Good Tips on buying a new car

[MKVIIST]

[video=youtube;pPor5b7JLLE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPor5b7JLLE[/video]

Recap:

• Give yourself two full weekends to shop
• Sell your used car separately, avoid trade-in.
• Get dealers to bid for your business.
• When in doubt, leave the dealer.
• Never purchase anything extra such as maintenance.

 

[Perry]

Recap:

• Give yourself two full weekends to shop
• Sell your used car separately, avoid trade-in.
• Get dealers to bid for your business.
• When in doubt, leave the dealer.
• Never purchase anything extra such as maintenance.

I didn't watch the video, but I largely agree with the list.

• Take your time. Don't rush. Investigate, research, ask questions, test drive.
• DON'T TRADE IN YOUR OLD VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. If you do, you put yourself in a position to negotiate twice with a bunch of people who have a system, do it all the time, and are on their own turf. That should sound like a bad plan. It IS a bad plan. Sell your car through some other means; private sales are generally the most lucrative.
• Play dealers against each other, if possible. Let Dealer A know that Dealer B is willing to beat A's price plus throw in free floor mats and oil changes for a year.
• Acknowledge to yourself when you don't know the right answer. And since this isn't a timed test, if you don't know the right answer, go home and look it up, ask for help, phone a friend, etc.
• Extras such as extended warranties, etc. are always profit centers for the dealer. If it were a financial advantage to the buyer--that is, if the buyer were likely to come out ahead on the matter--consider whether the dealer would be likely to offer it. Remember: the dealer is out to make money. You're out to buy a car. The more that gets added to the car, such as warranties, extended service plans, and yes, even floor mats, the more profit points there are for the dealer. Example: Locking lug nuts. The dealer offered 'em for a mere $90. Local auto parts stores carry multiple options for the vehicle at less than half the price.
  
  AND:
  
• Use the internet. One can usually determine fair market value/fair sales price for a given vehicle, with given options, through any of a number of different sites. Some insurance companies offer car buying services which will give you a predetermined price for the car you want, through an identified dealer. This may not be the best possible price, but it's almost always a good one, and often much better than an individual negotiating alone could do. In addition, the same sort of research can give you a very good idea of the value of your old vehicle, and what you can expect to sell it for versus what you can expect in trade. When I recently sold my 2010 Honda Fit, I did so privately and got $1800 more in a private sale than the dealer offered.
• Listen to your gut. If you don't feel comfortable about a decision, don't do it. Buying a car is almost never something that has to be done right this very minute. When your spidey-sense tingles, take it as a warning that your nemesis is in a position of advantage, and move to alter the circumstances, change the terms of engagement, take more time.
• Read Sun Tzu. He figured out most of this a long time ago.