hen a car salesman stands up in the middle of a negotiation and says, “I have to talk to my manager,” automotive expert Zac Smith says the buyer should understand that the pause may be doing more than simply moving numbers from one desk to another.
Smith, host of The Car Guy Chronicles With Zac, said that after 28 years on the sales side of the auto business, he has seen how time, uncertainty and physical pressure inside a dealership can all be used to make a customer more likely to accept a deal they might reject if they were looking at it calmly from home.
“The wait is not an accident,” Smith said, arguing that the trip to the manager is often part of a larger sales structure designed to control the pace of the negotiation and keep the customer invested in the process.
His advice is simple: once the salesperson leaves to “talk to the manager,” the buyer does not need to remain trapped in the office waiting for the next number.
Smith Says The Delay Creates Anxiety
According to Smith, the basic psychology behind the tactic is that uncertainty makes buyers uncomfortable, and uncomfortable buyers often begin compromising before the salesperson even returns.
Once the salesman leaves the room, Smith said, customers may start wondering whether they offended someone, whether the deal is falling apart, whether another buyer is about to purchase the car, or whether their own offer was unreasonable.
“Nobody needs 15 minutes to walk 20 feet, ask one question, and walk back,” Smith said.
He described the extended wait as theater and argued that the real purpose is often to create fear of losing the deal.
As the minutes pass, buyers can begin negotiating against themselves, mentally preparing to raise their offer or accept terms they did not originally want simply because they are anxious for the process to move forward.
By the time the salesperson returns with some version of “I really went to bat for you,” Smith said the buyer may be more relieved that the conversation has resumed than focused on whether the numbers actually make sense.
That is an important distinction because relief can feel like progress even when the financial terms have barely improved.
The Longer You Stay, The More Leverage The Dealership Has
Smith said time itself can become one of the strongest tools in a dealership’s favor.
A customer may arrive during a lunch break or give up an entire Saturday to shop, then spend hours moving between test drives, appraisals, financing discussions and paperwork while children wait nearby or a spouse starts asking when they are coming home.
By that point, Smith said, the buyer may no longer be trying to get the best deal.
They may simply want the experience to end.
“The longer you’re physically inside that building, the more leverage they have over you,” he said.
Smith compared the dynamic to long timeshare presentations, where the amount of time already invested makes people less willing to walk away empty-handed.
The longer the process drags on, the easier it becomes to think, “I’ve already spent four hours here, so I might as well finish.”
That is where a normal negotiation can turn into an endurance test.
His Advice: Leave And Let Them Call You
Smith said buyers can remove much of that pressure by simply leaving the dealership while the salesperson and manager continue working on the numbers.
His suggested response is straightforward: “That sounds good. Here’s my number. Call or text me when you’ve got something. I don’t need to sit here while you do that.”
Then, he said, stand up.
The buyer can wait in the car, grab coffee nearby or go home and finish the negotiation remotely.
Smith argued that nothing about the manager conversation requires the customer to remain physically present because the discussion is about numbers, and numbers can be sent by text, email or phone.
Once the buyer leaves, they can compare competing offers, speak with someone they trust or sleep on the decision before committing tens of thousands of dollars.
That is one of the strongest points in Smith’s argument: a car purchase is a major financial decision, yet dealership routines can make it feel as though the customer has to resolve everything in one exhausting afternoon.
Walking away restores time to think.
“Today Only” Pricing Should Raise Questions
Smith also warned buyers not to be intimidated by claims that a price is only available if they stay and sign immediately.
“If they genuinely want to sell you that car, that deal will still be there tomorrow,” he said.
Smith argued that if an offer suddenly disappears the moment a customer walks out, that should make the customer question how firm or genuine the offer was in the first place.
He also pushed back on the claim that dealerships cannot provide their “best number” unless the customer is standing in the showroom.
Smith compared that argument to buying airline tickets or shopping for a mortgage, where customers routinely receive pricing without physically sitting in front of the seller.
A vehicle has a known cost and margin, he said, and those numbers do not fundamentally change because the customer is sitting three miles away on their couch.
In his view, insisting that the customer remain inside the dealership has more to do with maintaining pressure than with calculating price.
Keep Trade-In Negotiations Separate
Smith’s broader message also ties into another dealership tactic he has warned about: blending several parts of the transaction together until the buyer loses track of what each number actually means.
He advises buyers to lock down the out-the-door price of the vehicle before discussing a trade-in.
His preferred line is, “I want to focus on one thing only — the out-the-door figure: price, tax and fees.”
Then, if the dealership tries to pull the conversation toward the trade too early, Smith recommends saying, “I’m not talking trade until we have a price in writing.”
The reason, he said, is that dealerships can make a weak trade-in offer look more attractive by adjusting the new-car price, or make the purchase price appear stronger by shifting money elsewhere in the deal.
Separating each part makes it much easier to see whether the customer is actually getting a fair price.
That approach is especially useful because car deals often become confusing once purchase price, trade value, financing, monthly payment and fees are all being discussed at once.
Smith Says Buyers Should Control The Clock
Smith repeatedly emphasized that salespeople are not necessarily dishonest people, but many are trained inside systems that have been refined over decades.
He described dealership sales structures built around ideas like isolating the customer, controlling the pace and getting a number on paper before the customer leaves.
Once buyers recognize that structure, he said, the experience becomes easier to manage because they stop treating every pause or delay as a personal moment in the negotiation.
Instead, they can focus on the actual numbers and remove themselves when the environment starts working against them.
“You are never obligated to sit in that office while someone else decides your price behind a closed door,” Smith said.
His recommendation is to make the offer, leave the dealership and let the salesperson contact you when management has a response.
That may feel unusual to buyers who are used to sitting through hours of back-and-forth, but Smith argues that walking out is not rude and does not end the negotiation.
It simply changes who controls the pace.
And when the purchase involves a five-figure commitment, having enough distance to think clearly may be worth far more than whatever pressure is created by another 15 minutes waiting for the manager to come back.
