Women are driving through the glass ceiling…
thanks to income and personal wealth equality sparked by a desire to have a luxury car in their garage.
WHY?
because the current new car market has limited inventory, reduced or non-existent rebates and incentives and inflated prices…
so the new world thinking is…
- By doing your homework: CARFAX/ AUTOCHECK /NHTSA (Fact: woman car buyers are exceptional researchers!) this will weed out future problems.
- The higher quality car will retain more of it’s value.
- The cars sold by legitimate dealerships will be trouble-free or less trouble-some and will have quality extended service contracts.
- The dealerships personnel will treat them with respect.
- Leasing a luxury used car keeps the payment and down payment low and shortens the contract obligation, with tax benefits for some.*
TRUTH BE TOLD: The retaining a car’s value has a little to do with how the original owner treated the car: service driving habits, car care, but to a great extent includes things beyond the owner’s control like: market stability, production, quality-control and dealership support. Dealerships watch their used car inventory pricing very closely as a change in the market can be costly.
Consumers can make great strategic buys on used cars if they know what they want: make, model, miles, note I didn’t mention year, because when buying a USED LUXURY CAR, the miles are MORE important than the year, other than when a body style has changed.
That said, one way to protect yourself from market fluctuations, or depreciation since #1 owner took the majority of the hit, is to lease it.
Especially if you want to minimize your cash down. Trade-ins and early lease terminations are always welcome on a used luxury car buy or lease.
In fact, only high regarded dealer owners and managers are allowed to certified and licensed to offer used car leases because the banks are very selective about who they do business with on a mutual party agreement.
When shopping online, look for a notation on their website indicating “certified cars” and/or “pre-owned leases”, as this is a great indication of the level of the dealerships’ performance and respect in their business community.
Branded dealerships which sell both new and used cars are busy trying to get certified to offer attractive pre-owned leases, which minimize the down payment and incentivize the interest rate to help make such vehicles affordable.
Women car shoppers and women car buyers are acutely aware of the nuances of car shopping in the traditional dealership, where salesmen are typically rude or uneducated on their product.
Not so on most luxury car lots, where the salespeople spend hours in training to be tested and certified BEFORE they can sell a used BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi or Jaguar. Most sales professionals in these dealerships are car nuts, educated and enthusiastic about their own product as well as the competition’s features and benefits.
The biggest change in the Used Luxury Car landscape is the low number of women selling cars of this luxury car type. I’m NOT saying you should only buy a car from a woman, (but it does help sometimes.)
However, female car buyers everywhere should feel comfortable with the entire dialogue and transaction from start to finish, not because of the gender of the salesperson, but with the way the dealership demonstrates respect and sensitivity towards you, the woman car buyer.
The fact woman are buying and leasing luxury used cars more than ever, is a welcome clientele to all luxury dealerships.
Times… they are a changing.
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Sarah Lee is an automotive writer, personal car concierge and commercial fleet manager. She also provides social media services to Gaudin Jaguar-Porsche-Fisker in Las Vegasa, NV.
If you need free advice on your car problem, question, issue, contact her at sarahlee@mycarlady.com,mvides422@gmail.com,carlady@cox.net for a confidential conversation. She has over 22+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. MyCarlady offers private, auto-related services to help you maintain your personal or commercial vehicles. Call Sarah Lee for more information: 702-521-7546
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