Traditional dealers steer every conversation to “What payment do you need?” so they can stretch the term, stack add-ons, and keep the car price inflated. The payment works. The total cost explodes.
When you negotiate on monthly payment, the dealer controls the term, the down payment, and finance rate. Extending the term by 12 months or bumping APR by half a point recovers thousands in hidden profit. You leave happy with the payment, but you financed way more car than you intended.
Trick: Separate the car price from the payment so profits hide in the financing math.
Selectic’s car agent forces a line-item conversation: vehicle price, doc fees, add-ons, and financing all get locked independently. If a dealer tries to re-inflate one column, the agent calls it out before you sign.
Extended warranties, GAP, ceramic coatings—dealers repackage low-cost items at 400% markups and roll them quietly into the loan.
The Finance & Insurance office is a profit center. Packages are quoted in “only $18 per month” language, so it feels painless to accept. Most buyers never see the true cost, the deductibles, or the exclusions that cripple coverage.
Trick: Quote add-ons in monthly terms and bury disclosures in the packet you sign on the way out.
Selectic’s agent sources third-party coverage at wholesale pricing and pre-approves any must-have protection before you walk into the dealership. If the dealer can’t beat it line-for-line, it comes off the contract.
Dealers juggle your trade-in value against the price of the new car to protect margin. They show a “great” trade offer, then quietly remove discounts from the vehicle you’re buying.
Because most buyers evaluate the deal in net terms, dealers can widen the spread—lowball the trade, inflate the new-car price, then offer a rebate to make it look balanced. Without separate negotiations, you lose leverage on both cars.
Trick: Run the trade and purchase as one equation so the real margin hides inside the numbers.
Selectic gets binding trade bids from multiple buyers before the negotiation. Dealers have to beat a written offer or Selectic executes the outside bid. The trade becomes leverage, not a liability.
Dealers mark up the lender’s buy rate and pocket the difference. Even a 0.5% markup on a 72-month loan is four figures in profit.
Lenders send dealers a buy rate. Dealers quote you a sell rate. The delta is called dealer reserve. Most buyers never see the approval sheet, so they accept the higher APR. Dealer reserve is capped now, but it still adds up.
Trick: Show “We got you 5.49%!” when the lender actually approved 4.99%.
Selectic’s agent pre-qualifies you across multiple lenders and walks in with the actual buy rates. If a dealer can’t beat the portfolio, Selectic finalizes the financing outside the store.
“Doc” and “dealer prep” fees add hundreds of dollars to every car. Dealers insist they’re non-negotiable. They’re pure margin with fancy labels.
These fees are easy to miss. They sit in the contract fine print and sound official. You feel silly haggling over $399 when you just negotiated $2,000 off the car. That’s why dealers love them.
Trick: Normalize junk fees by adding them to every deal so buyers accept the charge.
Selectic benchmarks doc and prep fees across state lines and pushes back with comparable deals. Dealers either remove them or provide an equivalent discount elsewhere.
