Car buying advice???

[RamblingRose]

There's nothing worse than dealing with car salespeople, and trying to buy a car.

My question is this: when looking at the dealer's sticker price of a new or used car, how much below sticker price should you offer? Is there an amount that the dealer generally expects to deduct from the price?.

I will not be trading in another car, as I can do better to sell it on my own. I also don't care about special financing offers.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Consumer Reports...

and maybe a few other places will sell you full reports on new cars, including dealer invoice prices. You can get down to within around $100 or so of invoice if you're willing to just walk out of the place when they balk.

Problem is that manufacturers have been reducing the markup on new cars so dealers don't have that much to play with. Some of the old rules still apply, though-- try to get a leftover last year's model that they want to get off the lot and don't go for the hottest new model since they'll often add a few thousand to the sticker price.

Used cars are trickier-- you have to research the prices beforehand-- too many dealers don't sticker used cars. You can get really good deals if you know what you're buying.

Don't ask me what I just went through buying a car. After I signed the papers, my $0 down deal turned out to have a huge interest rate and around $1,300 up front after all.

[never cry wolf]

7. I agree, Consumer's reports definitely!

www.consumersreports.org

They have complete details on all the makes, comparisions, safety ratings, reliability ratings, etc. You can join online for $3.95 for a month and order complete pricing info for another nominal fee.

In addition, they have great suggestions on the entire car buying process. They recommended online shopping and gave a number of sites. I tried it our a year and a half ago and bought my car that way.

The way it works is these on line shopping sites take the specs on the car you want and your location and send it out to up to 5 local dealers who then "bid" for your business. They email you back their best price. I did this with 3 different services, got about 8 bids, took the low one to the dealer closest to me and knocked them down to within $100 of the low bid. The first time I talked to a salesman was when I verbally agreed to the deal and the first time I saw him was when I came in to sign the papers and pick up the car.

It was AWESOME!! I got great price, did it all from my office, didn't have to deal with the sales pitches and really only spend about 2 or 3 hours over 2 or 3 days to get the deal done. I will NEVER shop for a car any other way again.

[Intelsucks]

2. Try to find one of those cars that someone drove for a month and

then got rid of it. I bought a Chrysler Sebring last Summer and saved $6000 because it had 1200 miles on it. I'll gladly let someone else put the first 1200 miles on it for that kind of savings.

As far as sticker price goes, all I can really say is don't ever pay it. I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules on how much they can let a vehicle go for. Maybe someone else knows.

Good luck!

[ET Awful]

3. First . . .

Go to http://www.edmunds.com/ and use their tools, they have a very accurate calculator that will give you what a car is actually worth (both used and new) in comparison to your location, sticker price, etc.

There is ZERO reason to pay more than $100 over factory invoice on any average car.

ALWAYS be willing to walk out the door and go to the next dealer on your list.

When I bought my car (2001 Nissan Sentra SE) in Feb. of 2001, I picked the one I wanted, told the salesman "I will give you $100 over invoice, let me see the invoice." He looked shocked for a second, ran back to his manager, came back with the invoice and showed it to me. Then he started talking about my trade-in and offered me $1200. I told him I wanted $2000 for the trade. He turned a bit green, walked into his managers office again, came back and ofered me $1800. I said $2000, he looked pissed for a second, then said okay.

He still made commission of the deal and everyone was happy.

Edmunds is a GREAT source for finding out what the car is actually worth and arming yourself with knowledge before you even walk in the door.

[radwriter0555]

4. EDMUNDS.COM. Go shop, see what YOU like, then go HOME and look it

up on line to see how it rates on Edmunds.com.

Or you can look first if you have ideas on what you want to shop for.

You'll have full pricing and quality information in advance, so the salesmen don't sell you down the river.

THEN, go buy a USED car instead.

No sense paying $30,000 for an item that's worth $5000 when you're done paying for it.

[RamblingRose]

5. Are there actually any cars on the lot for the prices the dealer lists

in the newspaper?? Is it better to negotiate from the Invoice price or the MSRP?

Buying a cars sucks!

[bobthedrummer]

6. It depends on the vehicle. I sold motor vehicles for 8 years.

There are always factory discount programs on new vehicles, so many of them that's it's hard to keep track of.

If it's a used vehicle there is something called "the pack", the price of preparing the vehicle for sale as well as the space it takes up-floor planning--all this will affect the asking price.

Trucks and SUV's have a high profit margin, as do luxury and sports cars, so there is much more room to negotiate on them, whereas not much room at all on economy and basic vehicles.

Then there are all the variables of the used car culture-good luck!

[BlackVelvetElvis]

8. Do your research on a particular car/s you like

and do it thoroughly. Find out if there have been any recalls or problems with the make/model/year. That could save you headaches later.
I agree with several of the others here: ignore the sticker price and go with a little over what the dealer paid for it.
Show up at the lot with the research as well as some loan guarrantees from a lender. This will give you some leverage and show them you mean business.
One thing to watch for: don't let the dealership try and get you to think in "lowest monthly payment" terms. They will make more money this way. Go with the bottom line.
Most of all, if you don't like their offer or they refuse yours, walk out the door.
I did all of those things and got a great deal.

[Jade Fox]

9. I went to a local company that for a nominal fee does all the shopping

for you. It was well worth the money to let people who know what they're
doing do the work. Perhaps there is something similar where you live.

[RamblingRose]

10. I know I want a Honda Odyssey, and I hear Honda dealers are less likely to

come down on their prices. I don't know if there's any truth to that or not. I've seen the used ones cost almost as much as the new ones.

[never cry wolf]

11. I got a Honda

Via the online shopping I described above. I had all the pricing info from Consumer's Reports and got very good prices, though they did vary some.

One site is www.autoweb.com . It's free so it can't hurt to try it.

[Jade Fox]

12. The people at the company I mentioned

actually talked me out of wanting a used Honda because they
are, as you mentioned, high priced. They found me an American made
knock-off of some Japanese car (I forget which one) and I've been
quite happy with it.

[loftycity]

13. Consumer Reports... the best.

[CanuckAmok]

14. Most important things to keep in mind...

the last few minutes of a negotiation are very emotional, and an effective salesperson works on that angle.

to that end, here are two things to remember:

1) set the maximum price you are willing to pay BEFORE talking about price, and stick to that. Don't go over it. If they won't meet your price, walk away. That brings us to...

2) there are way more used cars than there are buyers. Not getting your 'perfect car' isn't the end of the world. Go around the corner to the next dealer, and you will probably find another 'perfect car' for yourself. It's a buyers' market--keep that in mind.

[DancingBear]

15. Try these things

1) After you've selected the model you want, research pricing on Edmunds.com. Next, spend about 2-3 weeks or more looking at newspaper ads. If the newspaper ads show a lower price for that vehicle (and many times they do), cut the ad out and save it. This gives you the BASELINE for negotiations. DO NOT factor in rebates at this time - they are completely separate. Negotiated price is always before any dealer incentives. They cost the dealer nothing - they're just a pass on from the manufacturer to move product.

2) Go to at least two dealerships, show them this price, and see if they can SUBSTANTIALLY better it. Make them aware of the fact that you are not willing to buy at this price, but you definitely are going to be buying. If they will give you a price at this time, thank them and tell them (honestly) that you are waiting to get a price from the other dealer on your list. If they won't give you a price, leave and cross them off your list. You don't need those headaches.

3) From here on in, negotiate pricing via either email or fax! This way, you can be firm in your demands, and no one can pull the bullshit "manager" thing on you. Once someone agrees to your price, have them send a confirmation email (with the price on it) so you'll have it in writing. Once this is done, it is not fair to take it to yet another dealer and look for more off - be happy with what you have.

We recently purchased a new car, and did exactly this. The car we bought is being built to our specs, as the only ones available to us were loaded with options I didn't want (we bought an Audi, BTW). The first dealer we went to was quite abusive, and told us (literally) we were crazy, as NO ONE would sell a car for that price AND have to wait for it to be built (12 weeks). The second dealer agreed to our price, was very helpful, and calls us once a week to give us delivery and build time updates. They also agreed that, when it comes time for service, they will bring a loaner to my wife's place of business, since the dealership is quite a ways from our house.

We used this strategy when buying a car for my mom (Nissan) and it worked that time as well. Good luck!