The days of rolling up to the nearest car dealership and spending the afternoon haggling are long gone. If you haven’t bought a car in a while, you might not know about the latest advancements in car shopping:
Dealerships show available new and used inventory online, and you can input your contact information to ask a question about the vehicle or express your interest. Most dealerships will try calling you as soon as you submit your request, even if you check that you prefer to be contacted by email. Once you’re connected to a sales associate, the ball is in your court to negotiate pricing—and you don’t even need to have a conversation out loud.
These newer methods are useful if you get anxious negotiating or working with sales associates. You can plan your next question or statement carefully and you won’t feel pressured into making a decision.
Go quiet for a few days and wait for the associate to follow up. Their next text message or email might offer the deal you’re looking for. You’ll still have to visit the dealership to do that mountain of paperwork and get payment settled, but you’ll save all that negotiation time and skip the sweaty palms.