FIRST TIME car buyer, need tips on payments.. how to get a good deal EVERYTHING =)?

Question

I am a first time car buyer, a brand new one that is. I am planning on shelling out a big downpayment and i am thinking this will help me get a better deal..is that true? what can you advice me? i am choosing between the mazda 3 and the honda civic. I live in LA and am thinking of getting my car somewhere in the valley for it to be a little cheaper. Anything else? i am so confused here.

NEVER EVER LEASE? so how will i buy the car if i cant pay the full amount for it?

Answer 1

Go to www.edmunds.com and read their articles on buying a used vehicle and financing.

Answer 2

It is a good idea from the standpoint of lowering your payment but unless you are paying for the whole car it won't help the purchase price. A great way to shop is to try on line. Describe what car you are looking for after you have test driven and determined the options and email to individual dealers and tell them to give you their best price. This saves allot of time and lets you compare easily. Take the lowest price and challenge the rest of them to beat it. Make sure you have some basis for comparison such as KBB.com or Edminds.com for Retail/Invoice price to see if you are in the right ballpark. Rule #1 is not to be pressured into a sale right away. There are thousands of the same car out there so take your time and get the best deal you can. By the way if it was my money I would definitely buy the Honda!

Answer 3

Do some shopping and be able to walk away at any time.

We were looking for a Honda - knew exactly what we wanted. Dealer A wanted "List Price". Dealer "B" wanted "List Price + $ 3,700 (Fair Market Adjustment). Dealers A and B were located in Richmond, VA. We drove 30 miles to a smaller dealer outside of the city limits of Richmond, Va. This dealer had the exact same car for $1,800 BELOW the List Price. All 3 cars were the same - make, model, and option package. Because the 3rd dealer was outside the city limits, he did not contribute money from the sale of each vehicle to the regional advertising of Hondas with the local tvs & newpapers.

Narrow your shopping list to about 3 models. Go to Orbitz.com and find a rental company near you - go rent your dream car for 1-2 days. Drive it. You will notice a lot of things you would miss during a 10 minute test drive from the dealer. I thought I really wanted a Toyota Camry - till I rented one. I ended up buying a Honda.

WHATEVER you do, don't tell the dealer: I can only afford monthly payments of $xxx. You would be surpised to learn, that the costs can be adjust up to meet your limit.

The best tips on dealing with a dealer, that I have ever found was at: www.MotleyFool.com

You might want to go to seomone like bluebook.com or edmunds.com to read up on the make/model. I also, prefer to go to bookstore and check out rating of autos (Best Buys) by Consumer Reports (a magazine) - since they accept no advertising and survey their readers to determine repair rates/reliability of models.

Answer 4

First, there are many dealers and groups who do not just abuse customers as a rule.... there is no need to FEAR the dealer. Just do your pricing and loan homework first, then drive a few cars and see what meets your needs.

A good interest rate right now is around 6-7% assuming you have great credit, as for both of those cars, you can easily buy both for dealer invoice which is easily found all over the net

www.carsdirect.com
www.edmunds.com
www.newcartestdrive.com

If your going to buy in the valley, call Larry Kilbourn at Lancaster Honda, he will sell the car for around invoice and make sure you get a great rate or let you use your own financing... all with no hassle

Answer 5

The size of your down payment will make little difference in the price of the car. It may get you a better interest rate and save some $$$ on the back end but will have minimal clout on negotiating price. The best thing to do is to get pre approved for credit line at your bank or credit union. This plus your $$$ for down payment gives you the power to negotiate the selling price because you will be paying the dealer in full, plus you know the interest you will pay on the loan before you by. Being in Cali, you may want to consider a 4 hour drive to Vegas or Reno to buy your car. I believe you can get a better price and sign a tax exempt form for Cali and pay Nevada sales tax instead and save some more $$$. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Research. Kelly Blue Book is a good website to find out what the going rate is for the car that you want and what you can expect to pay at the dealership. At least you will know when you look at the price of the car you will know if they are being reasonable or trying to take you to the cleaners. Also, I believe this website had a payment calculator where you can put in the interest rate, how long you will fianance for. It can calculate your approximate payments for you.

Pull your credit reports and find out what your credit score is before you walk in the door. Having a big down payment can help but if you have undesirable credit that can still make your car payment pretty high because you will pay a higher interest rate.

If you know your score , you will know what type of financing you can expect to get if you choose to go through the dealership for financing or see if you can get financed before you walk in the door. Unless you have cash to pay for the car when you walk in the door having a large down payment really won't affect the price of the car.



Good luck

Answer 7

All of the paperwork in the world can't guarantee this. It's a foolish thing to do and I would not recommend doing it. I don't think your son is in the position of becoming his buddy's banker. This will ruin the friendship when the buyer defaults (and he will default) just give it time. And what happens when this friend totals the car and your son still owns it? If your son needs to sell the car, find a buyer who can pay for it in full. If your son wants to help out a friend (which is an honorable thing to do) have him assist in finding the friend a car he can afford.

Answer 8

Oh lordie! Take it from me that this is probablly going to be a very stressful thing to endure! -- I was a first time buyer and just bought my car last week after 2 months of shopping and theft from my accounts.
--The whole idea of getting used car inspections might rip your account to shreds along with other things. My best adive is to get approved at a private credit union because they make loan offers a lot easier and use "simple credit" I personally put 2200 into a credit union, and it definitely helped with the approval of my loan to get the car that i wanted.

-- I really urge you to search your heart out on deals though, please be smart about it and don't let the adrenaline of car shopping get to you and make u make too fast of a purchase!!!

--I would suggest you browse Autotrader, your local newspaper, and Ebay. & if you do EBAY, u can have carfax sent out for 100$ to do a used car inspection for you. And if you do try to deal through an online source, please be CAREFUL dealing with private partiesl!! I got scamed of 1500 dollars this past month because i had put some money into an Escrow account. (There's more to that story that doesnt make me sound naive) but just know to NEVER do that!.

-- You first have to make sure your buying a car that you know you are comfortable paying the monthlys on. I fell inlove with a lot of cars, but after considering the warranty, & TT&L, i knew that my wallet was going to get strained and i probablly wouldnt be that comfortable. I ended up settling on a beautiful 03' Mitsubishi Galant with only 45K on it, I ended up being fortunate enough to still have a factory warranty with it. I would definitely suggest looking at the Galants. It has great gas mileage, beautfiul appeal, and very-very low in the price range. Honda's can be expensive and even though their market re-sale value is high, so will their mileage if you're wanting a comfortable monthly. I would strongly suggest looking into Hyundais because of their warranty, or any car that you know is fairly priced. The warranty is a HUGE SECURITY FACTOR, so i would really do some on-line shopping for that. I found one i think called Eagle Warranty and i was able to get a 3 yr un-limited mileage Bumper to Bumper warranty for only $1200. But since my car already has one i didn't need it, but i definitely suggest you looking into that company.

Good luck! & hopefully u have wayyy less stress than i did ;o)

Answer 9

Don't get emotionally attached to a particular vehicle. Shop around. Use edmunds.com to see what the cost should be for that car and options. Salesman are trained to lie and deceive. Know the facts about the auto you are buying. Don't be afraid to ask questions even if you know the answer. Then listen to the response. If you get a lie, don't buy from that dealer. Walk away and tell him/her why. Never be afraid to walk away. There are many dealerships out there. Don't restrict your shopping to large dealers or popular dealers. Make a reasonable offer. They have to make money. If they don't accept it -walk. You may be surprised when they don't let you out the door or call you later. Just remember, it is your money. Stick to your guns.

Answer 10

first rule, Never loose the power to walk away. If the dealer knows you have bought the car in your head and your not leaving without it you have lost all negotiation power. Second NEVER lease NEVER NEVER. a lease is the most expensive way to operate a car. Check around at other dealers for the same car you may find it in the strangest place. I found a 1 yr old Chevy impala and a middle of nowhere ford dealer and got 2000 off what the Chevy dealer wanted for the same car