HAGGLING FOR DOLLARS

Tip:

When you walk into a car dealership,you know you're going tospend time looking for the bestprice you can get. But when theshowroom haggling is over, you'llbe led into the finance department,where many car buyers get taken tothe cleaners without saying a word.Recent class action lawsuits againstthe finance subsidiaries of many carmakers, including GM and Ford,reveal that dealers often bump upthe interest rate on car loans asmuch as 5% over the minimum rateacceptable to the lender. The extracash gets split between the dealerand the lender. The interestrate on your car loan is as negotiableas the price. Also, since thedealer is 1 step away from a donedeal, hinting that you might walkgives you a lot of clout.