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I hope someone responds to your post. I'm going to be in the market for a used car pretty soon and wouldn't mind tips on getting the price I want. Does anyone know if dealerships are willing to negotiate much when it comes to used cars?

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Step one: Either get really lucky as far as timing, or go in the very last day of their sales period.

Step two: Find a guy that's just shy of his quota. (Some places keep boards up with names and stats, consider checking it.)

Step three: Have a set price that you, under NO circumstance will go below.

Step four: Enjoy your new cheap car.

When I was in the market for a car last, I really wanted a Focus. I'd looked at a few and knew about how much they were worth. I went to this local Ford lot and saw a really nice one, it was 2 years newer than I thought. It was priced at around $12k.

After a little amount of talk, the salesman was down to the blue book value (I later found out) of a touch over $10k. However, thinking that car was 2 years older, I was thinking it was worth $2k less than what he was offering. I felt like I was getting scammed and played the part well, mostly because I thought I was right, which I wasn't.

However, as the day neared an end, and it became increasingly apparent to the sales guy that he'd make no money for his time, nor make his quota, if he didn't sell me the car for exactly what I wanted it for, he went and talked to the manager fellow. (He did this a few times, always coming back with "Nope, can't go that low". Which, of course, means he talked to no one. I've been in sales, I know that trick.) After about 10 minutes, he came back pleased, and let me know he could do it for $8k.

I ended up not buying the car, mostly because I was broke and had a low paying job at the time, but I did take from that experience that you can get whatever you want if the timing is right, and you're a big enough prick.