CEDAR PARK, Texas — Former auto dealer Lisa Copeland has released “Car Buying, Her Way: The Fierce Girl’s Roadmap to The Car of Your Dreams.” Copeland earned numerous accolades in her 25-year-plus career at the retail level, including Fiat Chrysler’s Walter P. Chrysler Award for sales and service excellence, inclusion in the Top 100 Women in the Automotive Industry, and membership on the board of directors for Women in Automotive.
Among the tips included in the book are:
• Beware of pre-closing questions: “Salespeople are trained to ask you pre-closing questions to help you visualize yourself owning the car before you really do. Watch out for questions like, ‘Can you see yourself driving this car?’ ‘Does this car work for you?’ and ‘How does this car make you feel?’ … Similarly, the salesperson might ask you what your favorite kind of music is, and then bring the car around with that music playing.”
• Leave your emotions at home: “When you’re out driving around with the salesperson, try not to show any emotion. You’re there to act as the hunter. If you start saying, ‘Oh my God, I love this car!’ you become the hunted. This is a business deal; treat it accordingly. First you buy the car, then you can tell everybody how much you love it.”
• Bigger isn’t always better: “So many people have fallen into the trap of pulling into a big, beautiful, shiny dealership and assuming that they are reputable simply because they have a recognizable brand name or sit on the side of a major highway. Nothing could be further from the truth. Smaller dealerships know that customer loyalty is incredibly important to the long-term sustainability and growth of a dealership, and the best dealerships work hard to earn and keep their customers’ loyalty.”
• Avoid one-price dealerships: “The biggest problem for consumers who purchase at one-price dealerships is that the dealerships attempt to convey ‘transparency,’ but in actuality they are making their money somewhere. Your best shot at the greatest savings comes with your ability to negate the price of the car. Many car shoppers assume that if the dealer is upfront in terms of the price of the car, they will also be upfront about other aspects, and this simply isn’t true.”
• Be careful when negotiating: “Always negotiate everything separately. Dealers love to combine your trade-in with the price of a new car and payment. This creates price confusion and it makes it hard to compare deals. The same goes for financing or add-ons such as extended warranties. Shop around for the best deals and never negotiate based on monthly payments or down payment. Furthermore, if you want the best deal, don’t waste your time negotiating face-to-face. Gather prices via email through the internet sales team before you come to the dealership.”
“For more than 30 years, Lisa Copeland was known across the automotive industry as a leading sales expert and dealership principal who could move inventory off the lot,” a statement accompanying the release reads, in part. “Now, in a rather ironic twist, the former auto executive is giving consumers the upper hand, specifically women, sharing all of her car-buying secrets in her new book.”
