Man Negotiates For The ‘Out The Door’ Price At The Dealership. He Gets It—There’s Just One Catch

A man negotiated what he thought the “out-the-door” price would be until one major catch happened before signing the paperwork.

Content creator Nathan Jackson (@nathanjackson407) emphasizes why monthly payment needs to be considered in addition to out-the-door price.

“For some reason on TikTok it seems to be payment vs out-the-door price. Kinda reminds me of an old show I used to watch as a kid, ‘Well you can’t have one without the other,’” Jackson begins his post.

The car salesman imitates potential customers who are primarily focused on getting the out-the-door price.

“Get the out-the-door price. All I want is the out-the-door price. All I want is the out-the-door price. I watch TikTok. I need the out-the-door price,” he mocks.

Jackson, whose bio says he works for Chevrolet, appears irritated with potential customers who are only worried about out-the-door price and ignore the monthly payment until the end of the process.

“You are looking at a $60,000 vehicle and all of a sudden the payment is $1,500 and you are jumping up and down needing $350. Oh, now all of a sudden the payment is important,” he says.

He says knowing a customer’s desired monthly payment can help better assist with the car buying process and argues that there’s no reason to keep this figure a secret from your salesperson.

“We're trying to get the payment up front so we know what kind of vehicle to place you in. So that you are happy at the end of the day,” he says.

Jackson suggests people try to figure out how much their payments will be on their own.

“Even it’s hard for me sometimes to calculate people’s payment. Based on credit, other variables,” he says.

While he believes most customers only focus on out-the-door price instead of monthly payment, he thinks it’s best to consider a combination of the two.

Gallery: 2027 Chevrolet Corvette

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Source: Chevrolet

Why Do Dealerships Want You To Focus On Monthly Payments?

Car dealerships haven't earned the best reputation for looking out for the customer. Car buying negotiations can be tense and confronting as buying a car is a big financial investment.

Earlier this year, Motor1 reported the new average monthly car payment is $800. One in five, or 20%, who finance have more than $1,000 monthly payments.

Some customers do focus on the monthly payment budget number over the out-the-door price. According to CarEdge, dealerships prefer this, in part because it enables them to control the negotiation.

“A monthly payment is not a price. It’s a math problem with four variables: the price of the car, your trade-in value, your down payment, and your loan term. Change any one of those and you can hit almost any monthly number a buyer asks for,” per CarEdge.

This is where the four-square technique sales tactic comes into play at some dealerships. This involves a salesperson putting four numbers on a piece of paper and moving them around to hit the desired monthly payment. This is designed to confuse customers to have them only focus on the monthly payment, which ultimately leads them to pay more for the vehicle overall.

Bankrate reports one of the best car shopping tips is to focus on the out-the-door price instead of monthly payments. According to Bankrate, the out-the-door price should be the foundation of the negotiation process, not the monthly payment. The loan term, monthly payment, and interest rate can adjust with that number.

By focusing on the monthly payment only, dealerships are able to lock customers into longer loan periods and collect more interest along the way. One way to avoid the monthly payment trap is to get pre-approved from a bank outside of the dealership, Edmunds reports.

“It Is All About The Actual Price”

Viewers in the comment section weren't buying Jackson’s explanation. They were adamant about knowing the out-the-door price.

“Out-the-door price dictates the payment. Period,” one wrote.

“I want the out-the-door price because I'm cutting a check. But I'm not going to tell you that until I get the price,” another added.

“The OTD number is the only thing that is important to most buyers, we can do our own math,” a third agreed.

Someone else insisted, “There is no discussion. It is all about the actual price.”

Others felt that his post might not appeal to potential buyers.

“Not the best way to draw in customers,” opined one.

“So why is it such a big deal to just show the price of the car and your fees and taxes? Registration will be different just have that shown on the sticker,” another said.

Jackson later posted an AI-generated flier stating that there’s no problem asking for out-the-door price.

Motor1 has contacted Jackson via TikTok direct message and commented on the post. This post will be updated if he replies.

 

 

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