What is your absolute tip on buying a new vehicle from a dealer.?

Question

I need to buy a new vehicle soon. But I am not a good negotiator and I get nervous just stepping in the car dealer lots. I feel they try to get the most money from me. What is your tip on buying a car? the absolute must do and must not do. I browsed some websites on tips but I like to know the real tips from real people. I am thinking a trading my old vehicle too. But not sure if I should or try to sell on my own. What do you think? Thanks a bunch.

Answer 1

First of all, walk on that car lot with a firm grip on yourself. Know what you want and work hard getting there. If you walk on a lot with the "I really don't know what I like or want", they'll take you for a loop. Request to see the invoice slip. This will give you an idea of the Wholesale cost of the car and the dealer markup. Research the car you are looking for before you even walk on the lot. Any quotes they have (down payment, trade in value, cost) ask for it in writing.
For the trade-in, do research first. Check www.nada.com (what dealers use) and www.kbb.com (kelly blue book). Get a ballpark of your trade-in value. Keep in mind that they will not give you blue book value. It's always cheaper. Just don't accept "way lower".
Just always remember this: You are the customer. They are there to service you. Not the other way around. Also, remember that you don't HAVE to buy a car at a particular lot. You have choices from the hundreds of different auto dealers.
Get this idea in your head and walk in there with this type of attitude.
Don't fall for this crap: 1. They say you have to use their financial institution. No you don't. 2. After they have given you the financial numbers, they will always ask if you can put more money down to lower the payments. Don't get suckered. The more money you put down, the more money they put in their pockets. 3. Know what the interest rate for a used car and brand new car. They will try to give you a higher interest rate.
4. If there's anything wrong with the car, ask them to fix it on "their dime". If they won't, then you demand they lower the price (unless there's an "As-Is" on the window sticker). 5. Don't fall for the extended warranty. The extended warranty is usually thousands of dollars that they tack on to your financing. However, 99 out of 100, you won't use it. Stick with the factory warranty. By the time the factory warranty runs out, you'll probably be ready to buy another car. 6. They will always pressure you with "Let's start the paperwork". Fine, you can do that, but don't sign anything until you're totally sure. 7. Ask them for an extended test drive. If they say no, then go somewhere else. Most respectable dealers will let you have extended test drives. Drive the car overnight or over the weekend and really see if you like it. While you have it at home, really look over the car 100%. Check every nook and cranny.
8. Finally, remember that you have a 3 day contract resension law that protects you. This is also called the lemon law. Keep in mind that this law is not designed to return the car if you don't like it. This law is designed that if the car is defective in a way that was not displayed or relveals, then you can return the car.
Well, there's tons more, but here's a start.

Answer 2

Know what you want. Narrow it down to 2 or 3 cars you like that are in your price range using consumer reports or websites like edumnds.com, then go see them in person. I would also limit it to only those cars offered by Scion/Toyota or Honda, it's the surest way that you aren't going to lose as much money. They cost more, because they are worth more, especially when it's time to sell or trade.

Know what rebates are offered. Don't buy a bunch of stuff you don't need. Watch for the fees. Documentary/Dealer fees <500 are common now. Destination fees are around 5-600 as well. These are typically set in stone, but you can somtimes negotiate them off of your selling price. don't pay any other fees that aren't state/county related.

If you are looking at a particularly hot item, you may not get any discounts.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER pay a so called: Adjusted Market Value fee. These are put on the window stickers by the dealer, and they are just a way to make extra dough. Sometimes they are only on the hottest items, FJ Cruisers, Priuses, Ridgelines, Solstices, (anywhere from a 1000 - 10,000 and more for exotic brands) and sometimes they are part of the dealer's pricing strategy usually just uner 1000 here.

Start with www.edmunds.com and check around there. They are a great place to start. And make sure you buy a car with excellent resale value, depreciation is by far the most expensive part of the car.

Or you can just go buy a Scion and not have to worry about anything. :-)

AND REMEMBER: You can ALWAYS get up, and leave. But you must go into the dealership armed with knowledge. I see people walk away from great deals every day because they are so scared the dealer is trying to rip them off. Sometimes the deals are still available the next month, but when the manufacturer pulls the incentives, that's it.

Answer 3

You need to learn to walk away if you are unhappy with the deal. As long as they don't have your signature on paper, you can get up and leave. DO NOT feel pressured into purchasing something you don't want. They are going to try to sell you what they have on the lot before they will go out of their way to get you what you want.

If you don't want the hassle, get an on-line quote from your dealership. Many dealerships offer no hassle/no haggle on-line quotes, it won't get you the best deal, but you tend to be safer than when you just walk into a dealership and are shadowed by a sales person.

Or go to Costco and sign up for a membership, they have an auto program where they have negotiated prices with local dealers for their members. Many of those prices are reasonable. Again not the best deal you typically can get if you know how to negotiate, but you can get a good deal through them too.

Finally, if you don't care much about color, look in the Newspaper. They have cars that dealers sell as 1 only or 2 only at this price. I prefer these vehicles since they typically are deeply discounted to get people to walk into the dealership. You just have to tell the sales person that that's the car I want. If you don't have it, walk off the lot.

Trading it in will obviously not get you anywhere near as much as if you sold it yourself, but you have to deal with people when you sell it yourself. If you are uncomfortable dealing with people trading it in will save you the hassle. Also never accept anything but HARD Cash when you sell your car. Accepting a check is only asking for trouble. If they ask will you accept a check, say only a cashier's check or money order, otherwise don't. Also make sure you send in to your Department of Motor Vehicles the Release of Liability for your vehicle. Otherwise if the person get's into an accident and the car is still registered under your name you can be in for some big headaches.

That's my 2 cents.

Answer 4

The dealer won't try to screw you until you get to the back-end of the deal (meaning time to sign the papers). By the time you get around to signing the papers you will probably have already moved the junk from your old car to the new one. Review the paperwork and make sure it conforms to the terms of your agreement with the other persons you talk to. It might not at which time the finance man will say oh oh...gee..we didn't know about that...but. You must be ready, able and willing to walk even if it means telling the dealership to bring your car back so that you can put your junk back into it to drive away. Dealers (most not all) are nothing but thieves. Keep that in mind and you will do fine.

Answer 5

First of all, have patience, you will spend most of the day there, depending upon where you go. When they give you the final breakdown on the payments, it may be higher than what you have figured out with your own calculator. That is because they sneak in an extra thousand for an extended warranty. They don't mention this, unless they are very honest.

A standard scientific calculator may be used to calculate any loan, according to the amount and the interest.

If you are not calculator oriented, Just ask the salesman if he included an extended warranty in the final breakdown and if he has, you should reject it. At this time they will put on the pressure to have you accept if and you must be strong enough to refuse.

Just tell them you changed your mind about buying the car and watch how fast they retreat.

Good Luck

Answer 6

Check around for prices and bring a friend with you when doing the negotiation. Don't trade in but sell the old one to a used car dealer, I think you can get more money this way.

Answer 7

If you're buying new. always negotiate from the dealers invoice. Be honest with them and ask them, without being a wise guy, will you sell me a new car for invoice. Especially now if it's an 06. Plus you'll deduct any current rebates. Most any dealer will be glad to deal that way. I've bought cars and trucks that way for over 30 years. You'll need to see the actual invoice , not something they typed up. And check the list of current available rebates. There's a rebate for all kinds of things. Students within 6 months of graduation, military personnel, rebates if you finance through Ford,etc., AQHA, tons of em.

Answer 8

#1 tip: don't get caught up in the "monthly payments." The dealer can manipulate all sorts of things to get the "payment" to work out to whatever it wants it to be, by increasing loan terms, requiring balloon payments, etc. There are essentially 3 things you need to figure out to determine the payments: price of car (minus trade-in or down payment), loan term, and interest rate. If a dealer asks you "What do you want your monthly payments to be?" don't answer that. They will be able to finance the vehicle at almost any payment without reducing the price of the car. But you'll be paying forever, or will have to pay a balloon, get stuck in a lease, or something equally undesirable. Best option: pay cash!

Answer 9

Test drive the car enjoy your visit and note what they say is included in the car and then live and say I will think about it. Go home do researches. Come back another day and if you wont to buy it they will ask you do you want to add this in your car or this or that now thats when pull out the money but if you listenned carefully the first the things they wont you to add some off them are allready included so make your first visit the most important visit.

Answer 10

Just make sure you read the contract before you but....because if your like my dad that just signs before reading you will get screwed.....what turned out to be a $30K car he's going to end up paying around 50K....no joke....they will try to tell you about all these insurances and stuff....the only one that works is the GAP insurance it's only like 5 bucks more per month.....and what it is is that if you total the car before you finish paying for it, you won't have to pay anything.....