4 suggestions to avoid getting ripped off by a car dealer
If you’re looking to save money, big purchases can be a great opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, when it comes to big-ticket items like a new car, most of us make mistakes and end up overpaying. The experienced and crafty car dealer doesn’t help our cause, either.
I wrote an article on my tips to negotiating the price of a new car several months ago but this article on the tricks of your local car dealer is worth reading.
Here are some of the highlights, but I encourage you to jump over and read the entire article.
1. They start very low on the appraisal of your trade-in.
The first step in buying a new car is trading in your old one. The car dealer loves to price your old car much lower than it is actually worth and assume you will start negotiating from the price they suggest.
2. They get you in the door by offering low prices and then sell you something different (and more expensive).
A car dealer thrives on the classic bait-and-switch tactic. What they’ll do is tell you a great deal is available to lure you into the store, knowing that they can switch you on to a different, pricier car. Or, they’ll tell you the “great deal” was already sold, and proceed to selling you something more expensive.
3. A car dealer will try to sell you a bunch of protection services for your car that you don’t actually need.
To avoid this pitfall, make sure you know exactly what these additional items cover and then ask yourself if you truly need them. Most of the time, you’ll find you don’t need so much protection.
4. They mark up the interest rate on the car.
When it comes to financing the car for you, a car dealer can make a lot of money by marking the interest rate up and consumers are completely oblivious that they’re getting ripped off.
Customers with excellent credit (780 or above) should expect an interest rate between 1.49% and 3.49%, and customers with average credit should expect between 4% and 6%. The range accounts for factors such as income, debt, and the amount you want to borrow.
While a great dealer will always try and get you a competitive rate, they will also typically start at a slightly higher range to hold back a percentage for profit. The rule of thumb is that if a dealer is quoting you an interest rate for the first time, expect it to be 2% higher than what the bank is actually charging them.
How the Apple Watch’s First Year Was Twice as Good as the iPhone’s
The Apple Watch may not have had a great year, but some people are looking at the bright side: In one noteworthy way–plain old sales–the first year for the Apple Watch was twice as good as the debut of the iPhone.
As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, the Apple Watch sold 12 million units during its first 12 months on the market, roughly double the total of the iPhone when it first went on sale.
Nine years after its 2007 debut, the iPhone is Apple’s most profitable product by far, having raked in almost $52 billion in the first quarter of 2016. For perspective, the iPad was a distant second with around $7 billion. But it wasn’t always clear the iPhone would be such a monster for Apple. The iPhone’s initial high cost as a phone deterred consumers, and the stakes of being an early adopter were much higher since it wasn’t only a new product—it was a new genre of product. Apple only sold six million units during the iPhone’s first 12 months.
Exploring the parallels among the Apple Watch and the iPod and iPhone is interesting, because all three seemed “unnecessary” and overpriced at the time they debuted. But while it’s still early for the Apple Watch, when you look at what features each product provides or problems it solves, the watch doesn’t appear to stack up to the older devices.
Source: How the Apple Watch’s First Year Was Twice as Good as the iPhone’s
The largest revenue company by state
Thank you to Broadviewnet for putting out this infographic. Here is the data:
| State | 2014 Company | 2014 Revenue (Billion) | 2015 Company | 2015 Revenue (Billion) | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | Regions Bank | $5.89 | Regions Bank | $5.40 | Birmingham AL |
| AK | Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation | $4.44 | GCI Inc. | $0.91 | Anchorage AK |
| AZ | Avnet Inc. | $25.45 | Avnet Inc. | $27.49 | Phoenix AZ |
| AR | Wal-Mart Stores | $476.29 | Wal-Mart Stores | $485.65 | Bentonville AR |
| CA | Chevron Corporation | $228.84 | Chevron Corporation | $211.97 | Sam Ramon CA |
| CO | Arrow Electronics Inc. | $21.35 | Arrow Electronics Inc. | $22.78 | Inverness CO |
| CT | General Electric | $146.04 | General Electric | $148.58 | Fairfield CT |
| DE | E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company | $36.14 | E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company | $36.04 | Wilmington DE |
| FL | World Fuel Services | $41.56 | World Fuel Services | $43.38 | Miami FL |
| GA | Home Depot International Inc. | $85.53 | Home Depot International Inc. | $85.90 | Atlanta GA |
| HI | Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. | $3.23 | Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. | $3.23 | Honolulu HI |
| ID | Micro Technology Inc. | $9.07 | Albertson’s LLC. | $23.56 | Boise ID |
| IL | Archer Daniels Midland | $89.80 | The Boeing Company | $90.76 | Chicago IL |
| IN | WellPoint | $71.02 | Anthem Inc. | $73.87 | Indianapolis IN |
| IA | Transamerica Life Insurance Company | $19.04 | Transamerica Life Insurance Company | $23.34 | Cedar Rapids IA |
| KS | Sprint Communications Inc. | $34.56 | Koch Industries | $115.00 | Wichita KS |
| KY | Humana Inc. | $42.31 | Humana Inc. | $48.50 | Louisville KY |
| LA | CenturyLink Inc. | $18.09 | CenturyLink Inc. | $18.03 | Monroe LA |
| ME | Hannaford Bros. Co. | $3.98 | Hannaford Bros. Co. | $4.41 | Scarborough ME |
| MD | Lockheed Martin | $45.35 | Lockheed Martin | $45.60 | Bethesda MD |
| MA | Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. | $38.50 | Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. | $36.94 | Boston MA |
| MI | General Motors | $155.42 | General Motors | $155.92 | Detroit MI |
| MN | Cargill Inc. | $136.65 | UnitedHealth Group | $130.47 | Minnetonka MN |
| MS | Sanderson Farms Inc. | $2.68 | Koch Foods Incorporated | $2.80 | Flowood MS |
| MO | Express Scripts Holding | $104.09 | Express Scripts Holding | $100.88 | St. Louis MO |
| MT | Stillwater Mining Company | $1.03 | Stillwater Mining Company | $0.94 | Billings MT |
| NE | Berkshire Hathaway | $182.15 | Berkshire Hathaway | $194.67 | Omaha NE |
| NV | Las Vegas Sands Corp. | $13.76 | Las Vegas Sands Corp. | $14.58 | Paradise NV |
| NH | Sprague Resources LP | $4.60 | C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. | $21.70 | Keene NH |
| NJ | Johnson & Johnson | $71.31 | Johnson & Johnson | $74.33 | New Brunswick NJ |
| NM | Presbyterian Healthcare Services | $4.60 | Presbyterian Healthcare Services | $2.05 | Albuquerque NM |
| NY | Verizon Communications | $120.55 | Verizon Communications | $127.07 | New York NY |
| NC | Bank of America | $101.69 | Bank of America | $95.18 | Charlotte NC |
| ND | MDU Resources Group Inc. | $4.46 | MDU Resources Group Inc. | $4.67 | Bismarck ND |
| OH | Cardinal Health | $101.09 | The Kroger Co. | $108.46 | Cincinnati OH |
| OK | Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. | $26.09 | Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. | $26.09 | Oklahoma City OK |
| OR | Nike Inc. | $25.31 | Nike Inc. | $27.79 | Beaverton OR |
| PA | AmeriSourceBergen | $87.95 | AmeriSourceBergen | $119.56 | Chesterbrook PA |
| RI | CVS Caremark | $126.76 | CVS Caremark | $139.36 | Woonsocket RI |
| SC | Sonoco Products Company | $4.48 | Sonoco Products Company | $5.01 | Hartsville SC |
| SD | Sanford Health | $3.10 | Poet LLC. | $6.00 | Sioux Falls SD |
| TN | FedEx Corporation | $44.28 | FedEx Corporation | $45.46 | Memphis TN |
| TX | Exxon Mobil | $438.25 | Exxon Mobil | $411.93 | Irving TX |
| UT | Huntsman Corporation | $11.07 | Huntsman Corporation | $11.57 | Salt Lake City UT |
| VT | Keurig Green Mountain Inc. | $4.35 | Keurig Green Mountain Inc. | $4.70 | Waterbury VT |
| VA | Freddie Mac | $81.22 | The Long & Foster Companies Inc. | $42.70 | Chantilly VA |
| WA | CostCo Wholesale | $105.15 | CostCo Wholesale | $112.64 | Issaquah WA |
| WV | West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. | $1.38 | Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $1.24 | Morgantown WV |
| WI | Johnson Controls Inc. | $42.73 | Johnson Controls Inc. | $42.82 | Milwaukee WI |
| WY | Cloud Peak Energy Inc. | $1.39 | Cloud Peak Energy Inc. | $1.39 | Gillette WY |