However, does this take an important tool away from the consumer? I think it does. Price negotiation can save the consumer hundreds, and, in some cases, even thousands of dollars. I know the “give and take” can be a nerve racking experience. However, the consequences of allowing a dealer to set his own price and to rely on that price as the proper and fair price is kind of letting the rooster loose in the hen house so to speak. This is not to suggest that every dealer is unfair in their pricing and are asking way too much. Please be advised, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking the dealer to take less than what he is asking. The dealer expects this and prepares for it in his price structuring. Most of the time, playing “hardball” is worth it. It means more money in your pocket. It is hard for me to believe that a dealer will walk away from a sale if you ask for a discount. In all my years of experience, the dealer will make some concession to make you a customer.

You must do some research about the vehicle you are considering when you are negotiating. Arm yourself with knowledge about pricing by going to independent sites like Kelly Blue Book.com or Edmunds.com. These sites give you an idea of what a fair asking price is on almost every vehicle a dealer offers.

The main point here is, that doing away with bartering for a price, even though distasteful to some, does take away a useful tool from the consumer. Our suggestion here is to negotiate anyway. Even though a price is listed and you are led to believe it is set in stone, offer less or ask for more add ons. A great tactic, especially for women, is to state that the vehicle is just too expensive for your budget, and you can only afford to pay this much instead of what is listed. You may be misleading the dealer a bit, but he won’t make a deal unless it benefits his bottom line. If he lets you walk out at your offer, then you have crossed a line where he cannot make a profit. My suggestion here is to reassess your strategy and agree, albeit begrudgingly, to a price increase if you still want the vehicle.
Be wary of the “after sell”. By that, I mean expensive extended warranties or added accessories or service contracts that can make the dealer, in many cases, more money than the actual sale. These add ons may have some usefulness but you should try to negotiate them into the purchase price. Happy hunting from the Buyherepayherecarlots.net folks

Here are some factors that this “ap” doesn’t take into consideration.  One is the purchase fee charged at auctions. This fee includes guarantees that the vehicle purchased is free of salvage history, free of liens, and has no mileage discrepancies.  This fee is added on to the purchase price after the buy is made.  It insures that the paper trail of the vehicle is trouble free.

Another factor is the overhead of the car lot that is offering the vehicle for sale.  It does cost money to conduct business, and that is painfully obvious to everyone who pays a mortgage or rent or has to make payroll.  That clearly has to be included in the asking price of an auction purchase. Does this new “ap” include this?  I think  not.

Another consideration is the cost of rehabilitating the vehicle.  This can include mechanical and/or cosmetic repairs. Speaking from experience, almost every vehicle acquired from an auction needs some “tweaking” and this is an inevitability no matter how good you are a buying vehicles.  No matter how keen your eye may be, every vehicle needs something. Based on that reality the cost of the vehicle has to increase.

Therefore, this mobile ap can prove to be almost useless after taking into consideration these truths about auction vehicle acquisition costs.  The best way to insure that you are getting a good deal is not to be married to a certain formula where you submit a bunch of numbers and conditions and then a price pops out at you end the end.  Use your own judgement about the quality of the product and the reliability of the dealer

This is why we have launched a new website dedicated to answering all of these questions. We are proud and pleased to have developed BHPH Prices.

Why should I trust this site to provide accurate and trustworthy information may be your next question? The principles who have established this new site have over 60 years of combined experience in the automotive sales field. We have a working understanding of what fair pricing on the typical BHPH vehicle should be. We have painstakingly provided pricing on the huge inventory of typical BHPH vehicles. Our legwork gives the visitor easy access and accurate information about dealers in their particular area and what the visitor should expect to pay for the vehicle that they are considering. We also provide helpful tips for the BHPH consumer ranging from choosing a dealer to down payment requirements. Another important feature that our site affords, is a video review of many of the vehicles that the consumer encounters on the BHPH car lot. We have a working experience with many of these vehicles. We have purchased, sold, readied, repaired, and driven most of these vehicles. Consequently, when we give our opinion about them, it is born from an actual knowledge of that vehicle.

Please visit and take advantage of our wealth of knowledge. Please add your comments and contact us with questions and concerns. Good luck and happy hunting folks.

What made you want to start the website?
We wanted to make life slightly easier for dealers and consumers alike. We wanted to launch a site which would solve two issues.
1. Allow shoppers to search for their next vehicle by the most appropriate method; Down Payment & Monthly Payment
2. Provide local BHPH dealers with high quality leads from customers who are within their target area and already predisposed to their need for unique financing

Where/Are you in the BHPH yourself?
Prior to launching carlotfinance.com I had worked within advertising, supplying online and offline services to Car Dealers of all shapes and sizes. Over the course my career I have provided BHPH dealers with tens of thousands of enquiries and worked with them extensively to increase the quality of the leads which they are receiving. Although I have never completed a BHPH sale myself, I have been immersed in the industry for some time.

Carlotfinance.com is a good looking website, did you design it yourself?
Although I have some basic skills when it comes to website design, carlotfinance.com was outsourced to a company within the US that had great experience with complex databases. The handling of data feeds from our customers DMS was always a major consideration for me and the team which built the site were very active in seeking out the best contacts within the industry to ensure we were on the right track.

The site will undergo a number of small changes until the end of the year where version two will be launched. There are many advancements which we intend to make, however we wanted to gain the feedback from dealers and consumers before we made the final decision on how those changes would look.

The dealers who you’ve spoke/signed up, what have they said about carlotfinance.com? How many dealers have signed up?
Our customer numbers are growing every day at the moment. The reaction from dealers has been very positive so far and we are keen to grow the number of dealers we have on the site, with the traffic numbers we are generating. We are a new venture and although we are using many online and offline advertising mediums to attract high quality traffic, we do not want to run out and sign 80 BHPH dealers up and then fail to deliver the appropriate number of inquiries to them.

We understand the value of phone calls, online applications and transferring traffic from our website to our customers and track every aspect of these ‘touches.’ The feedback we are getting is very encouraging just now in regard to the quality of the traffic that we are generating. Our dealers are pleased not to be receiving calls asking what ‘the best price they will do’ is on a particular vehicle.

Coming from a consumer standpoint, how would they use carlotfinance.com? Please name the benefits of using carlotfinance.com over other classifieds websites.
From my time with the largest automotive classifieds company in the US, I was able to listen to thousands and thousands of phone calls which were being generated for BHPH dealers. A good 70+% of those calls always included two questions:
1. How much do you want down on that car?
2. How much is that car per month?
From this it was obvious that although the vehicle that the customer was driving was important to them, the payment side was the main buying factor. Carlotfinance.com has Patent Pending on the ability to search for a product of service by Down Payment or Monthly Payment.
Consumers know that every dealer on our website works with credit challenged customers and that there is a very high probability that they will be successful in obtaining a vehicle.

Carlotfinance.com offers a level playing field for the small to medium sized independent used car dealership. There is no way to pay extra to buy your way to the front of the search results and we feel that is the correct approach, delivering results that the consumers are truly interested in. We are reinvesting that advertising Dollars of these dealers to purchase a larger and larger market share in their local area. It could almost be viewed as using ‘Co-Op’ dollars to speak to their audience on their behalf.

What do you think about the state of the BHPH industry? Govt. oversight is becoming a problem for dealers. Give us your thoughts on this subject matter.
Although the industry is facing an uncertain future I have no doubt that the need to service this sector of the market will continue. The changes that I have witnessed within the market place over the last 6-7 years has been quite marked with dealers adapting to different market demands. With this flexibility in mind I am under no illusion that our industry has the ability to shift its focus to keep within whatever legislation which is imposed. As long as there is a need, a profitable solution will be found.

Where do you see the BHPH industry 10-15 years from now?
From what I can see the next two years are going to be key in shaping the future of the industry. I have run into hundreds of BHPH dealers over the years and worked with the most reputable, to the downright dirty. Needless to say, every successful business person who occupies this space is keeping a close eye on the regulations which are likely to come to fruition over the forthcoming years and are planning for these changes as well as they can. Sub-prime financing isn’t going to go away, however the method in which it is delivered will undoubtedly change.

CarLotFinance.com
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest

This interview was conducted by Shane McC. Shane currently is attending RISD studying computer programming. He enjoys traveling and plays hockey. He played for the Boston Junior Bruins of the EJHL during the 01-02 season. You can follow him on Google+

As a your BHPH guru, it’s our job to report on recent trends in the industry. One of these trends is the entry of the new car dealer into the BHPH business. This development has its upside and its downside for the consumer. The obvious upside is that it affords more vehicles to be included in your local inventory. It gives more choice. Many dealers are challenged to keep their doors open, and they are constantly looking to add a new revenue stream to their bottom line. A BHPH sales department seems to be the answer for some. Many trade-ins that would normally be auctioned off to other smaller dealers are now finding their way back onto lots and offered for re-sale, particularly to BHPH customers. An advantage to the BHPH consumer is that the new car dealer is oftentimes better equipped at refurbishing these vehicles and maintaining them after the sale. Many have extensive on site service, reconditioning, and parts departments to accomplish the task of readying these trades for sale. Many dealers also have on-site body shops to smooth out some of the rough spots on these trades. New car dealers also have trained on-site technicians and all of the latest diagnostic equipment at their disposal to handle service issues.
Therefore, everything seems to be in place for a better buying experience for the BHPH customer. Correct? Not so fast folks. There are a few downsides to this recent trend. Not the least of which is a very important ingredient in any sale. i.e., the cost of acquisition. While a larger new car dealer may have many more resources at his disposal, these all come with a cost. We have noticed that these new car houses are more expensive than your smaller BHPH dealer. The reason is simple, their overhead is much higher than your local dealer. Therefore they are more demanding when it comes to qualifying as a BHPH customer. To many prospective BHPH customers, a very important issue manifests itself when dealing with the new car dealer. This issue is the amount of down payment required to secure your purchase. Many of these dealers dismiss the small down payment and mandate a higher down payment. This can be quite challenging for some out there. Your local guy is better equipped to take less of an initial money outlay, and are more likely to understand if you have a challenging period of time and you become delinquent. Larger guys are a lot less tolerant of lapses in payment. They are run by bean counters who are paid to be only concerned about the bottom line.

Therefore, our suggestion here is to do your homework and weigh your options. Then trust your instincts to do what is best for you and your family.

This article was written by Brian McCormick of Providence, Rhode Island. Brian is a BHPH expert and has been involved in the used car and BHPH industry for over 40 years. He enjoys his family and his favorite sports team, The Boston Red Sox. He Graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1970. Follow him on Google+

The BHPH business model has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 5 years. I have been in the automotive sales business for over 43 years, and, what used to be a mom and pop approach to used car acquisition, has developed into a full-fledged industry. Years ago, “paying as you go” was an avenue for the consumer and the small dealer to strike a deal. It was mutually beneficial because the customer would get much needed transportation, and the dealer would sell a vehicle, almost always for a little more money than usual. However, both parties understood this and accepted each other. The deal became personal . The transaction was done by handshake and with a sense of mutual trust and respect. While this method of vehicle acquisition is basically the same in today’s transactions, the handshake and the respect seems to have been removed from the equation. The “mom and pop” aspect is disappearing, much like the land line phone and the daily newspaper has in recent years.

The business has morphed into an industry. It has become a multi-billion dollar business. This means larger dealers with less personal contact. It also means more state, local, and federal regulation. It means tracking devices that disable a vehicle when a payment is missed. It means very little leeway in loan qualification. Oftentimes, a team “bean counters” determine your ability to repay and set a series of standards that do not allow for personal experiences to be involved in the decision making process.

It’s quite difficult for an old timer like me to conclude that this is a better way to conduct business. This perfunctory process of vehicle acquisition is much like being phone prompted from one set of recordings to the next. It is frustrating and disappointing.

Our suggestion here at BuyHerePayHereCarLots.net is to do business with that small guy who has as much motivation to get the deal done as you do. Seek out local car lots that have been in business for a while. Speak with the owner and manager of the business. Get to know your dealer. Stop in on occasion to make your payments. Odds are that he shares some of the same concerns and frustrations that you do when dealing with the nameless faceless voiceless businesses that we all encounter in our daily lives.

Happy hunting from the staff at BuyHerePayHereCarLots.net

The softened auto buying enthusiasm could also be from the fact that the average return is lower, so there is less to go around. Lower returns are a reflection of the massive unemployment we continue to be dogged by. Sadly, there seems to be no end in sight for this particular economic woe. Unemployment continues to be a stubborn roadblock preventing the upswing that is dearly needed by our nation. Public employees are the only group that seems to be thriving. we all realize, or should realize, that growth in the public sector is outright unsustainable. Public employees do not create wealth; they pirate it away, but I digress, my apologies for that.

Artificial stimulus to the auto industry provided a temporary boost. The biggest shot in the arm came in the form of the government sponsored “cash for clunkers” program, and the government aided bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler. However, these programs are over. Now, the only tried and true way of sustainability must prevail, i.e. the good old fashion capitalistic supply and demand model. You know, the economic model that has built the world’s most successful nation in its history. It’s sink or swim time now folks. So let government stay away and let entrepreneurs take over. Let American reward and incentive take over and see where it takes this industry. It always worked before,let’s see if we can rid ourselves of the unsustainable government temporary fix, and unleash American ingenuity and know how.

We see no end to the need for the creative ways to finance automobiles that the bhph dealer community has developed. These dealers represent what this nation was founded upon, i.e. free market based economy where a need is filled by creative individuals who seek profit.

However, we have also noticed a disturbing trend rearing its ugly head. We see government incursion into the business of bhph as the biggest threat to the growth of this promising business model. Whenever government seeks to “help” by regulating it almost invariably mucks up the works, complicates, and ultimately raises costs.

Recent legislation coming out of California, of course, has given us cause for concern here. The state has passed legislation limiting bhph dealers about pricing and financing and warranties. This is leading to increased hassle to the dealer, and, subsequently, increased cost to the consumer. We are concerned that this legislation will sweep the nation and burden bhph dealers throughout the country. This will only lead to higher prices and less availability of money to needy consumers trying to fight their way back from economic catastrophe.

We do not want our beloved industry to be threatened by bureaucrats who have no experience or knowledge about our business. Who have, often times, been appointed to be overseers as political pay back for support during an election.These people have no “skin” in the game. They exist just to justify their position. You know, the typical government employee who sees his job as a burden and counts the days until retirement. He is mad at the world and honest hard working creators suffer for it. You know the type.

I hope in 2013 our business will be left to flourish and expand on its own with its own policing. The market is the best determiner of whether a business fails or not. Not a capricious government that always seems to force its way into people’s lives under the pretense of protecting you from yourself. As Ronald Reagan once said and I’m paraphrasing , If a person comes to your door saying he is from the government and wants to help you better run.