Payment info needed before price negotiation?

[RestlessRVer]

I ran into an unusual situation while trying to buy my second motor home and was wondering if anyone else has encountered this.

The dealership that has the particular model motor home I want to buy is requiring my credit card information before price negotiations can begin. Is this a normal requirement to negotiate final selling price or something I should be suspicious of?

Thank you for your help.

[Dtank]

PackerBacker wrote:
Definitely not the norm. I suspect the salesman wanted to understand how committed you were before doing a bunch of work and then perhaps going elsewhere.

I would just walk away or perhaps place a phone call to whoever is the top person at the dealership, i.e. the owner, and see if there is another perspective.

Good advice!

Is the dealer and/or salesperson's name "Bad Karma"??..:(

IMO - Run Forest Run - find a different dealer sooner than ASAP....
'cause someone is taking you for A "SAP"..:R

.

[C-Bears]

Don't totally trust any RV dealer just because they have a lot with some RV's sitting on it. In my career I had knowledge of a "gentlemen" that came to Florida from Wisconsin and opened up a small RV dealership. He sold high end Class A motorhomes. He stayed in business about 3 years and when he was finally arrested/prosecuted they figured he had ripped off about 2 million dollars. The only thing he had to do was take orders, along with some down payments, never order the expensive Class A, and keep putting the customer off.

[valhalla360]

JALLEN4 wrote:
I spent the majority of my adult life practically living in vehicle showrooms of various kinds all over the country. Unfortunately, I never actually got to see some of the tactics related as "Old Wives Tales" on this and many other forums.

Any salesman in today's world who honestly would attempt to commandeer a credit card or a set of trade-in keys in order to keep a customer against his will, better look a lot like Hulk Hogan. He is bound to get a beat-down or worse in his first week.

Did you spend those years with blinders and ear muffs on?

The salesman doesn't commandeer a credit card. They get you to approve a deposit with talk of a better deal. They don't refuse to refund the money. They keep finding excuses for why it will take "just a little longer". (similar situation with the trade in put in the back lot, you will get it back but something will keep coming up)

This isn't to say all dealers use these tactics but they are hardly old wives tales.

[Tvov]

JALLEN4 wrote:
I spent the majority of my adult life practically living in vehicle showrooms of various kinds all over the country. Unfortunately, I never actually got to see some of the tactics related as "Old Wives Tales" on this and many other forums.

Any salesman in today's world who honestly would attempt to commandeer a credit card or a set of trade-in keys in order to keep a customer against his will, better look a lot like Hulk Hogan. He is bound to get a beat-down or worse in his first week.

Really? Then you have been extremely fortunate. Or... are/were you a car salesman yourself?

[patnchris]

I stopped in a dealership, in Wisconsin, where they would not even allow you to look without filling out a credit app. Needless to say, none of the five rv's I purchased were from them.
Another dealership, I was looking at had a really nice web page that listed there in stock , new and preowned units with the prices. I decided to go look at several, they had listed. The sales mgr. Met me at the door and asked me what I wanted to spend. (not even a hello or what can I show you) I told him I was interest in a unit, new or preowned around $20k. He promptly told me they had nothing to show me, in that range and not to waste his time. Went to Camping World, the following day and bought our Jayco trailer for $25K....

[RestlessRVer]

Thank you all for the responses and great insight. This is a very knowledgeable and generous online community.

[JALLEN4]

I spent the majority of my adult life practically living in vehicle showrooms of various kinds all over the country. Unfortunately, I never actually got to see some of the tactics related as "Old Wives Tales" on this and many other forums.

Any salesman in today's world who honestly would attempt to commandeer a credit card or a set of trade-in keys in order to keep a customer against his will, better look a lot like Hulk Hogan. He is bound to get a beat-down or worse in his first week.

[valhalla360]

JALLEN4 wrote:
Having sold a huge number of vehicles in my career, I can see absolutely no advantage to the salesman having credit card information before any offers have been submitted. If in fact the OP made an offer and the salesman asked for a credit card to charge a deposit too, that would be normal.

Personally, I never wanted to see a credit card and much preferred cash or check for a deposit. As long as delivery has never taken place, it is relatively simple to stop payment of a credit card deposit without ever walking back into the store.

For those who think the salesman can do something magical with a credit card, I must have never learned that trick. You cannot get a credit report just with credit card information and simply seeing one from the consumer just shows he is like the other 99% of citizens who actually have one. Any charges the dealer would make on one can easily be disputed and reversed. It would be a stupid salesman who would use a customer's card for identity theft purposes as it would be immediately tracked back to him.

There are a number of reasons for the dealer not to take a credit card for a vehicle purchase and most dealerships have severe limitations on their use. For one reason, paying for a vehicle with a credit card makes the purchase automatically subject to a 72 hour right of rescission. For another, it automatically would add around 3% to the dealer's cost for credit card fees.

There is nothing magical it's just leverage (and still a scuzzy tactic).

If they have no deposit or anything else (like a trade in in the back lot), it's real easy for you to walk out the door never to return. If they have it, they can drag the process out while pushing for a sale. A lot of people get intimidated in this sitaution and will cave to the salesman.

[coolbreeze01]

If you have been shopping, then you know what to offer. You can play their game or your own. I would just walk if I wasn't happy with their rules.

[tatest]

This is a typical tactic for sales of expensive items, but not necessarily "normal" and certainly not necessary. The seller is looking for information useful to him in the negotiations.

I've had a car salesman want to run a credit check before I looked at any cars; I didn't go back there again, would not buy that brand until the dealer folded and a better dealer got the franchise.

My last five vehicle purchases, including the RV, have been cash transactions, as far as the dealer was concerned. While the dealer might get a loan origination fee, or even a piece of the financing, as part of his side of the deal, I always negotiate for a cash price. If, beyond that, they want to sell me financing, that's a separate sales job for them.

If you let them make their financing deal part of the price negotiation, you are just that much more in the dark about what you are actually paying. But if dealer-arranged financing is the only way you have to pay, you are at their mercy.

Once when I had my truck at the dealer for a safety recall, I walked over to the showroom to get some information about a van. A salesman latched onto me, tried to put together a deal though I told him I wasn't buying that day. He pulled my truck out of the service queue for trade-in evaluation, which kept me there longer. After I walked away, the salesman kept calling. When the sales manager (an acquaintance) called to ask about my interest, I told him I was interested in buying a van but wouldn't be buying it from him, because of how his new salesman treated me. That salesman is gone.

[dspencer]

I have been in the automotive business for over 23 years, 20 years of that time in management. The credit card bit is nothing but a gimmick that any legit dealer won't try in today's market place. I just bought a new Gray Wolf last year and the dealer held it a month in the winter time till I could get my trailer out of storage due to quite a bit of snow. They never asked for a dimes deposit. Many years ago dealers would do that in order to prove that you weren't wasting there time. There are way to many dealers out there that will welcome your business and not ask for a deposit until you make a deal and that is to secure the unit till you pick it up. I work in a major GM dealership in the Midwest and we NEVER ask for a deposit until time to secure the vehicle in a dealer trade, order unit or to hold it for a few days till they can pick it up.

[spoon059]

All the more reason that I don't buy any vehicle in a "traditional" way. I research and decide EXACTLY what I want. I then use the power of email to reach out to local dealers and get their best prices. I also research to figure out what is a good deal.

My current Jayco that I just ordered was done the same way. We went to a lot of RV shows and knew exactly what floorplan and what options we wanted. I researched prices and knew what a fair price was. I contacted my local Jayco dealers by email and asked for price quotes by the end of the week. The salesmen didn't need to "waste their time". They likely had some down down during the week where they could figure out a price for me.

Once I got an email with the lowest price, I negotiated (via email) another $300 off that price. When I walked into the dealership I had a check already written for the deposit and all they needed to do was have me sign a sales agreement. The whole process took about 15 minutes... and that included about 10 minutes of friendly conversation with our salesman, a fellow camper.

No high pressure non sense, no wasting MY time, no wasting HIS time. It was a smooth, easy, no stress professional encounter that left us and the dealer satisfied with our deal. Heck, he even knocked an additional $100 off the price while we were in the office.

That is how I prefer to buy cars and RV's.

[camperforlife]

The credit card thing is like the local Toyota dealer that had the keys to my potential trade-in and claimed to have lost them so I could not leave. I pulled out my cell phone and told him that in 60 seconds I was calling 911 and tell them I was being held against my will. Magically he found my keys-in his coat pocket.

Nothing but slime tactics.

[ol__yeller]

I too have sold many vehicles and bought many vehicles over my lifetime although I admit that I was never a salesperson at a dealership or even a car lot. I have never given a deposit or credit card to a salesperson to make an offer. The advantage for the salesperson is they have your card and they can get cute about returning it to you. I make it a point not to let my credit card out of my sight in this time of identity theft and fraud to anyone. Negotiations are all about who holds the upper hand. When the money is in my pocket, I have the upper hand. I don't understand why one would give that to the other side.

I have never had a dealer refuse to negotiate with me until I surrender a deposit. I have had many requests for one "to show I'm serious". I tell them I will give a deposit after the terms are all agreed upon by all parties concerned and I am showing my seriousness by investing my time during the negotiations. They always cave at that point because I will walk if they don't and I've made that clear. The more people surrender to this pressure, the more the dealers will try to pull this. I'm all for being reasonable but the dealer/salespeople's reputations precede them.