New car buying tips? (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Life] >> Finances



Message

Brandy -> New car buying tips? (8/23/2008 11:51:04 PM)

We will be going into the dealership this week or next weekend and buying a new 2008 Nissan Altima, staight out, no financing. ( FYI, huge blessing from a family member being our 'bank', we aren't THAT wealthy!!)

We know what we want options wise, we have a print out of what the packages we want include.

We have a printout from Consumer Reports on what the Invoice price is and the MSRP is for that particular model.

So any tips on negotiating price?

We of course want them to make a profit but we also want the most bang for our buck.



Miss Giggles -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 9:38:35 AM)

I've heard you won't get as good a price if you don't finance it, because that's where they make their profit off of.

Also if it's in high demand (which I think those are) they aren't going to give huge discounts off the price because someone can come in the next day and offer more. But it depends on your market, people here are walking in and buying anything with good gas mileage on the spot.

There's a car buying thread on edmunds.com.. they have a thread for each model car.. you could see in there what kind of deals people were able to negotiate.



karlie -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 11:03:44 AM)

quote:

I've heard you won't get as good a price if you don't finance it, because that's where they make their profit off of.

We have friends who have been able to pay cash for their last three new car purchases, and they had a very different experience. They said they get them to come way down because they are paying cash and saving them the paperwork and trouble of drawing up financing papers and the dealership doesn't have to wait while a bank accepts the loan and sends them the money. We've never had that blessing, so I don't know first hand!

Good luck, Brandy [:)]



Miss Giggles -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 11:05:38 AM)

Yeah maybe in ten years I'll be able to. [:D] It probably depends on how they are set up, all the car loans are electronic here so it's pretty much instant approval. But I've heard of people taking out the loan and paying it off in 3-6 months just to get the better deal.



Ps103 -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 11:13:41 AM)

Settle on the price before you mention that you are paying cash.

Most times you can get the price settled on the Internet, then go to the dealership and save yourself a lot of in-peron dickering. That's what Himself did with his car. When the salesman got to the negotiations part, it was already done and in the computer. (It was a Honda.)



Brandy -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 11:41:12 AM)

We've been told by a few and read online not to mention financing until price is agreed.

PS - Did he use the dealership website he was going to purchase from? That is interesting to me because it would save time and energy!!

We absolutely do not want to finance it even if it was to pay it off right away. I just want to write the dang check when we are done and drive it off! [:)]



stamper_ben -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 9:57:06 PM)

Why not buy a slightly used one? Something with 4-10,000 miles on it? It would still have the warranty and the price would be much better as I think you could haggle much more.



Harvie -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 10:02:09 PM)

In 2006 when we paid cash for my Mustang, we called around to a number of Ford dealers to see who would give us the best price for what we wanted. We didn't even go TO the dealership until after we'd found the one with the best price. We let them know on the phone we were comparing prices among several dealers, and would just choose whoever had the best price.

Worked like a charm.



Brandy -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 10:05:13 PM)

Because Ben I tried that argument and my husband and FIL (who is being our bank) want brand new so they know the history. I tried to get them to understand the depreciation when you drive off is ridiculous but no luck.

I emailed 4 places that responded to an internet request with what we want specifically and will see what they all come back with and start bargaining them against each other. I feel SOO much more confident in email that at the sales lot.



karlie -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 10:13:20 PM)

quote:

Because Ben I tried that argument and my husband and FIL (who is being our bank) want brand new so they know the history. I tried to get them to understand the depreciation when you drive off is ridiculous but no luck.

I can't blame them. We're sold on new cars. They are the only ones we've had that we've been 100% happy with the purchase of. We don't buy used anymore. It just works better for us and we definitely drive ours more than long enough to get our money's worth. He'll buy used for his work truck since it gets scratched up quickly, but not our family car.

How exciting, Brandy! We're planning on a new one in the spring and can't wait!



Miss Giggles -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/24/2008 10:18:13 PM)

I do the same thing. Besides the demand for slightly used cars is so high that there aren't that many of those demo cars out there and some people are selling their used ones for close to the new price and some new cars are going over list. Import dealers don't like to have waiting lists.

Like I said earlier, people panicked here with the gas prices and are snatching up anything that's reliable with decent gas mileage, used and new. The Nissan would fit in that category. It's one of the ones that are supposed to run forever.



Ps103 -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/25/2008 12:01:20 AM)

Brandy--


I am almost positive he went to the Honda website and put in the zip code for the next town over (because he had a bad experience with the on in this town a few years ago.) The girl who gave him the quote was at the dealership--they had a little office that said something like "Internet Sales."

We did have to deal with a salesman, but it was pleasant without the negotiations[:)]



bzirk -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/25/2008 6:52:40 AM)

Definitely be ready with information about what is a good price.

BTW, until I read about your windfall, I was going to say my 'new car buying tip' was not to buy a new car. LOL!

Other than that, WHAT A GREAT TIME TO BUY A CAR! Dealers are, shall we say, motivated. [8D]



Brandy -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/30/2008 7:30:27 AM)

WELL we emailed a few Honda dealerships and ended up getting the fleet manager at the big one downtown and none of the other 3 could match his price. It was below Consumer Reports reported 'bottom line' for the model and we went with it last night.

They kept offering really good financing "Keep half your money in the bank, finance half with us" and I was like no thank you here's a check.

It was SO nice.

We went with a Honda Accord. Did a bunch more research on safety, longevity and customer happiness and we are very happy with what we've chosen.

Email was the BEST idea ever!!!



karlie -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/30/2008 11:59:51 AM)

Congrats, Brandy!

I would have never thought of emailing them. Did you just ask for a quote on the model and that's it? Or did you get specific with features, color, etc. Did they email your quote, or did you include contact numbers?

We're getting a new car in the spring and it would sure be a lot easier emailing than shopping around in person, especially since we know what we want.



Miss Giggles -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/30/2008 12:06:59 PM)

Nice ! Enjoy. Those are nice cars and have a solid reputation for longevitiy and resale value.



Brandy -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/30/2008 4:45:42 PM)

Karlie go to the website of the car you want, you can request a quote through there. They will either list and have you choose your dealers or they will send to the closest to you.

We built the version we wanted, we went to Consumer Reports and signed up for amonth and printed out the True Market Value and it lists the options you can add and their invoice and MSRP. Then it has their Bottom Line Price which is what you can expect to pay if you can haggle. So you take that price, add your options at invoice price and there ya go.

We then requested a quote and had back up to know if they could go lower.

Apparently by getting the fleet manager dude he sells almost at invoice. We took his quote and emailed the three other dealerships and asked if they could match or beat.

None of them could!!!

On our email to them we said "We want the Honda Accord 08 or 09 (only if good deal on 09) with the EX L package in Silvers, Greys or Black."

And they responded with what they could do.

It took sooo much stress off going around and haggling!!! We did spend a few hours there last night simply debating and driving the V6 and 4 Cyl and decding which we wanted.

They are 1 mpg difference and the V6 uses 4cyl if you only need that many. Very nice. It shows this little green ECO on your dash when you aren't using all 6.

Then we spent time with the finance guy assuring him we wanted to pay with a check and NOT finance. When he understood that we only had about 20 minutes worth of waiting for paperwork and them to wash the car and set it up.



karlie -> RE: New car buying tips? (8/30/2008 5:13:07 PM)

Thanks for the info, Brandy! That'll be helpful [:)]



netstroller -> RE: New car buying tips? (9/1/2008 4:26:44 PM)

Last time I bought a new car, I bought a "lost leader." For those who don't already know, these are vehicles dealer advertise at a very low price, and very often they have already sold it by the time you call them about it. These often sell at a lost, but the lost is considered advertising cost for the customers they draw in for more pricey vehicles. The trick is to know what you want and watch the auto ads for a few weeks, even month, and notice the price and model patterns. And not all models will be available this way, depends on where you live etc. But if you're patient and the model you want popular, and if you're quick on your feet when you see one for the price you want, you just might pick it up--dealers have to have at least one at the price they advertised. And keep trying, sometimes these lost leader sell in minutes and sometimes take more than a day, though generally you'd want to be there when they open if you want to buy it. For people in the Boston are, the Saturday Boston Globe is the paper to get, that's when new car ads appear.

This worked well for the model I wanted. Because it was a popular model with good resale value and because I got a very good price, my new price was basically at least as good and probably even better than if I bought one used. Also, even Hondas and Toyotas have lemons and that's something to keep in mind even with one or two year old used models.



APZR -> RE: New car buying tips? (9/2/2008 11:53:27 AM)

Bought my last truck through CarsDirect.com. Simple, direct, bottom line pricing for the vehicle you want. They show you the bottom line price which includes any and all discounts or dealer incentives. I told them what I wanted, they found the closest match, bought it on line, and it was delivered to a local participating dealer the next day. Considering how much I hate haggling with the dealers and being rounded up in "the pit" all day with sales pitch after sales pitch, I will buy on line for now on.



jod78 -> RE: New car buying tips? (9/3/2008 11:29:06 AM)

congrats. It pays to research what others are paying. I bought the same EXACT vehicle as someone I know within 10 days of each other and paid $3200 less for the car. You just have to know the bottom bottom dollar is that people are buying that exact model for, knock even more off of that and go in and say..yeah I really want this car, but I just will not spend over $XXXX, period. If your # is somewhat reasonable, you can usually get them to make a deal close to your figure.

And do not EVER buy GAP insurance through the dealer. Go through your local ins. agent..extremely cheap. The dealer is completely ripping you off on GAP.



Page: [1]



Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.5 ANSI