Car Buyer's and Leaser's Negotiating Bible by W. James Bragg

Introduction

1. Everybody's Problem: An Uneven Playing Field

The problem we all face in the negotiation process. The objective: to make you more knowledgeable than the car salesman.

2. The Other Problem: Price Discrimination

The evidence that women and minorities are charged more. The most probable explanation for it. The light at the end of the tunnel.

3. The Big Picture

How an overview of the current sales and inventory picture for the car you want can enhance your bargaining position.

4. Attitude Adjustment

The attitudes you must adopt to shop and negotiate successfully: Psychology 101, Anatomy 101, and Reality 101.

5. The Juggler

The three areas where car stores make profits on the transaction. How the car salesman works to prevent you from focusing on them individually.

6. If You Haven't Got a Plan, You Haven't Got a Prayer

The 80/20 Rule of Life. How most people buy cars. How smart shoppers avoid the sad fate of most people.

7. Divide and Conquer

The reason most people get too little for their trade-in. How to avoid leaving $1,000 to $2,000 on the dealer's table.

8. The Wholesale Truth, and Nothing But

How to learn what your car is really worth to the dealer. (That number is not in any book.)

9. Who Needs a Middleman?

How to get top dollar by selling your used car yourself.

10. Auto Financing 101

Expand your financing options so that you can evaluate whether the dealer's financing is an attractive alternative.

11. Right Brain, Left Brain

How to use crash test data to identify cars that are structurally sounder and inherently safer than others.

12. The Fine Art of Shopping Without Buying

How to get through the test-driving phase without getting stuck in a negotiating session before you're ready.

13. Saturn: A Different Kind of Deal

GM's Saturn subsidiary may make a great little car; but here's why they won't make you a great deal.

14. "No Dicker" Dealers and the Retail Revolution: Oasis or Mirage?

Dealers adopting a no-negotiation price strategy: Why there's less in it for the buyer than you might like. And why "no-dicker" pricing is unlikely to become standard industry practice.

15. Learn the Cost or Pay the Price

Uncovering the real dealer cost of the vehicle you want to buy, using dealer invoice pricing, factory-to-dealer incentives-plus an element affecting over nine out of ten vehicles sold that nobody talks about.

16. Timing is Money

How to time your purchase to maximize your savings.

17. The Games Salesmen Play

Learning the tricks salesmen use to try to control the negotiating session-and the appropriate responses to neutralize them.

18. Back-End Options: Just Say No

How to avoid buying things you don't need: "the Mop'n Glo" and other expensive add-ons they'll try to sell you.

19. Are Extended Warranties Warranted?

How to determine whether you should buy an extended warranty contract and how to shop smart for the coverage you need at the lowest price.

20. Picking Your Dealer Finalists

How to choose the dealers you'll negotiate with. Why price is no longer the only criterion.

21. Showtime!

How to negotiate the deal: what to do and say, and when to do and say it. Finalizing the deal without unpleasant last-minute surprises.

22. The Leasing Alternative: Breaking the Language Barrier

The basics of leasing demystified. Determining whether leasing makes sense for you. How to negotiate a favorable lease without letting the salesman use the "boomfog" of leasing terminology to juggle you into a high-profit deal. How to do the arithmetic to check the monthly payment figure they're trying to sell you.

23. There Must Be an Easier Way!

Other ways to accomplish the same objective, from doing it yourself by phone or fax to hiring a stand-in. Why auto brokers and Internet car-buying services may not be the best answer.

24. Resisting the Final Temptation

The pre-ownership inspection. All the things to go over while they still own the car, before you give them the final check and sign the delivery receipt.

25. Call 1-800-288-1134

How to get-directly from Fighting Chance, quickly and easily-the specific information package you need to negotiate from a position of strength for the vehicle you want: the most recent dealer invoice pricing, details of manufacturer incentives in effect (including factory-to-dealer cash programs), and an updated overview of how the vehicle is doing in the marketplace, including a feel for actual transaction prices among knowledgeable shoppers.

26. The Used-Car Alternative

The economic argument for buying or leasing a late-model used car instead of a new one. How to identify and find the most desirable previously owned vehicles. The growing importance of "factory-certified" used cars.

27. The Executive Summary

A brief reminder of the major points covered in the book, with referrals to the relevant chapters.