tricks when buying a new car ?

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reno
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tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by reno »

trick you use when buying a new car.?
we all know dealer sale people work you over to sell at the highest price .
what trick have you used to get the price you wanted or close to.
never let a sales person know what you think you can afford.
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wvjohn
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Re: tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by wvjohn »

last time I bought one, I printed off the best price I could find from a local dealer on the net for the exact model I wanted and put it in my pocket. It was a 6 cyl Rav4. We went to the dealer where I had bought my identical car a few years earlier, because they were pretty straight up in their dealing. We sat down with the salesman and did the usual dance, his price was about 2k higher. I told him I had been treated well at the dealer ship previously, and didn't want to go somewhere else, but...the price seemed a bit high. I gave him the paper, he checked on the net, and said he had to talk with his manager. Bottom line, they didn't have the exact model in stock, would have to get it from another dealer - $200 - but otherwise they would meet the price, Which was fine. He also tossed in 0% financing. We bought the best warranty package available - like 7 yrs and 100k, so they made money on that, since in 6 years the car has required nothing but oil changes. Thank you Toyota :)
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psypher
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Re: tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by psypher »

1. I decide the exact car, color, options, etc... that I want. This will require test driving. One of the two times I step foot in the dealer prior to buying the car.
2. Then I try to find the invoice price of the car. Some resources help you with even prices for the options, but good rule of thumb is at least 50% of the MSRP of the option is a good starting point. I believe Consumer Reports is one such resource that can help you figure out at what price to start off at.
3. Never fill out any forms from online car buying sites for pricing information, you'll just get slammed with constant emails with shitty prices.
4. Add $500 to the price you figured out Do not count manufacturer rebates in you price. The rebate is applied AFTER the price you calculated based off the invoice price. Dealers will typically just say hey, there's a manufacturers rebate of $4K, that's a good deal! Bullshit. That rebate is from the manufacturer, unrelated to the price you negotiate with the dealer.
5. If you aren't paying cash, make sure you have you financing ready to go. Banks/Credit Unions just need a ballpark figure (max that you need). They will send the final check directly to the dealer after the purchase. Pentagon Federal Credit Union typically has one of the best rates. Anyone can join for $10. There's one other credit union out there that about the same and sometimes slightly better rate.
6. Start calling/emailing directly dealers, usually it's an "Internet Manager" that handles these leads. FYI, the dealers in the city you live in will typically give you the worst prices.
7. Work your way going further away from your city. Eventually you'll get to a dealer and have enough experience to basically tell the sales guy, look, I live X miles away from you and it's unlikely I'd ever come in as a customer. I'm looking to spend X on this specific car. Give me a price that will make me drive all they over there and buy it from you.
8. Once you get a price you are happy with, make sure you get an email or faxed manager approved offer that states the exact car/options with the VIN number and the OTD price (car, taxes, tag, etc...)
9. If they give you shit when you get there, just get back in your car and leave, though as long as you have a manager approved offer with all the details, you really shouldn't run into an issue.

I've bought my last 3 cars like this.

My last purchase was in 2014, towards the end of the "retro" Mustangs before the new bodies. Ford was slowing production and was offering 4K in rebates. Some dealer located the car and gave me the print out showing the options it had. It also had the VIN and thanks to Google I was able to locate the car 3 hours away. My calculated price after research and before rebates was about $2500-$3000 below MSRP. I called the dealer and spoke to a sales guy. I told him, they have a car I want, but I don't need the car and was happy continuing to drive my current car. I was looking to pay around X before the rebates, but wasn't 100%. I asked him to make an offer that would make me drive over today and buy the car thinking he'd come back with another $500 off. He came back with $1500 bucks off. So all together I got $2500-$3000 off the MSRP + $4000 rebate and another $1500 off, so roughly $8000-8500 off.

The only two times I went into a dealer showroom was when I was looking to see what options/colors I liked and to test drive it and the day I drove 3 hours to sign the paperwork and take the car home.
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Err
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Re: tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by Err »

I try to buy towards the end of the model year. Around October, dealers will be trying to push inventory to make way for the new models.
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wvjohn
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Re: tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by wvjohn »

Diitto on the end of model year, jan/feb seems to be a good time to pick up previous year.
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Losbot
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Re: tricks when buying a new car ?

Post by Losbot »

I pay sticker price and if the service was decent, an 18% tip.


LMFAO
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