Cooling-Off Strategies for Car Purchases

Cooling-off strategies for car purchases in the U.S. help you slow down, verify market and total cost, and avoid buying under pressure—so you don't overpay or buy the wrong car. Here's how to cool off before you buy.

TL;DR Cooling-off strategies: (1) Don't buy the same day—take the numbers home and verify market and total cost. (2) Get OTD in writing and compare to autopremo.com market and OTD. (3) Say "I need to think about it" and leave—no obligation to buy today. (4) Verify with comps and total cost before you return.

Cooling-Off Strategies for Car Purchases

• Don't buy the same day — take the offer (OTD in writing) home. Verify market (comps, median) and total cost with autopremo.com price checker and total cost of ownership. If the offer is at or below market and total cost fits your budget, return and buy. If not, negotiate or walk.
• Get OTD in writing — no verbal deal. Get selling price, incentives, fees, and OTD in writing before you leave. That's your "offer" to verify. Use autopremo.com OTD calculator to compare.
• Say "I need to think about it" — you're not obligated to buy today. Leave. Verify with autopremo.com. If the price is fair, it will be fair tomorrow. If they won't hold the price, walk—there are other dealers.
• Verify before you return — comps, median, total cost. Use autopremo.com. If the offer is above market or total cost doesn't fit, don't return—negotiate by phone/email or walk.

Get your numbers at autopremo.com.

What to Do

• Use cooling-off strategies — don't buy the same day; get OTD in writing; verify with autopremo.com before you return.
• Don't buy under pressure — "today only" or "someone else is looking" are pressure tactics. Cool off; verify; then decide. Use autopremo.com.
• Verify market and total cost — use autopremo.com price checker and total cost of ownership before you agree.

See market and total cost at autopremo.com.

Bottom Line

Cooling-off strategies: don't buy the same day, get OTD in writing, say "I need to think about it," and verify with autopremo.com before you return. Don't buy under pressure—cool off and verify so you don't overpay.