Should You Hire an Intermediary?
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Hiring an intermediary can be useful if you don?t feel like test driving various cars. An intermediary is someone who will endure the task of shopping for you for a specific type of car. While they shop around they will try to find you the best deal on the car you want. Intermediaries can be very profitable as they only run between $200 and $1,000. They also may find a deal that will save you more than the cost of their services.
Dealerships usually give special deals to intermediaries to help them sell cars. This in turn helps you get the best price as well. Intermediaries also will usually know how much the car costs and how much dealerships get in commission. When an intermediary knows this he can negotiate the best deal possible for you while allowing the dealership to make some money.
It’s very important to remember to look for a good intermediary. Several of these people work privately, so you never know how secure your personal information really is. Do a background check on your intermediary to make sure they are legitimate. It is also very common for them to be employees of one dealership. When this happens they will pretend to be searching for the best deal possible, but they are only trying to increase their own company?s profit. Try to get a statement that says how they are getting paid and by whom.
Sometimes getting an intermediary isn’t as helpful as you think it would be. Dealerships don?t like intermediaries because they know so much about the business and often get a vehical for a much lower price than they would prefer. Sometimes they won?t even work with them, which limit your choices. In fact, the number of car purchases arranged by intermediaries is only 5% of the total amount of cars bought, but this has a big effect on their industry.
As mentioned before, be sure that you do a good background check on your intermediary before you employ them. The laws that govern their business varies from state to state, so it may be a good idea to ask for references There is always the option to hire someone from a professional company, which means you will be getting more guarantees and securities with their work.
The price that you?re charged by an intermediary will changed based on the car and the intermediary you choose. However you will be charged less for them to find new cars for you as they have more resources to work with. Usually they will have to do a lot more searching to find a used car which increases the price of their services.
Ask your intermediary all the right questions before you hire them. Don?t be afraid to hire someone who is from out of state, since most intermediaries work right from their homes. In the long run these agents can really save you some money, so it may be worthwhile to hire one. An intermediary could end up saving you thousands of dollars on your car purchase, which is much more then what you spent to employ them.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading car and vechile portal.