Buying a new car today, need tips?

[TheCount]

Going to be purchasing a new car today, I think and I need some tips on what to bring in so the sales guys don't confuse my feeble mind with their jibber-jabber and I end up getting jerked.

Any ideas?

I've got info from True Market Value from Edmunds.com, but not even sure how to utilize it as ammunition when it comes time to negotiate.


For the record, I'm not even positive what I want yet. I'm 6'6" with absurdly long legs so I need to test drive a couple to see what fits best.

Right now I'd say it's between a 2011 Ford Edge and an Audi A4 or maybe even the Audi A3, since the hatch would be more versatile. But who knows, maybe long the way I'll find something else.

Thanks.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Going to be purchasing a new car today, I think and I need some tips on what to bring in so the sales guys don't confuse my feeble mind with their jibber-jabber and I end up getting jerked.

Any ideas?

I've got info from True Market Value from Edmunds.com, but not even sure how to utilize it as ammunition when it comes time to negotiate.


For the record, I'm not even positive what I want yet. I'm 6'6" with absurdly long legs so I need to test drive a couple to see what fits best.

Right now I'd say it's between a 2011 Ford Edge and an Audi A4 or maybe even the Audi A3, since the hatch would be more versatile. But who knows, maybe long the way I'll find something else.

Thanks.

Personally, I like the way the Edge looks though I haven't actually sat in one. I rented a Ford Fusion in Texas once, I really liked it except for the turn signal was driving me nuts. I hated the way it sounded. Other than that, I was impressed with the Fusion. The Edge appears to be the SUV version of the Fusion. (same class of vehicle)

If you're 6'6, you had better sit in an A4 first. A4s are Audi's smaller sports sedans. (never seen an A3, I'm guessing they are a newer model) A guy I used to work with was looking at the A4, but he ended up going with the A6 due to his size. (and it cost him! :laugh2: )

Don't buy anything that is related to Chrysler. (include Mercedes Benz) Their quality right now is one of the lowest of all auto makers.

 

[vta]

Going to be purchasing a new car today, I think and I need some tips on what to bring in so the sales guys don't confuse my feeble mind with their jibber-jabber and I end up getting jerked.

Any ideas?

I've got info from True Market Value from Edmunds.com, but not even sure how to utilize it as ammunition when it comes time to negotiate.


For the record, I'm not even positive what I want yet. I'm 6'6" with absurdly long legs so I need to test drive a couple to see what fits best.

Right now I'd say it's between a 2011 Ford Edge and an Audi A4 or maybe even the Audi A3, since the hatch would be more versatile. But who knows, maybe long the way I'll find something else.

Thanks.

6'6"?
Just stand menacingly close and glare down at him when you tell him how much you want to pay.

Take as much of his time as you can, to have him need to sell you something. After you spend a certain amount of time, they've invested that into you and no sale means a waste of time for them. They don't like that.

 

[ZeroClub]

Edmunds.com has fairly extensive advice ("10 Steps to Buying a New Car").

I'd recommend that you seperate the decision into two distinct steps.

1. Decided what you want to buy. --- Do some research on the models (e.g., Consumer Reports), take some test drives, and decide which car (or couple of cars) you'd like to buy. When the salesperson presses, just tell him that you are not planning to make a decision today.

2. Then decide where you want to buy it.

It is a good idea to visit at least a couple of dealerships and to contact a few more. ... so that you can play one off of another. Soliciting best prices via the internet can be helpful too, especially if you are not so hot at negotiations.

 

[casmith07]

Infiniti M56. You're welcome.

 

[CowboyWay]

Decide on what you want. test drive everything and everything. Then walk away.


Lets say you pick an Audi..... Go home, and email several audi dealers close to you and tell them EXACTLY what you want....leather, nav, etc, etc.

Tell them in the email you are sending this out to several audi dealers and whoever emails me the best price wins.

You will then get several prices back that are remarkably cheap because the dealers know they are competing against each other..........

Then take the lowest priced offer you get, lets say the price is $30,000....you print out that offer and change the 30K to 29K. Bring it to the dealer that you want to buy from and say you were offered this car for this price, but you'd rather buy it here because its closer to your house.

They will match the price, and you just got a SMOKIN deal.

I've done this on several cars and I've actually bought them and compared my new car price to a used car price and have actually bought a new car for less than what edmunds says I can get one used for.

Plus there is no haggling.

 

[casmith07]

Decide on what you want. test drive everything and everything. Then walk away.


Lets say you pick an Audi..... Go home, and email several audi dealers close to you and tell them EXACTLY what you want....leather, nav, etc, etc.

Tell them in the email you are sending this out to several audi dealers and whoever emails me the best price wins.

You will then get several prices back that are remarkably cheap because the dealers know they are competing against each other..........

Then take the lowest priced offer you get, lets say the price is $30,000....you print out that offer and change the 30K to 29K. Bring it to the dealer that you want to buy from and say you were offered this car for this price, but you'd rather buy it here because its closer to your house.

They will match the price, and you just got a SMOKIN deal.

I've done this on several cars and I've actually bought them and compared my new car price to a used car price and have actually bought a new car for less than what edmunds says I can get one used for.

Plus there is no haggling.

I can cosign this method. When I bought my G35 this is exactly what I did. Make sure you tell them the price you want is out the door - also, now is about the time that the 2011s are coming in...if the 2010 is untouched on the lot and is nearly identical, make a play for it.

Ford Edge will cost you more in repairs than anything else though. I'd stay away.

 

[BadWolf]

Get one of these:

[youtube]6YRZdfCdlu8[/youtube]

 

[casmith07]

Personally, I like the way the Edge looks though I haven't actually sat in one. I rented a Ford Fusion in Texas once, I really liked it except for the turn signal was driving me nuts. I hated the way it sounded. Other than that, I was impressed with the Fusion. The Edge appears to be the SUV version of the Fusion. (same class of vehicle)

If you're 6'6, you had better sit in an A4 first. A4s are Audi's smaller sports sedans. (never seen an A3, I'm guessing they are a newer model) A guy I used to work with was looking at the A4, but he ended up going with the A6 due to his size. (and it cost him! :laugh2: )

Don't buy anything that is related to Chrysler. (include Mercedes Benz) Their quality right now is one of the lowest of all auto makers.

A3 is a 2-door hatch, I believe. Even smaller than the A4.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Decide on what you want. test drive everything and everything. Then walk away.


Lets say you pick an Audi..... Go home, and email several audi dealers close to you and tell them EXACTLY what you want....leather, nav, etc, etc.

Tell them in the email you are sending this out to several audi dealers and whoever emails me the best price wins.

You will then get several prices back that are remarkably cheap because the dealers know they are competing against each other..........

Then take the lowest priced offer you get, lets say the price is $30,000....you print out that offer and change the 30K to 29K. Bring it to the dealer that you want to buy from and say you were offered this car for this price, but you'd rather buy it here because its closer to your house.

They will match the price, and you just got a SMOKIN deal.

I've done this on several cars and I've actually bought them and compared my new car price to a used car price and have actually bought a new car for less than what edmunds says I can get one used for.

Plus there is no haggling.

This doesn't always work. I went to a deal once and told them that I was going to visit several dealers to try and find the best price. The guy said and I quote. "Then you're better off just going someplace else." :laugh2:

I appreciated him being honest, but it also told me that not only what he a piece **** car salesman, but he was bottom rung on that latter too. If I owned a dealership and I heard about one of my salesman saying something like that, I would grab him by his neck and physically eject him from my dealership.

The point being, if you shove it in their face what you intend to do, sometimes they won't even try to compete. That in the end could cost you because sometimes those dealers can offer a better price.

I suggest talking to the guy, tell him you ARE looking around and intend to visit other dealerships to see what they have to offer. (not that you are looking for the best price period, that will come with time) While it sucks, actually visiting the dealerships makes a difference. They don't want to deal with you through email and probably won't give you the best offer that way.

 

[Hoofbite]

A3s are a little small.

If you get one. Check the sunshade. Those have been a common problem because the latch goes south.

 

[CowboyWay]

They don't want to deal with you through email and probably won't give you the best offer that way.

Sure they will. All dealerships have "internet" sales staffs, who only deal with car sales through the internet. Its their job, and they will be more than happy to help you.

Funny story....... my wifes family always bought cars through one saleman at a chevy dealer for years. They have used this guy for 20 years. My wife wanted a new tahoe and called him up, and gave her the price. I told her, hang on, let me see what I can do. I contacted several chevy dealers, and by simple chance, I actually contacted the sales rep that my wife had quoted the tahoe from as well (the sales rep that my wifes family always used).

The salesman had no idea who I was since I was newly married into the family. Long story short, his price to my wife was over $6000 more than the EXACT same car he quoted me online.

When i went to pick up the car, he realized what he had done, and said "tell your wife I'm sorry"........ I told him don't worry about it, as I was in sales too, and I know how it works.

 

[MonsterD]

Infiniti M56. You're welcome.

How much is that? Ok it is 65K. I think an A4 is a bit cheaper. Still that is a bad-a car.

 

[CF74]

Ask them to show you N.A.D.A.S loan value, only suckers pay full retail. Unless the car is a hot commodity and hard to find I wouldn't pay more than about $1,500 over the loan value...

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

Get your financing (if you are financing and not paying cash) taken care of beforehand. One of the biggest ways they make money is to jam you with a bad loan.

 

[tomson75]

Being 6'6" poses a problem, I would think, with most cars....

However, the newer A4's are quite a bit larger than the A4s a few years ago. I'd think it would suit you just fine.

Love Audis....they make a damn fine car....and if you live somewhere that's prone to inclement weather, you can't go wrong with a Audi or a Subaru.

 

[Kangaroo]

Going to be purchasing a new car today, I think and I need some tips on what to bring in so the sales guys don't confuse my feeble mind with their jibber-jabber and I end up getting jerked.

Any ideas?

I've got info from True Market Value from Edmunds.com, but not even sure how to utilize it as ammunition when it comes time to negotiate.


For the record, I'm not even positive what I want yet. I'm 6'6" with absurdly long legs so I need to test drive a couple to see what fits best.

Right now I'd say it's between a 2011 Ford Edge and an Audi A4 or maybe even the Audi A3, since the hatch would be more versatile. But who knows, maybe long the way I'll find something else.

Thanks.

Where you located at

 

[MonsterD]

Ok here is what I can advise, pretty much what had been said already. Know what you want, do not spend a second being pulled between different models and trims, this is time consuming and will pull on your patience and judgment. Do not think these salespeople know how to play you when you have been there 3 or more hours and are hungry or tired.

Know the ins and outs of the car, don't know it is such hp or this quality/safety rated. Know why the engine type is different, know what plants build the car. Get to know some of the detailed features of the car, what the systems and acronyms and the various technology trends that each brand calls something different but are in principle the same. Research the hel out of it to the point you can tell the salespeople things they did not know, it will throw them off if you ask some questions they do not know the answers to.I did this in the negotiating cars and if you pick a point they are a bit dull on you can turn it on them and kinda create a arguing point to get them to change their stance.

Look of course at basic things like dealership cost, yes you can go below that but look at it in reason.

Research message boards and look at WHAT OTHER PEOPLE have ended up doing, their prices. This is a great way to look at realistic view on how far you can negotiate down.

If they say something like "I have only this selection to choose from" tell them you wanted a cheaper trim and they will drop the price of the built up packaged one to the level that you wanted i.e. cheaper.

CHOOSE A HIGH VOLUME DEALERSHIP! Get a salesperson that sells a ton of cars these things combined can get you already a break on prices.

When I was buying my mom's car we went to a lot of dealerships, there were 3 or 4 tiny ones that I would say a starting point and they just said "no way we can't do that". It is because they only sell to a limited area or a specific type of customer, i.e. a lazy uninformed or impatient one. There are some that you research their sales rates or just know that they are the "big dog" dealerships that you can see they DRAW a large consumer base from. People will travel outside their areas 30 40 100, 300 miles to go buy from because they know the type of price break that the high volume dealership can give over others.

BE PATIENT omg if you go into this like playing a 9 hour poker game and read to react properly, guess what you win. This is pretty much a game of attrition be prepared with the right tools, usually distractions are things you need to not be focused on such as another person with you(depends on who I guess) or being fooled by their complicated presentations i.e. documents on payments or choices or detail overloading. I had one dealership try to explain to my brother (he went in on one negotiating and I observed and they told him how they were taking away options and actually charging more. Of course that was obfusticated by the double talk lawyer type speak, I interjected talking over him "ok know this is what he took out, this is the price, that is the result". I just spelled out what he did in simplistic terms so that it was apparent instead of kinda confusing.

Well I won't bore anymore just try to do a decent job, you might not reach a set goal but in the end you will be happy.

 

[Kangaroo]

Count if you live in Dallas or Houston area their is a guy who has a radio show Jerry reylonds the car guy I like to listen to his show he is entertaining if you email him he has dealers that deal with him. He does not recomended just anybody and this what will happen. He will give you a contact with a GM of the dealer you call or email them.

You walk in and ask for who the GM tells you to ask for bam the GM walked out said Hi shook my hand grabbed a person he is a VIP client he is not in the system but he will be keep me in the loop all the way and make sure he gets the VIP treatment the dam easy car I ever bought. I got fleet pricing off the top no freakin haggling nothing just hear is the cost of the car.

He also has contacts in the used car side and they will not jack you around because he will pull them of his list no funny stuff. People call back all the time and talk about how great of experience they had.

 

[Bigdog]

Get your financing (if you are financing and not paying cash) taken care of beforehand. One of the biggest ways they make money is to jam you with a bad loan.

This always good advice but if you can't have them sign something that if you get a better rate in certain number of days, you will go with that. Sometimes they will match it. This works especially if you have good credit. Also, never take the first offer. In fact you should walk away. I did this with my wife's Acadia we got 2 years ago and boy did they come down. We got over 7,000 off the price of the vehicle and they through in free oil changes and powertrain warranty for the life of the car. Going at the end of the month and year is also when you can get deals espceially on model year as car dealerships want to get rid of them so they will not have to pay fee for still having them on their lots.