Community Chat

[croemer]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

Thank-you everyone who has contributed such helpful info! I  really appreciate the time you took to write and share

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SeaMaiden I may be purchasing in the next year myself. The last car I bought was thru Autobytel. You google it...when you decide what vehicle you like. They will help you build the car on line, then ask you how many miles you are willing to drive and whether you want to deal in person, e-mail or texting.

Last time I chose e-mail since it is easier for me to neg. I decided on a Lexus after trying for 6 months and the dealership not wanting to reduce the car at all or very minimal amount. With Autobytel you deal with the online finance manager which cuts out the car salesman and what they hope to make on the vehile. This same dealership I had been trying to buy from with no luck e-mailed me within about 15 minutes and came off 4,800 dollars. Can you say SALE! The easiest shopping experience I ever had.

[croemer]

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@Perkup wrote:

DH has a theory that any time you drive a new car off the lot it automatically becomes a used car.  He's right.

We have purchased several cars over the past eight years. And each time we have found amazing gently used cars on TrueCar.  (I think that's how it's spelled).  Decide what car you want and see what you can find.  We've been lucky in finding some great vehicles at very reasonable prices. You might want to try.

And be sure that you really want all the new electronic "widgits" on a new car.  A close relative is a "trouble shooter" for one of the major car companies, and he spends many hours a week dealing with the electronic gimmicks on cars.  Not only do they seem to go bad quickly, but they are very very expensive to repair.  Something to think about.

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You can use them(TrueCar) for a new car as well!

[MaggieMack]

Lots of good advice here. I was prepared to pay cash, no trade-in, two years ago, knowing exactly what I wanted. I found my car, and then found out that Toyota was having a 0% financing offer at the time. So, I paid for half the car, financed half at no interest, and put the rest of my cash in my investment account for a rainy day. The only negative thing that happened was that the car salesman wanted more from me than a car sale. No. No. No.

[Moonchilde]

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@croemer wrote:

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@Perkup wrote:

DH has a theory that any time you drive a new car off the lot it automatically becomes a used car.  He's right.

We have purchased several cars over the past eight years. And each time we have found amazing gently used cars on TrueCar.  (I think that's how it's spelled).  Decide what car you want and see what you can find.  We've been lucky in finding some great vehicles at very reasonable prices. You might want to try.

And be sure that you really want all the new electronic "widgits" on a new car.  A close relative is a "trouble shooter" for one of the major car companies, and he spends many hours a week dealing with the electronic gimmicks on cars.  Not only do they seem to go bad quickly, but they are very very expensive to repair.  Something to think about.

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You can use them(TrueCar) for a new car as well!

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I purchased a new car through TrueCar two weeks ago. I paid $4000 less than MSRP and $3000 less than invoice.

[Susan in California]

Wow, I have been impressed with everyone's responses.  My husband is a tough negotiator when it comes to car purchasing.  It is almost a nightmare.  After a long back and forth, he'll walk away if they don't "throw in" the all-weather floor mats.

We usually really do our homework, like other posters have said.  Then we find out if we can get 0% financing.  If we can, we will keep our money, put some down but finance the rest.  If not, then we put about half down and find the lowest interest rate we can--financing only for three years.

We keep our vehicles for several years, but  our most recent purchase in 2013 was @ 1.5% from our own bank.  The dealer's interest rate was higher. 

Everyone who said don't tell them you are paying cash, is absolutely right.

[Moonchilde]

Do online research on the car(s) you are interested in at TrueCar, Edmunds.com, KBB.com and cardsdirect.com. You can input your make, model, color, extras/options and you will see the MSRP, the invoice price, and the pretty-close price to what you can expect to pay in your area. Then you can request quotes on the car from the local dealerships.

[Bestdressed]

There are great tips posted here on buying a new car.

After we narrow it down to the car we are going to buy... We will have aleady have all our info on exact car we want and pricing. Including test driving the car we want to buy.  

Then...We go to purchase the car on the last day (or second to last day) of the month.  Most car dealers have quotas to meet and will give us the best deal, when the month is almost over.

[SeaMaiden]

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@croemer wrote:

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

Thank-you everyone who has contributed such helpful info! I  really appreciate the time you took to write and share

---

SeaMaiden I may be purchasing in the next year myself. The last car I bought was thru Autobytel. You google it...when you decide what vehicle you like. They will help you build the car on line, then ask you how many miles you are willing to drive and whether you want to deal in person, e-mail or texting.

Last time I chose e-mail since it is easier for me to neg. I decided on a Lexus after trying for 6 months and the dealership not wanting to reduce the car at all or very minimal amount. With Autobytel you deal with the online finance manager which cuts out the car salesman and what they hope to make on the vehile. This same dealership I had been trying to buy from with no luck e-mailed me within about 15 minutes and came off 4,800 dollars. Can you say SALE! The easiest shopping experience I ever had.

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@croemer   That sounds very interesting!  Is it a free site? Thanks for sharing!

[Mz iMac]

Paying cash = bank car loan?????

[MaggieMack]

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@Mz iMac wrote:

Paying cash = bank car loan?????

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For me it meant writing a check. No bank loan involved.