Car buying Guide

[kenstogie]

Sorry for the l o n g post but...

Buying a new car? Well here's a couple articles I found that MAY help or may not. I think it's worth the read as it seems to me to be unbiased. But Hey I invite your comments on it. Did it miss something? Does it have a hidden agenda?
Heres the links and some comments from the peanut gallery.....


http://www.negotiationtraining.com.a...iate-car-deal/

http://iknowtom.blogspot.com/2007/04...p-by-step.html

--Some banks and credit Unions (USAA for example) offer a service where they will negotiate the best price on a vehicle for you. They did this for me when I bought a new truck and they got a better price than what the online guides like Edmunds said I should expect to pay for the vehicle. You just call them up tell them the make/model and options you want. They get back to you in 48 hours with the best price on vehicles that meet your criteria. Then go to the dealer with the sheet they emailed you and sign the papers. I got a good interest rate no my loan too. Maybe a thrifty person could have negotiated another 1 or 2 hundred off the price but the no-hassle experience is worth more than that to me.

--As a finance manager at a dealership, here's my advise to car buyer. Pay your bills on time. Live within your means. And don't be a dick. Pay your bills on time makes it easier to get financing at good rates. That means not just your car bills, but also your credit cards and medical shit as well. Better credit=better monthly payments. Live within your means, translates to "No Skeeter you can not afford a $900 on a new 300C with $1800 worth of income". Most banks allow for 15-20% of your income to go to your car payment. Don't be a dick means be nice, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That doesn't mean don't be firm, but i love screwing you more if your mean to mean, just human nature sorry.

Steps to getting the lowest price on any car:

1. Send an email to every dealer in your area asking for a quote on Car X, with all the details on the options you want.
2. Take the lowest price you got from that round of emails, then email every other dealer asking if they can beat it.
3. Repeat until the price stops going down.
4. Walk onto lot, sign papers, drive away.

--When it comes to buying a car, the best weapon is *always* playing dealers against each other. Don't waste time with anything else.

--This article is part of that smoke an mirrors... There is No such thing as a 'smart buy' from an auto dealer. Even the whole 'invoice pricing' thing is a complete sham designed to appease people who like to think they're 'gaming the system' (when in fact, the dealers are still making plenty of money... not quite as much, but your still their customer, and their illusion that they are the only source for nice vehicles remains intact).

--you are taking the "stealing" part of this way too seriously. of course the dealers will still make money off the sale, but these tips will help you dig into their margins a little.

--this article does seem to be missing a whole bunch though. there is no mention of quotas, which can make car salesmen more eager to sell at the end of months. also the financing section was completely useless. I don't know about australia where this article is from, but in the US half the business of selling cars is financing. if you have cash in the us, try to get your deal sweetened by going through with financing and then pay your loan off right away.

--This is coming from a sales manager here. A couple of tips to add - I didn't see them in the article, but they are normally included in a lot of 'how to buy a car' literature - I'm just going to edit them a little.

A lot of guides say make sure to establish outside financing before going to a dealership because your interest rate will be lower and it'll be less hassle. Actually - it is more of a hassle due to the multiple trips to the bank. It is good to establish outside funding only if you have good credit. If you can't be lent money to buy a can of coke, let the dealership go up to bat for you. Most of the time dealerships have huge pull with creditors directly tied to their car brand. Most car brands have their own financing banks (sometimes internal sometimes not, ie, Subaru = Chase) that are more willing to lend you money and easier to get approved with rather than a bank by yourself.

The other tip is, never walk into a dealership saying you've got cash and expect to get the best price simply because you have cash. Somewhere someone thought it was a good idea to start saying that to get the best price - when really we don't care how the car is paid for, as long as it is actually paid for. Also this phrase is way over played "Well, I'm the one with the money right?" - and we're the one with the car you want. Stop being a smart ass.

--Actually, it is better to pretend like you are going to finance with them (please don't lie) while negotiating price. My lot will go a couple grand under cost if they smell a lucrative loan.

--I work at a used car dealership as a gopher after high school. This is all so true. The only way to buy is to hate your target car when negotiating price (always keeping a fake rather-have in the conversation,) and then providing your own financing. Cash or a separate credit line is the best way to go.

NEVER EVER pick a car for the monthly payment. If you cannot secure a loan away from the dealer, love the car after settling on a price. There will be a way to get the payments where you want if need be. I know someone that is going to end up paying $48k on a $27k minivan after interest.

New cars, buy at the end of the month (February is best,) cause most dealers have a quota from the manufacturers to meet. My family got a 2007 EX-L Accord for invoice price minus holdback. The only thing the dealer made was a $200 doc fee and the Feb quota.

--The best place to start looking for used cars is at a brokerage where nobody is on commission. i.e. some place like http://www.theimportwarehouse.com If you buy new, you are already throwing away your money in depreciation, I sure hope it's worth your car being 30% less valuable than what you paid for it just because it's 2 years newer than a used car and has 30K less miles on it. There are a good majority of used cars still under factory warranty, find a good brokerage that doesn't charge any dealer fees and you can pick one up easily. Stop buying cars from dealerships that have been doing business the exact same way for 40 years.

Yes I do work for a brokerage, no I don't make commission, and yes I do sell a lot of cars and have a lot of referral business.

--He says two things that I don't agree with:

1. "In reality, trying to negotiate below the invoice price, leaving the dealer with their holdback price is highly unlikely."

False. Go in on a weekend, tell them him how much you want to pay. You know what they bought the car for, they will lie and tell you it was more. Quote the invoice price. Quote the hold back and say "I'm willing to buy the car for this amount." If your price is below invoice but still gives them some of the hold back they'll bite. If they don't at first test drive it, grind it out, keep hitting it home that you want the car for this price. If he won't bite take his card and tell him you'll be back next weekend. Come back the next weekend, find the same salesman and start negotiating again. Same thing over again.

2. "Legitimate charges include:
* Factory delivery charges."

No. Not if the car is on the lot already. If you go into best buy to buy a bigscreen tv, do they want you to pay for shipping charges to get it to the store in the first place? It's a cost of doing business. They want cars on the lot to draw customers in. Refuse to pay it. If you're going to pay destination charges, why buy one on the lot that has been test driven by other people? Every stranger who has test driven that car, ever chance they've had to sell it before you got there, was the reason they should pay destination charges. It doesn't matter to you what vin number your car has, along as its the model and options you want, but if you're going to pay destination charges it better be for a car that has never been farted in by some stranger.

[Mr.Maduro]

Glad I found this....

I'm actually in the market for a new SUV and any/every tip helps. It can be a stressful process trying not to get ripped off.

Anyone else with tips please feel free to post them here. Thanks.

[bigben]

I pit dealers against eachother on my MazdaSPEED6, stick was 29070, FIRST OFFER was 22,289 and i got it for 21,950... well worth the effort!

[Mark C]

Originally Posted by bigben

I pit dealers against eachother on my MazdaSPEED6, stick was 29070, FIRST OFFER was 22,289 and i got it for 21,950... well worth the effort!

I did the same thing with my Speed3. Haggled with one dealer, then called another and got him to beat the first guy's price. First guy ended up matching Second Guy's price, good thing cause he was a helluva lot closer to me.

[catfish]

Thank you for the info. It is deffinitely usefull info. I will put it to use at some point.

[billybarue]

Thanks for the info. Also in the market for an SUV (like Patrick). I wanted to get an 07' with 0% for 60 months, but the wife couldn't stand the interior of the ones that were left. I might have been so focused on the 0% that I probably would have bought off on a gad deal so it is probably for the best.

Good info on USAA, I will definately get them to do some work for me on this.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by billybarue

Thanks for the info. Also in the market for an SUV (like Patrick). I wanted to get an 07' with 0% for 60 months, but the wife couldn't stand the interior of the ones that were left. I might have been so focused on the 0% that I probably would have bought off on a gad deal so it is probably for the best.

Good info on USAA, I will definately get them to do some work for me on this.

I've read that is better to concentrate on a lower price first than lower interest. Regardless of your interest rate (you could be paying cash), the cost of the car is what you paid for it... You work on interest rates after.

I too, am looking for a car this spring. I am buyin a used car still under factory warranty though. My last two cars were new, but I don't want to lease this time around.