. So, buying a vehicle and paying cash arguably could be a step in “disguising” ill-gotten funds. Let's then turn to your second, related question below.
Is it suspicious to buy a car with cash?
Cash is Easily Stolen
Dealerships know this, and in addition to the need to avoid accepting stolen cash as payment, they don't want to have a large pile of paper currency just sitting around. This could make them a target for theft, forcing them to have a higher level of security to keep the cash safe.
"I Have a Trade-In"
Telling a salesperson upfront that you have a trade-in adds another ingredient to the car-buying stew they'll cook up for you. The more numbers you have in the game, the more chances they have to manipulate the final price or monthly payment.
A down payment helps many lenders remove some of the upfront risk associated with a car loan. So if you decide to buy a car with no money down, realize you may have to pay a higher interest rate throughout your loan. It can also mean you may pay more for your loan over time due to those higher rates.
Instead, politely say you would like to discuss the price of the car, including all fees and taxes. You want to know the "drive-away" or "out-the-door" cost of the vehicle they're willing to give you, not the MSRP, or sticker price.
December is the cheapest month to buy a car because that's when car dealerships are clearing their inventory to make room for next year. It's also when car salespeople are competing to meet their yearly, quarterly and monthly quotas.
