An article that appeared in the Chicago Defender yesterday makes the same point that I have been making here on this site regarding how ignorance plays a key role in large purchases by many Blacks.
Don Houston has seen it too many times: smiling customers thinking they’ve gotten the best auto purchase deals, when all they really ended up with is the shaft.
Houston, 44, spent more than 15 years in sales and financing departments of various auto dealerships in Chicago. He said the unfortunate truth is most car buyers he saw get taken advantage of were African Americans.
“I think to some degree it is a difference in the way that African Americans customers are dealt with, but I also think it’s a combination of that and the fact that African Americans aren’t as educated as they should be about purchasing a vehicle,” Houston said. “Dealerships are about making money, (emphasis added) and if a customer is shopping for a car and doesn’t come in equipped with certain knowledge, the salesman is not going to tell you what you don’t know sometimes.”
In an effort to make Black consumers smarter auto buyers, Houston created www.ineedcarman.com, a website filled with helpful tips and answers to common questions that can make African Americans smarter car buyers.
One big mistake many Black vehicle buyers make every time they walk into a dealership is buy too soon.
“Blacks buy cars at a much more rapid pace,” Houston said. “And a lot of times we act simply on impulse. We just go and see a car we like and we buy it. We worry about the price, interest and actual cost after we sign on the dotted line. (more…)
As a general rule of thumb, ANYTIME I am about to make a large purchase, I always search out websites/blogs/e-boards that feature owners of the product that I want to buy. When we lost our car last year to an accident, it actually placed us in a good situation because not only was everybody safe, but the other driver’s insurance paid off our car with change. I had a very limited time to decide what I wanted (because we had just purchased a car for my wife) and did not want salesmen to decide for me. As much as I liked Toyota, I HATE the dealership nearby because the moment you walk on the lot, you get swamped with salesmen who oftentimes just started last week. I don’t know weather to laugh or feel offended when one of these salesmen (the White, Asian, and Middle Eastern ones) try to talk like they are from the ‘hood when trying to sell me a car. What I have noticed anytime I am paired up with one of these characters is that they tend to talk way too much about things like the radio, wheels and how fast it can go. When I asked about the other technical specs–”Let me ask my manager about that.”
The central issue here is that these operation exist for one thing only: to make money. Despite what the race hustlers would suggest, you are not owed by them to train you on what questions to ask.
I could go on and on with this particular topic, but the one thing I would suggest if you are thinking about purchasing a car is to make sure you have YOU OWN FINANCING BEFORE YOU GO TO ANY DEALERSHIP. If they can beat the rate and terms of your financing company, then go with them. Having your own financing IMO is a bargaining chip worth having at the table.
And please, don’t tell them the full amount that you are approved for by your financing company. 
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