When you go to the dealership
Stay in control of the negotiations. Dealers train their sales people to steer conversations with customers a certain way. Work instead to keep the focus where you want it. Establish right away that you are a potentially serious buyer, not just shopping. Say something like: "I plan to buy a Chevrolet Malibu in the next two weeks and will buy where I get the best price. Let's talk about it." Politely avoid small talk about what you do and where you live--this is part of the financial "qualifying" profile the sales person is trained to check out. Keep the conversation about the invoice price--not the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) or list price. The sales person may say something like: "Because we need to move this model, we can knock $1,000 off MSRP." Since you have done your homework, you can counter with something like: "That's still $800 over invoice price--that's more than I'm willing to pay." If your target price is really $300 over the invoice number, then start out, say, bidding $100 above the invoice price. At this point, the sales person may say he or she needs to get a manager's approval to offer a better deal. Don't play the waiting game--old-school dealerships may try to keep you waiting for a half hour or more. This is mostly a tactic to wear you down. Politely make plain that you won't be waiting more than a few minutes. Unless you get a bid for your target price right away, take the best offer from that dealership and get another bid or two at other locations. Then take the offer closest to your target.
