I went to a dealership yesterday and was told that I need to let them run a credit check before they even negotiate the price with me. How do I get them to give me a price before I even get to negotiate with them? I can't run a credit check with them because my shop guidelines told me I cannot let the dealership run my credit.

Tell the that you might pay cash or that you have your financing approved through an outside lender. Then, you are only negotiating overall price, not the payment terms -and they don't need to run a credit check. I know I'm a bit odd, but my last three cars were paid with in cash. One of the two before with a loan from an outside lender. So, folks do buy cars like that.

Say you have outside financing or cash. The cash route is probably better. The last time I bought a car, I said I had outside financing, but they refused to go forward until they ran my credit because they thought they could beat that offer. In the end they did not beat it (which I already expected), and that cost me a hard pull that was not necessary. I suppose I could have been more assertive and said no pull, which might have avoided the situation.

Tell them you're paying cash, or will take cash from your home equity line of credit. If they insist, don't do it, but report this (with all the details on how you tried to avoid a pull on your credit report) on your shop form as well as to your scheduler.

Don't let them run your credit. There is no reason. I have never let a dealership run my credit on a shop and have done at least 50 car shops. Listen to what others have said and tell them that you are paying cash.

Thanks for your input guys. I told the dealership exactly what you guys said, I'm paying in cash. I told them I can use my private loan for better rates or I can sell my assets from my investment portfolio to get cash. They said no, and insisted on asking me to run my credit. I asked them what pricing they can offer me for paying in cash. They were not taking me seriously, and they said I will have to pay MSRP. I sat there negotiating with them on pricing for 15 minutes, they asked me a bunch of questions (like my debts, income, and credit score) and yet insisted on running my credit, even though I clearly demonstrated to them that I can pay in cash. After another 10 minutes of them saying no, they told me again that if I would like to go through the deal, I would need to run my credit, or else I'm paying MSRP. I told them no, and told them I'm leaving and not giving my business to them if they are not giving me a deal on paper. They said okay, and I just left the dealership empty handed. Then I told the scheduler to cancel my shop because the dealership doesn't want me there again.

I asked this same question on Reddit, and I got the complete opposite response of what people are telling me. They told me to run my credit to be seriously considered for pricing. I told them no, and I got downvoted to oblivion.

So what should I really do next time in the future?

I have never had a credit check doing a dealership, I say I need to show this to my husband and they slow down.
Do not let them run your credit, bad idea.

They absolutely do not need to run your credit to give you a price. They just took agressive sales tactics way too far, to the scummy level, because they can usually make more by talking you into financing. If they tell you MSRP, report that as the price and explain what happened.

That is very bad business. I've never had this kind of problem on a dealership shop, but I would have asked them to give me a printout of the MSRP and when I went back again asked for the same MSRP printout and submitted that. NO ONE can be forced to finance a vehicle that they want to pay cash for. You can also use the line, my grandmother just died and left me several hundred thousand dollars it will be released from probate, Friday or on the 15 (whatever goes with whatever date you are doing the shop. Drop the name of the competing dealership for that same brand car and say I'm comparing the price that I can get from both dealerships. Also, check your whole presentation package, what kind of car you drove in, did you drive yourself in at all, what kind of clothes and jewelry worn in. Do not do these if you don't own a decent recent model car or can borrow one. Don't drive an old beat up Ford van in other words. Barrow your Dad or Uncles car etc if it's newer and nicer. I wear casual clothes but not holey or worn out, and expensive rings. You can have money and dress down(casual, not old and raggedy), but someone with money rarely dresses down their car or their jewelry. Anyone can inherit money too, you don't have to have assets to inherit. But people rarely have assets that they can cash in if they don't have a proper car or jewelry. Pardon me for saying this, because I don't mean to imply that you did any of those things, they may have just been jerks there.

"I don't believe in credit. Don't you accept cash? I can give you green backs, a personal check, or a cashier's check for the sale in full."

Any salesperson who turns her/his back on such a customer will likely be soon be looking for a new job both because management does not want to loose sales and because management does not want their employees violating the law.

Simple solution: Freeze your credit (with all three bureaus). They can try all day, but won't be able to get a credit report. Then you just say "The app we use to freeze and unfreeze it is on my spouse's phone (or ipad at home).

Great idea, Kevin! I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years!

@KevinE wrote:

Simple solution: Freeze your credit (with all three bureaus). They can try all day, but won't be able to get a credit report. Then you just say "The app we use to freeze and unfreeze it is on my spouse's phone (or ipad at home).

Perfect! Fear of inquiries has kept me from doing one of these - I hadn't thought of freezing! Thanks

I have done a lot of dealerships across brands. I’ve never had a credit check done. A few have tried, but I said no. They still gave me pricing info.

I went to test drive a 70k car today. They didn't mention running my credit. I did show up though in Dior shoes, a Gucci purse, Hermes accesories. They don't question my ability to pay for things. Maybe it's what you are telling them or how you present yourself? Maybe up your look, buy a "car shopping" business casual look from Brooks Brothers, etc?

I would suggest not dilly dallying around so long. I'm paying cash, I don't want my credit pulled. If you don't do business like that I can go somewhere else. Then stand up and walk out. They have to immediately decide if you are or are not actually planning on buying a car. That internal argument is one the consumer will almost always win. If not, you're in the exact same place as you are now.

Actual buyers who want to buy a car and are paying cash and don't want their credit pulled would not have a 10 minute discussion about it with them.

Bgriffin, you are so right! The last time I actually bought a new car, I did pay cash -- and I did get up and walk out.

Almost made it to the front door before the salesman came running after me, too!

I sell cars for a living. You appear to be working with a bunch of idiots. It is illegal by any states laws as well as federal laws for a dealer to discriminate based on your credit worthiness. They might make a few hundred extra dollars if they secure financing for you, several thousand if you have bad credit and your interest rate is high. Knowing if you are financing with them, or planning to add an extended warranty, helps them determine the selling price they are willing to offer.

By letting you leave without giving you a reasonable offer, they demonstrated that they were not taking you seriously.

For me, I work at a posted price dealer. Makes it very easy to confirm the total price regardless of how a customer wants to pay.

@isaiah58 wrote:

I sell cars for a living. You appear to be working with a bunch of idiots.

If there is one thing shopping makes clear: there are plenty of idiots in this world.

@Niner wrote:

I went to test drive a 70k car today. They didn't mention running my credit. I did show up though in Dior shoes, a Gucci purse, Hermes accessories. They don't question my ability to pay for things. Maybe it's what you are telling them or how you present yourself? Maybe up your look, buy a "car shopping" business casual look from Brooks Brothers, etc?

I don't doubt this is true but it's still asinine. Plenty of people are able to earn their money in jeans and a sweatshirt. It makes no sense to dress up to spend unless that's your thrill.

Again, not criticizing you on this. You are 100% right that people read appearances. What's funny is that I can show up to Versace or similar and get taken more seriously than if I go into Madewell. The sales staff in very high end shops have less to prove.

It seems like having a freeze on your credit might not solve the problem. They want to see your score. Getting a response that your report is not available will not overcome anything.

If this is for a shop, you should contact your scheduler. It could very well be that the refusal to discuss price is enough to report. The practice of not even discussing a price for a cash sale seems like something the client would want to know about. I am sure the report is not built for this kind of thing but I have submitted all kinds of irregular reports and gotten paid.

Their offer was essentially MSRP and their second offer was also the MSRP. I am laughing just imagining the response of a manager who reads that report.

And some are smart. I was in a car dealership getting an oil change once and was sitting in a chair in the showroom. This guy drives up, 20 year old Jeep SUV, wearing ragged jeans and an old barn coat. Salesman walks over to him and he says he just wanted to take a quick look at their full size SUV. His wife is ready for a new one but he's just window shopping for now. He takes a quick look at the one on the show room and starts leaving. They stop at the $75,000 sports car right inside the door and he and the salesman talk about how that was his dream car when he was younger. Then he walks out. At this point the salesman is only standing about 5 feet away from where I'm sitting. He turns to me, laughs, and says "that guy could write a check for that car right now and never even know the money was missing."

A lot of times it's your personality, how you carry yourself, and how you talk and less about how you're dressed.

@1cent wrote:

If this is for a shop, you should contact your scheduler. It could very well be that the refusal to discuss price is enough to report. The practice of not even discussing a price for a cash sale seems like something the client would want to know about.

I'm guessing from the OP that this shop is one of the car negotiation shops. The client for the shop is not the client being shopped. It's a competitor basically wanting to check the lowest prices available for their competitor vehicles. They are completely uninterested in this for any reason other than it makes it harder for them to get the information they want.

This goes right back to the point I make here fairly often. A huge number of mystery shops are not done for the reason people think they are.

Edited to add: That dealership manager will never see that report.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2019 02:42PM by bgriffin.

Ah, yeah. I have never even considered the negotiation shops so I didn’t think it through. Still a fun thought.

Also should still be reportable data. I wouldn’t advise fudging but a competitor can only expect so much.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Tell the that you might pay cash or that you have your financing approved through an outside lender. Then, you are only negotiating overall price, not the payment terms -and they don't need to run a credit check. I know I'm a bit odd, but my last three cars were paid with in cash. One of the two before with a loan from an outside lender. So, folks do buy cars like that.

Very true. The only reason I bought my last car with a loan was because it was interest free...zero, zilch.

I had problems with this before doing an auto sale shop on ISecretShopper before. One time, my shop was rejected. One other time, it was OK with the shop. Both times, I explained the situation. Super frustrating and stressful.

Not trying to hijack your topic but since you're asking about credit checks, do they run them to open bank accounts? I see so many bank shops out there. (didn't want to start a new topic for this one yes or no question)
Thank you. BTW, I always tell the car guy I'll share my SS# when I make a decision, in the meantime, my score is 718 or something like that.

Most do not, there are a very few who do.

To open a checking or savings account the bank "normally" will run what's called a "consumer report". Normally it shows any accounts you've had within the past 7 years that were closed in good standing, hot checks, or defaulted accounts. It also normally shows how you pay your utility bills. Utilities use it to determine how much of a deposit to charge you or in some cases not charge you.