How to make a lowball offer a seller will ACCEPT! 

James May wants his shirt back

I got a free car. On the test drive the seller was driving and the timing belt broke. I didnt need the engine since I had a swap for it. I only said. Well I dont think I could do 1k now. He said . i will sign the title. Just take it. Beat that Ed 😂

1-I sold my car. 2-how bad was it ? 1-I sold it to Ed 2-im so sorry

Its always fun lowballing, until it happens to you... 25 times a day....

There's the car, there's the title and there's the money. Nobody gets to have all three. Best car buy advice ever. More people should listen to it.

Ed could walk up to anyone and manage to buy their house with the money in his pocket

I'm going to use this strategy next time I ask out a girl because I'm essentially low balling her

This 100% works for buying cheap cars off FB and CL as well. It's the same way I've been doing it for years. If the seller has your word that they'll never hear from you again after you've driven away, that's worth $$ to them. Keep in mind you have to seem trustworthy and be persuasive.

Bought a 66 mustang a few days ago using similar strategies, guy was asking 8500 and would absolutely not take 7k for it, after shrewd negotiations we met smack dab in the middle at 7k

4:30 "After some negotiation, we met right in the middle at my orignal offer." Golden

I'm Ed Bolian, and this is my MasterClass.

Step 1: Do not message a complete stranger with an offer of 40% what they're asking without ever even looking at the car.

I would pay to watch Ed trying to buy and sell his car to himself.

I love how ed grew up as a utter hooligan but turned into the calm cool collected man we see in front of us today...gives me hope for myself

You had me at “Don’t listen to this”

You just gave away almost 50 percent of exotic car hacks info that they charge for and he’s the sponsor lmao

I just bought my first car. I shrewdly negotiated a 1959 Morris Minor from $999 to $500. It's my dream car and I now own it.

Being friendly, approachable and most of all, flexible, will get you into many great deals. I went once to pick up an RX-7 and as I was loading the car on my trailer noticed a motorcycle in the garage and asked about it. "Oh, you like bikes?", he said. "I don't ride anymore. You can have it." Not the first time!

Shrewd Negotiation is the sworn enemy of "no lowballers, I know what I have"

Last time I was this early Ed still held the Cannonball Record.

All the dislikes are from people Ed has purchased cars from

How to lowball: Say you have money in hand, and meet them ASAP

Lowballed a svt lightning for 6k, lowkey felt bad but god damn driving back with 3k extra in hand felt like a victory

Finally, some of the shrewd negotiating tips are being shared with the masses.

Step 1: There are no lowball offers, only shrewd offers from here on out.

"DONT USE THIS ADVICE TO BUY A REGULAR USED CAR" Me: Turns back around from car max :'(

Last time I was this early, truckers had rules to follow.

Ed being himself for 13 minutes straight

Ed has mastered the art of faking sincerity

All in all that's what I'm doing, I'm trying to get dead electric smart EVs, as they are my hobby. But I seem to be the only guy who knows about the problems they are going to have: • Last year a owner was insulted after I told him it's going to have a problem and there won't be any replacement parts for it as it's the generation made by Tesla. Asked about it a few weeks ago again. As he told me, it broke a few weeks after I called him and he then scraped it as there where no replacement parts.. • An other smart EV (3rd gen) I tried to get, the dealer was furious about my offer. Even tho he's trying to sell a smart with a dead HV battery. I told him what it's worth and he laughed at me. That's been 3 months ago. He's still trying to find somebody who's offering more than I did.. So what is the right thing to do after I qualified myself, told him that I know everything about it and am still trying to get it. They think I'm a jerk who knows nothing and ignore me.

Any time I see a VinWiki video that has Ed in front of the camera 1 question enters my mind: "how many times am I going to hear the word shrewd?"

Ed's gonna be the greatest grandpa ever. Think of the stories he'll be able to tell his grandkids.

I was always taught when buying cars especially you show up with cash as soon as someone sees that money in hand they'll tend to accept a lower offer

What you do is an art Ed, I will probably never have a need to use this technique but its fascinating to see how you do it. I'd love to see your ideas on more practical negotiation.

Tune in tomorrow to see what our panel of RU-vidrs and car experts would buy for a theoretical budget of $35k

I’ve been in the business for 15 years and this is the best negotiating tactic for a specialty car I’ve ever seen given...then again ed could sell ice to an Eskimo

For the budget videos, what if you did each person’s “dream three car garage”

I think you linking the RUF is actually a perfect example to those who are new to your car buying stories. To those of us who have watched those videos the whole time, we already kinda knew it because most of it was either directly stated or just basically evident from all your stories, but RUF story is the perfect example for those who are new to this. When you called you already knew what exact RUF it was, that it was at the dealership for a long time, what hurdles they had with dealership, how RUFs are rare and nobody knows about them and what can and will go wrong in a car that wasn't touched for so long, additionally you managed to talk the seller into removing the listing, which ultimately gives you the leverage as if other people would be calling him he might have heard a higher offer. So if you're new to Ed's car buying stories and tips, I'd definitely recommend giving RUF video a watch.

Ed is lowkey a sales psychologist

If I cross my eyes I can see a Lambo in Ed’s shirt.

I sold my e46 m3 in 2020 for $8k and this video fits the transaction to a T. The car was a 6MT coupe with 110k miles and no mechanical issues but was developing a few cosmetic problems and I had a problem getting title issued so I was really worried about selling. The buyer did the exact things in this video- named all the known problems, eased my fears, made an offer and stuck to it. At a time when these cars were going for 20k I was happy to let it go for 8k because I felt at ease with the buyer and knew the car was going to a good home.

Love all the stories you and your guest tell!

Beat tip for buying is you have friends call the seller up and pretend to be interested and not show up or they show up and make stupid low offer, the seller after a while gets so annoyed that when you show up later with cash in your hand and make a decent offer he says sure, “I just want to get rid of it!”. Worked great for me

This is absolutely how I buy cars. I just bought a beautiful El Camino for 50-60% of what I could turn around and immediately resell it for. Combine a bad listing from a seller that's not knowledgeable with all the tips Ed put in this video and you get yourself a deal. Like he said, it's always a risk. I drove two states away to buy a car with a transmission that's slipping. When I got there the car was even better than described, looked better than the ad pictures, and had good upgrades the seller hadn't mentioned. But I already had my lowball offer accepted by the seller before driving 4 hours. "I'm planning on driving the car home tomorrow if you'll sell it for $XXXX and if your pictures and description describe the car halfway accurately. I've got cash in hand and a ride lined up, if the price is right." I got an awesome deal and it turned out all the car needed was a quart of transmission fluid. But even if it needed a whole new transmission, my offer accounted for it and the seller knew that my offer was based on worst-case-scenario. In the world of cars or other junk you're buying from facebook marketplace, the words the seller wants to hear are "I have the money in hand and I can leave to come buy it in the next ten minutes." Then you throw in "if you'll agree to a price of $XXXX." If they've been dealing with a lot of no-call no-shows or bad lowballers with no commitment, you'll get your deal more often than not.

Thanks ed. This is the perfect video for me to watch being im going to a dealer to buy a local subaru thats been around for awhile. Its listed for 12,960 but im paying 10. Wish me luck.

I'm amazed - I'm doing these things when shopping for a car even thought I'm not in the car business of any sort.

Bang on, Ed. Great advice, and not just for cars. I've done the same with bicycles, kitchen mixers, power tools-- anything where you can acquire and leverage knowledge in solving common problems.

This reminds me of the D.E.N.N.I.S system from Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I'd retort by saying this is good advice for any car deal. It works. Liability is any seller's bane. Look at it, know the problems it might have and tell the seller about the problems and repair costs most of which the seller probably doesn't even know, tell them "I'll buy this today for X$, and I understand if it has issues or breaks on my way home and I commit to that risk. Hey, it's a used car right? That's my problem and not yours. I'm buying this for myself and I will fix those issues and treat it well. I do the work myself anyway so I'll enjoy the project if it needs to be done. We can go to my bank and get cash in person if you'd like." and the seller will often agree to getting a little less cash today rather than letting who-knows-who drive their precious vehicle on a test drive tomorrow.

I was waiting for this thanks guys!

Completely agree. The thing a seller hates the most is someone low balling you from behind a screen having never seen the car. The commitment to ask questions online or through phone first, Ask to see the car, arrive on time and being thorough In the inspection put the buyer at ease and shows you're serious. Once that lowball comes they welcome it with open arms

I think a good idea for a show/ series would be to record the audio of a real transaction and then transcribe it in a video for us. Kinda how Doug DeMuro did for his OG GTR Carmax video. We all want to hear exactly how a shrew negation goes down from one of the internets best.

"Regardless, they aren't going to hate you for it. And that's what's all about" words to live by

Ed, would you be willing to do a video on how you do your research to prepare your low-ball offer? I've had mixed results in researching "What are the likely things to go wrong with car 'x' when it has 'y' miles on it". I'm betting that you know about a wealth of resources or methods for finding out about a given car that you decide to look into. Thanks for considering it and thanks for all that you do for the car community!

I mean that's fine and all but I've found this system to work best for me. D - DEMONSTRATE VALUE E - ENGAGE PHYSICALLY N - NURTURE DEPENDENCE N - NEGLECT EMOTIONALLY I - INSPIRE HOPE S - SEPARATE ENTIRELY

These are some great tips. I used most of these a couple of weeks ago for a few bike. Got about 30% off asking price.

This is incredibly useful for our Managing Editor who desperately wants an E38 7-Series...

Surprising I haven’t seen an ad with “P.S. Ed, don’t bother calling” at the end

works great for rare/weird cars. did the same for a lotus elise in the fall even with a dealer, we did a trade (the car was one of the dealer's employees personal cars so basically person to person) and pretty much came down to "you dont complain about little things you find in my car after purchase, and I wont complain about things I find" had a solid deal even after giving a super low ball and walking away, got called back and bought the car. Im happy with it and they sold my car quickly, and the lotus has increased in value so Id say my first "exotic" purchase could have been worse.

I do the exact same things when buying electronics to repair and resell. A lot of the sellers I've dealt with were more interested in getting things done quickly with no BS and similarly someone who knows what they are talking about. Always a few people who had unrealistic expectations and refused to budge on price but I always kept an open offer for when it sits for a month or two and inevitably just want to get rid of it..

Couldn't agree more. This is what I have learned from when I was a kid buying cars with my dad. Still use the same tactics to this day.

this is brilliant! My pal wanted a 911 for a deal but wanted an inspection and the guy to take it to them etc... if your offer is low it needs to be the least hassle for the seller!!

A lot of people don't really care lmao. I had my mustang for sale and the guy low-balled me and I just said nah dude I ain't going that low and he gave up and paid me right about what I wanted.

Important theme to this, like Ed explained in beginning, this is really for cars out of warranty, probably older German cars or exotic (ferrari, lambo, bentley, aston etc.). Most dealers (I've worked in exotic retail for a decade now) typically only have 10 year old cars or less due to being able to sell them with a warranty. the whole negotiation would stop right away as I would just be like "it is certified dude... you're good"

ED with the ol ‘If I can will you’. The commitment is everything. When looking to buy cheap used cars the most powerful thing you can say is ‘ I will come get it right now for x” but you HAVE to mean it, and you have to be ready.

If you have any other questions that I didn't address here, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.

great negotiation video! really appreciate the lesson, thanks!

This is the best informational video you have made yet. Thank you for this!

Great advice. Keep up the great content. This is my favorite RU-vid channel.

Brilliantly well thought out advice. Thanks for the video.

I just watched this video after buying R129 SL600 and got an amazing deal -- and wow, did this match exactly what I did.

Ed - I wish I was able to use you to buy my cars for me. I would have saved so much money on previous purchases if I had.

I would love to hear how to deal with an insurance company that low balls you on a total loss. Currently going through this with the thieves at Safe Auto. Ugh

Amazing info. I've seen a certain lambo relisted for years and if it can stay one more I'll be having a chat with those guys.

A full commitment’s what I’m asking for.

Just just bought a large SUV with significant savings from a larger dealer out of state. I did all that Ed mentioned and it turned out to be a great deal money wise. However, getting the vehicle shipped to me is another issue. I never knew how difficult it can be to have a car shipped from a neighboring state. If I am lucky, it might be picked up today - about 6 days after I wanted I picked up. This would be a good topic to hear Ed or someone on VINWiki talk about. What is the most reliable way to ship a vehicle, safely.

Seems to apply well to regular cars that need work too. Last car I flipped I made the issues known, offered my price and I didn't budge. When I made my offer I said I had the cash now and I don't have to run off to a bank or go think about it. You snooze you lose! A friend of mine was bought out from under because he didn't have the cash on hand and waited till he next day.

This is good advice for boats, too. And perhaps even just more generally applicable, since boats are a buyer's market the majority of the time.

I just did this with my new used bmw. Except I paid his full asking price because I already felt like it was a deal. He threw in new tires, a weighted shifter and lasagna with his family as a thank you for not attempting to talk him down on price. I love it and I'm glad he didn't sell to anyone else.

I've been waiting for this forever. I actually did this recently when I bought a little shitbox commuter in between nice vehicles. Cut 700 dollars off of a car at a mom and pop dealer. Paid 4k cash lol.

Ed, I saw your Lamborghini today in Clarkesville but you were nowhere to be found. I hope you drove out and enjoyed the Mtn roads while you were up here. I could have shown you a few you may be unaware of.

That "Car,money,title" thing got me!

I believe I've used this exact method with the caprice classics I've owned. Just did this exact method, except I didn't know it was a method, when I just bought my second 96 dggm caprice that had a rare towing option.

"This is how I buy cars and that's what you asked me to talk about." Indeed my friend!

Damn! These are also great tips for negotiating a job offer!!

Wow I could’ve used this yesterday shrewdly negotiating for a G550 from a dentist

I’m selling atm. Thanks Ed, now I can spot the low ballers tactics if they are used on me.

Gotta love Ed. So enthusiastic.

Excellent analysis Ed. I'd been negotiating locally on a specific vehicle for over a year and got nowhere. With all my finances correct I decided to expand my geographic area in the middle of this pandemic. Long Island, NY had the exact vehicle in the exact color, a 3 year old leftover with 19 miles. Of course they were asking similar money as my local dealer but offered them exactly what I had offered the local dealer. "Call you back in 5 minutes" they said, and we closed within 7 days, right in the middle @ my initial offer(23% off). Empty plane to NY later and rode it back to Florida. Is it wrong of me to order parts from the Florida dealer who still has his in inventory? ⁉️

God this video brings back so many memories. I miss my 93' accord se so bad. All those gold accents.

Great advise! This can also be applied to, boats, airplanes, and heavy machines.

Saw you in the Lambo near Gainesville last Saturday. Love the Green color in person.

I think everyone should hear this as I have learned it. The law in Indiana as it pertains to used vehicle sales is this: "All motor vehicle sales in the state of Indiana are as is where is unless otherwise stipulated by contract or warranty". Meaning as soon as you sign the title it's 100% your car, your problem, and your responsibility. This does not however apply to dealers which must get you to sign a contract that specifically says "as is". Other states may be different I don't know but this is something many people struggle with thinking they have recourse after they suffer from buyer's remorse.

He's right about car lots worrying about you coming back on them for a problem that's how I got a newer F-150 for 6000 under Blue Book. It had a front end wobble and I assured them that I knew about it and I was going to fix it I wasn't the type to come back and complain it was as is. I also knew the truck didn't have enough air in the tires and they needed rotated wobble gone and it's been a great truck LOL

Hey, i admire how you do your stuff, i wanna learn more..bro How can you keep the seller on the phone after your lowball FIRST pitch? I asked coz they typically hang up..rapport is not enough TIA

great advice for me as I buy cars like this. I love broken stuff because I can upgrade

I was waiting for this video. Soon I will be purchasing my first vehicle...

I basically did this on a 2017 RS7 that had originated in Canada (gray market) from a dealer in Georgia before and during the Pandemic. I gave them a firm written CASH offer for my price which was basically high wholesale or $5K below their ASKING price. They did not accept... initially. Sometimes the dealers will sell a car to someone else for the number they are "hoping to get". No issue and they SHOULD get what they wanted IF the market supports it. In this case this dealer delayed until after COVID was occurring and then tried to come back with a number "in-between" to which my answer was the same. $72K cash out the door for a '17 RS7 Performance edition with 18M miles I didn't hear from them that day or the next or ...but about a day AFTER I had bought another car and nearing 3 weeks into COVID, they called me up AGAIN wanting to "do a deal". Even though I had already bought a very similar car (but not a performance model), I listened and asked "So, your accepting the $72K and I'll be down there in a day" to which they answered, "Well no we still need $2K more than that" to which I stated, "you obviously don't understand what the offer was". I told them I was done with their sales games after nearly 3 months and that ...by the way I already bought another car but was still willing to have also bought this one IF they would have honored the original offer at the TIME I had made that offer. C'est La Vie

Just bought 2 cars this month, from the same seller using these techniques, they work. Paid 50% off retail on one and 30% on the other.

I got my 97 volvo V70 that way, i had like 1300 bucks to spend but the dealer wanted 1650. I told him what could go wrong and that people could come after him thru the consumer protection agency if the engine had issues or the gearbox failed. I said i would pay 1200 and not come after him for any repairs. At the time it was way below what the car was worth on the private sellers market. But he agreed to the price to just get the car off his lot and not deal with any issues.