As much as car dealerships and used car salesmen are poked fun at, when it’s time to buy a car – whether new or used – many people end up at a dealership by default. Car dealerships can be great places to get either new or used vehicles and there is no reason to fear them. It is, on the other hand, a good idea to come prepared. Here are a few tips you can use the next time you find yourself at a dealership.

Find Out the Invoice Price
Do some footwork before you even go into the dealership. Decide on a few models that you may be interested in and research their invoice price or blue book value online. Once you know this base number that the dealer will definitely not go under, you will be better equipped to negotiate a happy medium between that number and the sticker price.

Shop Around
Phone or email a few dealerships to find out which of them carries the model you are looking for and at what price. Getting price quotes on the phone or via email beforehand relieves a lot of the pressure that showing up in person to a car lot can generate. Once you’ve found the best starting price in town for the model you are interested in, you are ready to make an appearance.

Make a Date
Setting up an appointment with the dealer shows him or her that you are the kind of person that plans ahead and that you mean business. Make sure you are on time for your appointment. The first thing you should do when you arrive is to state in no uncertain terms exactly how much you would like to pay for the car you are considering. You’ve done your homework and you came prepared, now take control and stay in control.

Test Drive
Taking the vehicle out for a spin is especially important when buying a used car. If you can bring a mechanic or knowledgeable friend along to listen for quirks, do so. Check underneath the car for any stains on the pavement that may indicate leaking fluids. If one headlight is brighter than the other or if the edge of the hood doesn’t make an exactly straight line where it meets the body of the car, the vehicle may have been crashed and repaired. These things are not necessarily deal breakers but they’re good to know and may give you some price leverage.

Millions of people use social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook to keep up with old friends, make new ones, post pictures and status updates, and generally stay connected to large amounts of people. While this is not earth shattering news, how these social media portals are being used by companies such as car dealerships may surprise you.

Many car dealerships and car producers have turned to social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook to implement what essentially is free advertising. Websites like Twitter enable car dealers to have instant contact with their customers. For instance, people that begin following a particular dealership may be notified that “The next 100 customers to show up on our lot will receive $1,000 off a car purchase instantly plus a $50 gift card”. This type of promotion could never happen with a television or newspaper advertisement because it takes far too much time to produce advertisements through these mediums. Promotions such as the example above also allow dealers to gauge how effective their marketing strategies are as well as how many people are paying attention to the dealer’s social media web pages.

Using Twitter and Facebook also enables car dealers to get feedback on their products, services, and business practices directly from consumers. For instance, if a customer buys a new car from a particular dealer and over the first few weeks discovers something about the car that they do not like they may voice their opinion online. If the item or feature the customer does not like is not a major issue they will most likely not report it to the dealer but the opinion they voiced online can help the dealer make changes in the future or at least suggest changes to the manufacturer.

Twitter and other popular social networking websites also offer something else to car dealers that traditional mediums such as television, radio, and print advertising cannot: personal relationships with consumers. The point of contact is crucial for building relationships with consumers yet most mediums offer very little with regard to connecting with consumers. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and other internet based social media websites offer car dealerships and manufacturers a chance to speak to consumers individually as well as understand the specific needs of real consumers.

While the pervasiveness of the internet has created new challenges and obstacles to overcome such as identity theft, it has also created new and unique ways for companies to connect with their consumers on a very personal level. Consumers want to know that they are not getting ripped off and creating personal relationships through social media portals may be the best way to create these long lasting business relationships.