The Used Car

In this negotiation, I played the role of the buyer of the car, Mazda MX - 6 from Francesco, who played the role of the seller. The task involved negotiating for the right price for the used car.

When I was planning for the negotiation the most important criteria was that the car must certainly have all those specifications which the 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport was offering. That is, an air conditioning, AM/FM stereo, 6-cylinder engine and the mileage should be the same or more than the Jeep. Also, I had firmly decided to buy the Mazda under all circumstances and not go in for the jeep, as it would certainly turn out to be a better proposition than the jeep. Moreover, I had mentally prepared myself for the fact that looking at the gravity of the situation, it was more important for me to buy a car right now than go for the vacation. I can always postpone the vacation or go for a smaller vacation with lesser money. Therefore, I wanted to buy the car within the budget of $4700 for sure. However, I thought that if the seller would offer some really good deal, I would take a loan for that amount as the interest will not be too much. However, the upper limit I had set was $ 5500. For this amount, I had thought of taking a loan to the tune of $ 1500 and pay the interest of about $200 from my savings.

I had to negotiate with Francesco, who was selling me a Mazda MX-6 car in very good condition. It had all the features that the jeep had, i.e. an air conditioning, automatic transmission, 6-cylinder engine, 5 doors and the same mileage as the jeep. Besides it certainly had a good brand image to go with it. As we started negotiating, Francesco made the first offer of selling the car at $8000. When I heard the amount I was taken by shock as my first offer said $3000. When I told Francesco that I could not afford this amount for a used car as I was getting a better deal for much lesser amount elsewhere, he immediately came down to $ 6000, saying that it was in very good condition. However, then I told him about the alternative I have before me of buying a jeep at $ 3800 so I told him that I could not go beyond that amount. Hearing this, Francesco came down to $5000 and said that now he would not budge from his position. Then I told him that I was getting just $4000 of insurance money so I could not afford more than that. I also told him that I have small children who insist on being taken on a vacation and I have just $700 savings for that and I can't give that to you. However the next offer Francesco made was only $4900, followed by $4700. Between these two offers I made an offer equivalent to the aspiration point i.e. $4200. I thought I would go on a vacation for just $500. Thereafter, Francesco told me that he wanted to buy a new Chrysler car for $4700 after selling off his Mazda. So I told him that we should come in a consensus in such a manner that none of us fall short of money. I said that I am getting $4000 cash from the insurance company and he needs $4700 worth cash. Therefore I said that he should