Haggling general

>not selling the car at all in the end

>getting fucked because you don't have patience

>Acting like an emotionless robot and smuggly instructing the seller what he should do

Yeah no. And considering this is a car enthusiast board we are buying car enthusiast cars. Emotionless is good at a dealer but for a private seller some emotion and showing you want it would make the seller flexible.

Haggling is super-easy, but you have to be willing to walk away from a good deal.

Owner or salesman, makes no difference.

Give them the impression that you were excited to see the car, but now that you're looking at it.. meh.

He's selling it for $10,000 be reasonable, but kind of aggressive. "Look, I don't think this is worth 10K, but I'll take it for 8."

If he says no, walk.

If he says "hey wait, can you do 9?" alright, you can talk.. you can either make a counter-offer or try and stick to your guns. Either way, the guy's got to know he's right on the brink of loosing the sale.

If he doesn't throw a counter-offer at you keep walking. His loss, not yours.

It's easier said than done if you really want the car. Just pretend you're playing poker. Straight face, be direct, don't act friendly, keep him under the impression you'll walk away at any second.

Also remember, it doesn't always work. If he's got the only MR2 or 240sx in town and lots of people are calling him, he'll tell you to go pound sand if you try and low-ball him.

Do coke with him first

Car dealers love coke

Check out how dirty the car is on the lot, generally a good indicator at how long it's been sitting. It's worth it to haggle with these, but new shiney cars are the ones that tend to get sold very quickly, and you're generally wasting your time haggling.

Also, keep in mind, you generally have to have a good position in the first place to haggle. Like, you're going to pay cash, or you have really good credit or something.

You're not going to accomplish anything walking in trying to haggle with a 200 credit score, and no down payment available.

You know, reading this thread, and your reply made me have a thunk.

Why is it when buy a car, you're supposed to have a price point in mind, and if the seller won't sell to you for whichever whichever price that is, just walk away. You'll find a better deal eventually. Why would you buy a car for more than you're willing to pay?
However, when you're selling a car, you're supposed to negotiate and ultimately sell it for a lower price that the buyer suggests. Why would you sell a car for a lower price than you're willing to get? Why not wait for someone willing to pay your price?

Now, I can understand there are special circumstances. Maybe you really want this car, and are willing to pay a little extra for it. Maybe you really need to sell this car, and are willing to lose out a bit just to get something for it right away.

Know what price you want to pay for the car, after factoring in how much it's worth and what you can knock off for any faults it has.

Make an offer slightly below your internal "final price" and see how the seller reacts. If they're not willing to negotiate then just walk away.

Remember this: there's more pressure on the seller than you the buyer, you can just walk away and find a similar car, but they have to decide if they'll sell you the car or wait for someone to give a better offer, which is usually very unlikely. More often than not people will offer $2500 for a car listed at $5000

And make sure you haggle after you've checked the car out, don't do it on the phone before you've even seen the car.

Walked away yesterday on a $500 dollar diffrence. Dealer didnt budge a single cent from asking price. When i mentioned the warped rotors, frayed flex pipe, and some rust underneath, he just said "oh idk, im not a mechanic".

That's because people who sell cars for a living are giant faggots. Private party is win-win for the consumer. Seller gets more than trade in and buyer gets a better deal than dealer rip off pricing.