The Suckers Guide to Used Car Buying....

I have been buying and flipping cars for over 25 years and have made about as many errors as 1 man can possibly make, but I do not consider them to be failures. I like to look at them as learning moments, because it taught me to not do "that" particular move again!!! So I learned what works and obviously what does not work as well. Therefore, I decided that I would jot down a few things that can help you and others to avoid my learning moments and keep some money in your pockets. Keep an open mind when reading this because if you not careful, you just might learn something valuable.


1). I got that cash on me!!!
I go to a dealership as the last possible option (either they have a unit that I want or some really unbelievable deal that I can't  pass up). But if you do go to the even car lots, NEVER say up front that you are paying with cash (that only works in the private sector). Dealerships make a tremendous amount of profit off financing a car, so telling them you won't be borrowing $$$ will cause them to jack up the price of the unit to make up for the profit they won't be making on the financing. For example, you go to the Honda lot and say I am only spending $25000 as you walk toward the newly redesigned Honda Accord, but they steer you toward the lower valued Honda Civic to later up charge you to spend that $25000 on a loaded car that is valued at $17500. See how this game works!
2). I Already Have Financing Lined UP!!!
Telling a salesperson that you already have a financing deal in place tells them that they won’t be able to sell you any high-profit financing, so they will make up the profit by raising the price of the car. It is just like telling them that you are paying cash.
Of course, you absolutely want to have a pre-approved financing deal from a bank, credit union, or another lender in place before visiting the dealership. The time to pull this information out of your pocket is after you have settled on the price of the vehicle. If they don’t think that you have a financing deal in place, they have no incentive to find you a great deal on a loan. Knowing that you do forces them to meet or beat your financing if they want to earn the business.
3). My Hooptie Is Busted and Barely Running!!!
Don’t tell the dealership anything that shows that you urgently need to buy a new car. If they know that you don’t have the luxury of time to make dealerships negotiate or to drive around town looking for the best deal, you’re like fresh meat in front of a lion.
You’ve just told them that they don’t have any reason to give you a good deal.
Telling them that your current car needs work also invites them to give you a low-ball offer when it comes time to put a value on your trade-in. Before you visit the dealer, you should already have a good idea of your used car's value because Google makes this a no brainer in 2018. (Similar phrases, such as “I took the bus here” or “I just totaled my last car,” can also give the salesperson the idea that you are desperate to buy.)
4). I LOVE this car.......NOT!!!!
Telling a salesperson that the car is perfect and you don’t know how you will ever live without it lets them know that you are willing to pay whatever they want to charge.
Sometimes, a dealer will encourage you to take a car home for the weekend to get used to it. They hope that you become emotionally attached to it, and, more often than not, you will. Getting the best offer requires you to be willing to walk away from a bad deal, and the more interested you are with the car, the harder that is to do for the average sucker. Just remember that old Dionne Warrick song called "Walk on By" (Young folk can go to www.youtube.com)
5). This Is How Much I Can Afford Monthly!!!
Car dealers love to sell cars based on the monthly payment, but that’s a horrible way to buy a car. There are many ways to manipulate the financing and fees to get you to a specific monthly payment, but if you leave it up to the dealer, you’re asking for trouble with a capital (Sucka: I love this word because it's like a Drake song, its just gets us).
It’s easy to keep the monthly payment the same by extending the length of the loan. However, you’ll be making many more payments and typically paying a higher interest rate along the way. In the end, the car will be much more expensive than if you get a shorter loan with the same payment.
Slick auto dealers can also "pack" the payment with fees and add-ons that you don't want or need. If they have you looking at just the installment, you're less likely to see the overall amount that you are on the hook for. Do more question asking and less over sharing of your information.

Obviously I could go on and on for days on this but let me wrap it up by saying the following things.
A). Don't say what you do for a living, because they are sizing up your coins.
B). Never say I never had a new car before- You already know what that is saying!
C). I have a trade is saying please take my used car and charge me extra while you get over twice!
D). Always know your credit score. (its free at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action) otherwise the dealer will say your score is worse than it is and charge you more.


If this is all overwhelming and you just want to get a good car for the low-low, find someone like me who will do all the dirty work and get you rolling with coins left to get you some gas along with your new car smell. This is a cold world and the streets are hungry, so buyer beware.
I am Ward.....

Do you ever have that unsafe feeling......

I found myself pensive as of late considering these terrible school shootings in America. It seems that it happens so often that no one is really surprised when we hear about a new shooting. In the first 3 months of 2018 there have been over 22 school shootings. Unsuspecting young people lost out on life, future families and anything that could have been darn near everything! I understand the outrage and anger that people are expressing over social media and still brooding over this pain. I have heard so many solutions that the masses think will help, solve or decrease these acts of senseless violence.

They say lets arm the school teachers in schools with guns. They say raise the age that young people have to be to purchase AR-15 assault weapons (currently 18)**they say add bum stops on guns to slow down how many rounds can be fired off per round (not  banning assault weapons)**they say improve mental health care (but not admitting what kids are actually shooting the schools)**they say ban violent video games that kids love so much . The list goes on and on, but I want to talk about this for a hot second because its on my mind and the Cavz are not playing at this moment,  so I have a few moments to kill (maybe I shouldn't have used the word kill).

1st look lets talk about the teachers being taught to shot kids. Arming teachers with guns is not only a stupid ideal but clearly not thought out either! I once worked as a certified substitute teacher in the Indianapolis Public School systems 3 long terrifying years. I recall walking in the school and then waiting to get my class room assignment from the uninterested and over worked school staff each morning. I then somehow locate my assigned class, only to have the students ready to have a field day* because the regular instructor is taking some much needed time off. I had the normal things happens like my chair being glued down, my computer being mysteriously stolen and all the disrespect that a teenager in a room full of his cronies could muster up at 8:00 am! My biggest threat was the students wanting to fight with me to show disrespect and they knew the school would back them. I consider myself to be a non-violent person, but when emotions are high, our reasoning ability is considerably lowered. Look again at the photo on this blog. It has been said that the color of the skin of a person can determine how we feel about the situation. Some teachers (as many police officers) think a black students are dangerous and must be stopped with lethal force. I know that all teachers with a gun will do something stupid, but how many cops have panicked and left someone dead??? Do we really want to send our kids to this type of environment? I am not even going to mention looking at your kids teachers Facebook photos!! 

 Another point on the teachers with guns ideal is the range of a hand gun (that is what the teachers are suppose to be armed with). AR-15 can hit a target from up to 500 yards away, while the hand gun can shoot 90-100 years at best. Its not hard to figure out that simply pulling the fire alarm and then ticking off the teachers first, will allow the shooters to complete their death mission.  The next flaw in the theory would be unrealistic expectations for the over worked and under paid teachers. Do we really expect teachers to be educators and then trained to kill children as needed/PRN? Police officers do something very unique when they encounter a shoot out situation. ""They wait for the professionals to come to the scene rather than playing Rambo!"" They wait because the statics show that policemen have a 40% accuracy rate of hitting the intended target. Imagine a school in total chaos and frantic people running every way. How many people will really get hurt or killed by friendly fire, as they call it?

It seems like the real winners for arming teachers with guns is........... the gun manufactures!!! All they have to do is keep producing the guns, promoting their views that more guns reduce problems and of course-paying the politicians. In these last critical days that are hard to deal with we are allowing people to think of ways to solve issues that make as much sense as allowing a drunk person to drive a bus during rush hour! He might start moving but you can be confident that someone is going to get hurt and someone  is going to get blamed, then everyone will be upset all over again.

The reality of guns has deep seated roots that the average person does not want to see or accept. Image living in a small town that is mad cool with no issues, but then some serious gangsters move in the town by the dozens. Do you think this will affect the towns ambience and atmosphere? Of course it would, just like it is in our world. Look forward to things getting worse because blind men can not see and dead men tell no tales.

I am WarD.....