| Chapter 1 |
Everybody's Problem: An Uneven Playing Field - The problem we all face in the negotiation process.
The objective: to make you more knowledgeable than any car salesman. |
| Chapter 2 |
The Other Problem: Price Discrimination - The evidence that women and minorities are charged more. The most probable explanation for it. The light at the end of the tunnel. |
| Chapter 3 |
The Changing Face of the U.S. Automobile Market - An overview of the seismic structural changes that have occurred in recent years, who the winners and losers are, and what it all means for the new-car shopper. Including a review of the strengths and weaknesses of each nameplate that may make you think twice before you finalize your vehicle choice. |
| Chapter 4 |
What They Don't Want You To Know About Product Quality - Product quality impacts both your ownership experience and your pocketbook. Better-made cars break down less often, last longer, and fetch higher prices when you trade or sell them. Those previously-secret initial quality and longer-term dependability ratings are published widely these days, and you may be surprised by some of the results. |
| Chapter 5 |
Right Brain, Left Brain - How to use crash test data to identify vehicles that are structurally sounder and inherently safer than others.
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| Chapter 6 |
Attitude Adjustment - A look at the attitudes you must adopt to shop and negotiate successfully: Economics 101, Geography 101, Psychology 101, Anatomy 101 and Reality 101. |
| Chapter 7 |
The Juggler - The three areas where car stores make profits on the transaction. How the typical retail selling system works to prevent you from focusing on them individually.
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| Chapter 8 |
If You Haven't Got a Plan, You Haven't Got a Prayer - The 80/20 Rule of Life. How most people buy cars. How smart shoppers avoid the sad fate of most people. |
| Chapter 9 |
Divide and Conquer - The surprising importance of used-car sales to the profitability of new-car dealerships. Why most people get too little for their trade-in, and how to avoid leaving big bucks on the dealer's table. |
| Chapter 10 |
The Wholesale Truth, and Nothing But - How to learn what your car is really worth to the dealer. (That number is not in any book.) |
| Chapter 11 |
Who Needs a Middleman? - How to get top dollar by selling your used car yourself.
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| Chapter 12 |
Auto Financing 101
- Expanding your financing options so that you can evaluate
whether the dealer's financing is an attractive alternative. |
| Chapter 13 |
The Fine Art of Shopping Without Buying
- How to get through the test-driving phase without getting stuck in a negotiating session. |
| Chapter 14 |
"No-Dicker" Dealers and the Retail Revolution: Oasis or Mirage? - Intrigued by Saturn's success, other dealers have adopted a no-negotiation price strategy: Why there's less in it for the buyer than you might like. And why "no-dicker" pricing won't become standard industry practice. |
| Chapter 15 |
How Is Your Car Doing in the Marketplace? - How your knowledge of the current sales and inventory picture for the model you want can enhance your bargaining position.
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| Chapter 16 |
Dealer Cost: What We Can Learn (and What We Can't) - The information available on invoice costs, holdback and traditional dealer cash incentives is helpful, as far as it goes. But today automakers are motivating dealers with new types of cash incentive programs tied to each store's performance against its specific objectives. There's no way to know what any individual store is earning, but there is a way to get them to pass those dollars on to you. |
| Chapter 17 |
Timing Is Money - How to time your purchase to maximize your savings.
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| Chapter 18 |
The Option Game - Unwanted factory-installed options are difficult to avoid, but just say no to "the Mop & Glo" and other expensive back-end add-ons dealers try to sell you. |
| Chapter 19 |
Just Do It!
- How to negotiate the price of your next new car without walking into a car store, using the "fax attack" to make dealers bid competitively for your business. Complete instructions on identifying the right dealer contacts, preparing and sending the fax, fielding the responses, making the follow-up calls, and finalizing the deal by telephone to avoid unpleasant last-minute surprises. |
| Chapter 20 |
Other Ways To Do It -
Alternative ways to accomplish the same objective, either by doing it yourself or by hiring someone to do it for you. Why Internet car-buying services, auto brokers and affiliation-group referrals may not be the best answer. |
| Chapter 21 |
The Leasing Alternative: Breaking the Language Barrier - The basics of leasing demystified. Determining whether leasing makes sense for you. How to negotiate a favorable lease without letting dealers use the "boomfog" of leasing terminology to juggle you into a high-profit deal. How to do the arithmetic to check the monthly payment figure they're trying to sell you. |
| Chapter 22 |
Are Extended Warranties Warranted? - How to determine whether you should buy an extended warranty contract and how to shop smart for the coverage you need. Why the safe bet is usually the automaker's contract, not the cheaper "no-name" alternatives you'll find on the Internet and elsewhere.
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| Chapter 23 |
Resisting the Final Temptation - The pre-ownership inspection. All the things to go over while they still own the car, before you give them the final check and sign the delivery receipt.
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| Chapter 24 |
You've Got a Powerful Friend @ www.fightingchance.com -
How to get - directly from Fighting Chance, quickly and easily - the specific information package you need to negotiate from a position of strength for the vehicle you want: the most recent dealer invoice pricing and holdback data, details of manufacturer incentives in effect (customer rebates and traditional factory-to-dealer cash programs), and an updated overview of how your vehicle is doing in the marketplace, including a feel for the actual transaction prices paid by knowledgeable shoppers. Think of it as "the Swiss Army Knife" for buying or leasing a new vehicle. |
| Chapter 25 |
The Used Car Alternative - The economic argument for buying or leasing a late-model used car instead of a new one. How to identify and find the most desirable previous-owned vehicles. The growing importance of "factory-certified" used cars. |
| Chapter 26 |
The Executive Summary - A brief reminder of the major points covered in the book, with referrals to the relevant chapters. |
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