At the car dealership we call this trick “Pull The Keys” (car lingo). Let me back up a little, there are times when a car salesman is in negotiations with a customer and they have been going at it for a while with very little movement when they use this car dealer trick.
The car salesman or the Sales Manager will have another car salesman come out to the desk where they are negotiating and ask for the keys to the car they are haggling over. The other salesman will say that they have a customer that is interested and they want to take it for a test drive. The customer may speak up and say “I am buying that car” and the negotiating salesman asks the customer are you buying the car or are we still negotiating? The customer answers that they are still working out the details.
Harmless Car Dealer Trick or Car Scam
So the other salesman takes the keys and shows the car to another customer, but usually the salesman takes the car around back of the car dealership so it is out of sight from the customer. This car dealer trick will very often make the customer become more flexible in their negotiating and quickly come to an agreement. However this car dealer trick does not work on everyone.
Car Dealer Trick to Get a Commitment
This car dealer trick will very often push the car buyer off the fence they are straddling if they were serious. When a customer is negotiating, but not really ready to buy they will also show their real intentions. There are times, although rare when a customer is interested in a car that another customer is negotiating on and it has the same results. On a couple occasions over the years I have seen the second customer actually buy the car that someone else was trying to sell. Sometimes the first customer thinks it is a car scam and that it is not fair, but it the car business the first customer with the money gets it…PERIOD.
So just for your information, sometimes this can be a car dealer trick and sometimes it could be a serious customer. It is often very hard for you as the customer to know if the car dealer is trying to trick them or not. This car dealer trick works the best when a customer is buying the car with emotion. The thought of losing the car they want makes them much easier to deal with.