Auto Broker: To Hire or Not to Hire?
Buying a new car but have no time, experience or interest in dealing with car dealerships? An auto broker may be the best way to get the best car deals, hassle-free and promptly. You’ve heard that before. But is it true?
Auto brokers promise to eliminate the dealership-hopping you’d have to go through to find the best bargain. They have the expertise needed to get the best deals on those hard-to-get cars you might be looking for. The procedure is fairly simple. You tell them the new car you want and within a few days they get quotes from multiple car dealerships and present you with the best options. All of this, of course, for a fee.
On the Bright Side
A major advantage of auto brokers is that they don’t restrict their work to one particular area. A professional will perform nationwide searches for your new car.
Auto brokers may also purchase vehicles in high volumes, so they’re able to get wholesale prices from car dealerships. Others may do business directly with fleet departments, giving them the edge in negotiating better deals. If you have a trade-in, a broker can also get a fair value for it. Although, it’s likely it won’t be higher than wholesale.
The price of broker services is usually a flat fee between $100 and $1,400, depending on the new car you want. You’ll not only be paying for the time you’ll save and your piece of mind, but also for the better deals that you might not have been able to get if you had done it yourself. It’s not uncommon to hear of satisfied consumers that save a few hundred bucks on the original quoted price of a car by hiring a car broker.
Reality Check
However, auto brokers aren’t always the heroes they make themselves out to be. Critics point out the following problems (and opinions):
- Brokers aren’t effective because they must be compensated.
- You won’t get the price you’ve been promised. Instead, you’ll get something close to a normal retail price. You might be able to attain the deal on your own.
- You have to choose a car first, rather than look for deals on multiple models.
In every industry, some businesses are more straightforward than others. Just a few precautions can ensure your broker is trustworthy.
Tips
- Get word-of-mouth references if you can.
- Find out if the broker is compensated by dealers in any way. If he/she is, we recommend finding another.
- Make sure your broker is licensed and bonded.
- Pay nothing in advance. Only pay once the service is complete.
- Get quotes online. Know if your deal is really a deal.
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