Buying a new car?

[lower14]

Getting ready to go car shopping for the wife, anybody got any tips / strategies / secrets when buying from a dealership? Best way to get them to come off the sticker?

For starters, don't negotiate from the sticker down; that's a sucker's play. And here's a pretty good article from Clark Howard on why Dealer Invoice price isn't anything to get excited about, either: http://www.clarkhoward.com/eye-opening- ... oice-price (edit: just saw that this is on Clark's web site, but is authored by James Bragg of the Fighting Chance website - another good resource).

I've also heard the mantra to separate the buy and trade transactions, but I've had success going in the other direction. I know what I'm willing to pay for the car I want to buy and I know what's a fair/reasonable value for the car I want to sell. So if I want to buy a $30k car and my trade is fairly valued at $10k, I'll offer the whole transaction for $18.5 and settle at $20-20.5k. This gives the dealership a little more flexibility in how they handle the transaction so show a little more profit here and a little less there, depending on how their divisions are performing that particular month.

Ask for the "out the door price." This is inclusive of taxes, dealer prep, destination, and all of the other eff-eww fees that they like to throw in there after you think you've already settled on the price.

And this is probably going to get flamed, but if you have to finance it, you can't afford it. Pay yourself a car payment each month for 3-4 years and then go in and write a check. Yes, financially speaking, you can get a few points in interest spread, especially with the low rates of today, but the peace of mind of having no forward obligations is difficult to describe until you're there. Finance your car and lose your job - bank says "fark you, pay me" or they repo the car. Pay cash for your car and lose your job - just stop paying yourself the car payment and nobody gets hurt.

Good luck in your search.

[mshunter77]

Give them your contact info, what you want to pay and walk out.

[smith]

I worked in car sales for about a year. I couldn't stick with it because I guess I'm too honest with customers and couldn't sleep at night knowing I knocked someone head off when they bought one so I rarely made quota at the end of the month. As some people have said wait till the end of the month to buy. That is very very true. We were more willing to let one go at very little profit or even break even on the deal as all new car dealers are volume based on sales. More they sell the better. Go on truecar.com and pick out the vehicle you want. You will get a bunch of calls but will have dealers fighting over your business. This takes a lot of the haggling out of it as you can play them directly off each other. Good luck and if ya need any help pm me.