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Thread: Car Buying Advice?

  1. #46
    REDSBROWNSBUCKEYES
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by Yachtzee View Post
    My wife and I are thinking about buying a new car, so I was wondering if the car buying experts at Redszone might have any tips, particularly when it comes to negotiating a good price. I've bought a few cars before, and while I've never been "taken," I usually leave feeling like I could have done better. So this time, if we decide to purchase, I'd like to see if I can't work to get the best deal possible.

    As far as makes/modes, we're probably going to be looking at GM vehicles, mainly because my wife has earned over $2k toward a GM using her credit card.

    Thanks for any help.
    I was in car sales before i went into the investment biz so I think I can help. First figure out what you want as far as size, seating storage, ect, and go out and test drive them all. Then I would recomend narrowing them down to a few. One of the most overlooked steps from this point is resale value. The average person buys a car every three years so check kbb.com look at the vehicles your interested in and see how the vehicles have depreciated over a three year period. Honda, toyota, and nissan usually hold value better than the rest. This is usually due to large rebates by the other companies. Dont be fooled by the great deal, if gm can take 5000 dollars off of the selling price, How much is the car actually worth, because you can and will lose all of that value when you decide to trade it in. Now on to the wheeling and dealing. Every dealership has the actual invoice on hand and most will sell the car for that price. Go online and find the invoice price, then go to your local lot and tell them that another dealer offered 500 under invoice(you should have this price that you found online on a piece of paper and glance at it while your making your offer, and tell him that you like him and that the location is closer to your home so you'll buy it there if they will match it. Be sure to stick to your guns and the worst that can happen is they will say invoice price is the best they can do. Tell them that your gonna have to think about it and pretend to leave. Chances are they will say hold on a minute and they will go back and talk to the boss again. Take the offer they come back with and you've gotten a great deal. Hope this helps, and sorry about the long post, but since im not in the biz any more, i look back on how easy it is to get a good deal if you know the game.


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  3. #47
    REDSBROWNSBUCKEYES
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool View Post
    Watch out for documentation fees, too. They tack those on at the end, usually after the price quote.
    When I was selling cars I ran into this alot, every dealership charges doc fees. Ours were 100 dollars, this pays the girls upstairs that do all of the paperwork, not in the owners pocket as some may think. We would never waive the doc fees but would do another 100 discount on the car if it meant wed lose the deal.

  4. #48
    Are we not men? Yachtzee's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by OLD RIGHTHANDER View Post
    I was in car sales before i went into the investment biz so I think I can help. First figure out what you want as far as size, seating storage, ect, and go out and test drive them all. Then I would recomend narrowing them down to a few. One of the most overlooked steps from this point is resale value. The average person buys a car every three years so check kbb.com look at the vehicles your interested in and see how the vehicles have depreciated over a three year period. Honda, toyota, and nissan usually hold value better than the rest. This is usually due to large rebates by the other companies. Dont be fooled by the great deal, if gm can take 5000 dollars off of the selling price, How much is the car actually worth, because you can and will lose all of that value when you decide to trade it in. Now on to the wheeling and dealing. Every dealership has the actual invoice on hand and most will sell the car for that price. Go online and find the invoice price, then go to your local lot and tell them that another dealer offered 500 under invoice(you should have this price that you found online on a piece of paper and glance at it while your making your offer, and tell him that you like him and that the location is closer to your home so you'll buy it there if they will match it. Be sure to stick to your guns and the worst that can happen is they will say invoice price is the best they can do. Tell them that your gonna have to think about it and pretend to leave. Chances are they will say hold on a minute and they will go back and talk to the boss again. Take the offer they come back with and you've gotten a great deal. Hope this helps, and sorry about the long post, but since im not in the biz any more, i look back on how easy it is to get a good deal if you know the game.
    Wow, bringing this old post back to the top. It's a good one. OLD RIGHTHANDER II, this is good advice. This is pretty much what my wife and I did when we purchased her Pontiac G6. We made a list of cars she was interested in. Of course there were the ones that everyone says you should buy (Toyota, Honda), a few that we knew we could get a discount on through friendly connections (Ford, Mazda), and ones based on my wife's own past cars (she has owned a lot of Chevrolets). She picked the G6 because it was the one she liked driving the most. We then used the internet to get price quotes. The salesperson at the place we test drove the car started to seem a little flighty (don't know if it was intentional or not, but the price would fluctuate at will and then she would try to get us interested in a car we didn't like), so we decided to go with one of the dealers who gave us an internet quote. We ended up getting exactly the car my wife wanted and felt like we got a good deal.

    Another perk using the internet brings is that it gives you the opportunity to compare how different dealers treat you. Some places you just get the feel that they just want to take your money, whereas others look to try to build customer loyalty by dealing with you straight right from the get go. I used to hate buying a car because I felt like I was getting taken. But our last experience, using the advice we got here and on the internet was great.
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  5. #49
    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by OLD RIGHTHANDER View Post
    When I was selling cars I ran into this alot, every dealership charges doc fees. Ours were 100 dollars, this pays the girls upstairs that do all of the paperwork, not in the owners pocket as some may think. We would never waive the doc fees but would do another 100 discount on the car if it meant wed lose the deal.
    Good to know.

    Last year, I went to two separate Nissan dealers and got similar prices on a Maxima, but one wanted $299 in doc fees while the other only charged $100.

    One other tidbit of advice: after you go through all the preparations, do all your homework, and buy the car for a price you are happy with, just enjoy it. Don't worry about whether you could have negotiated for another hundred dollars off. Don't go back out on the internet and check prices again just to make sure you got the best deal ever. If you did your homework, rest assured that you got a great deal.
    Last edited by Johnny Footstool; 12-12-2006 at 11:25 AM.
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  6. #50
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    JERRY: Alright, alright. Alright, that’s enough! Let’s get back to my deal. That undercoating, that’s just a rip-off, isn’t it, David?
    PUDDY: Oh, we don’t even know what it is.
    JERRY: So, I’m gettin’ the insider’s deal?
    PUDDY: Insider’s deal. (Holds up his hand) High-five.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

  7. #51
    Danger is my business! oneupper's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    I know that this is the "american way" of doing it (car buying)...but it is awful. Going to buy a car in America is for me like getting my teeth pulled.

    You basically have to go out and try to screw the "dealer/salesman" before he/she screws you. It's unlike anything else you buy in this country.

    Everything else, the price and characteristics of the item is a known quantity. You like it, you buy it. You don't...you go elsewhere. If you find a better deal...you can sometimes bring it back. Sure, you may have found something better elsewhere, but if you look well and wait for sales, you do well.

    In any case, if you find a great deal, its Walmart, Target, Best Buy or Amazon who's giving it to you, you're not taking it out of some salesperson's pocket.

    In car buying, the price is a variable. The price on the tag is A LIE.
    How can you compare different products if the price isn't known? Or the same item at different places?

    I find the whole ordeal barbaric and disturbing, and I've been putting off a car purchase because I don't want to deal with it.
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  8. #52
    REDSBROWNSBUCKEYES
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by oneupper View Post
    I know that this is the "american way" of doing it (car buying)...but it is awful. Going to buy a car in America is for me like getting my teeth pulled.

    You basically have to go out and try to screw the "dealer/salesman" before he/she screws you. It's unlike anything else you buy in this country.

    Everything else, the price and characteristics of the item is a known quantity. You like it, you buy it. You don't...you go elsewhere. If you find a better deal...you can sometimes bring it back. Sure, you may have found something better elsewhere, but if you look well and wait for sales, you do well.

    In any case, if you find a great deal, its Walmart, Target, Best Buy or Amazon who's giving it to you, you're not taking it out of some salesperson's pocket.

    In car buying, the price is a variable. The price on the tag is A LIE.
    How can you compare different products if the price isn't known? Or the same item at different places?

    I find the whole ordeal barbaric and disturbing, and I've been putting off a car purchase because I don't want to deal with it.
    I agree totally, but if you think about it the products you buy at walmart and target also have a mark up on them just as cars do. Atleast on cars, smart consumers have the chance to improve on the MSRP. Trust me, car sales people would love nothing more than to sell the car at MSRP just like all other products, but thats not the case unless you buy a saturn with their no haggle pricing. All the no haggle means is that you pay what they want you to pay, just like Wal mart. Their are just too many manufacturers out their that are always going to be willing to sell their car for whatever it takes to earn you as a customer for life, that the system will never change. Also remember if I a dealership sells you a car and makes no money off of you but makes you happy, chances are that they will make it back through the service department.

  9. #53
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Best advice I can give you.

    Buy my 2001 Grand Cherokee, V8, fully loaded, 69k, about 24k left on warranty, PM me if interested

  10. #54
    Member 15fan's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by oneupper View Post
    I know that this is the "american way" of doing it (car buying)...but it is awful. Going to buy a car in America is for me like getting my teeth pulled.

    You basically have to go out and try to screw the "dealer/salesman" before he/she screws you. It's unlike anything else you buy in this country.
    you ever bought a house?

  11. #55
    Are we not men? Yachtzee's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    If you don't like buying a car, imagine having to engage in that kind of negotiation for basic goods. My brother lives in China with his wife. They've actually taken the "healthy" attitude that bargaining for goods actually helps give your brain a workout.

    Personally, I find negotiating a salary for a job much more distasteful than bargaining for a car.
    Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!

  12. #56
    2009: Fail Ltlabner's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by oneupper View Post
    In car buying, the price is a variable. The price on the tag is A LIE. How can you compare different products if the price isn't known? Or the same item at different places?

    I find the whole ordeal barbaric and disturbing, and I've been putting off a car purchase because I don't want to deal with it.
    Thats funny because I like the idea that with some effort I can influence the price in my favor. At Wallmart the cost of the item is fixed. No room for negotiation. Take it or leave it. But with a car, much like a home, you can actually take steps to save some money.

    I know that the car dealership is always making money (as they should) but I like being able to haggle and at least have some small level of controll.

  13. #57
    Danger is my business! oneupper's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by 15fan View Post
    you ever bought a house?
    Yes. It was less traumatic. Not quite the same deal. Information about comps is readily available. There is negotiation involved, but it's usually limited to the price and the house and always within a range. Much more transparent IMO.

    Back to the CAR issue, I guess I left the impression that I don't like the negotiation/haggling. While I admit I don't like it, what bothers me most are the stakes involved.

    If Target has a sale to "move" inventory, the difference doesn't come out of the employee's pockets. It's part of a corporate strategy. It may only move the stock in a few months time.

    When I walk into a dealership and a salesperson gets me, if I get the good deal, his kids aren't getting toys for Christmas. If he takes me to the cleaners, then he's going to Disney World. So a whole dance starts, with posturing and offering and misleading, etc....because of that. And all the time I have this guy (or lady) in my face, trying to be nice, but obviously scheming about how (or where) they are going to make their commission off me. They start to press, "do this", "you ought that", "this is better", etc..and... And I have to think "why are they offering, this or that...etc."

    What happens? I get annoyed and start to leave and decide my old car, which I bought off my brother in law is good enough for another year. I'm ticked off because I'm not driving the car I want to drive (and frankly CAN afford to have), the salesperson is ticked off because they wasted their time (as did I). Then they don't want to let you leave, and that ticks me off even more. So you have to tell them some lie about how you didn't really like the car that much, or you have to ask your wife (bad idea...they'll call your wife) or whatever...to get them off your back.

    Sorry for the rant. In the end, it's not fun.
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  14. #58
    Charlie Brown All-Star IslandRed's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Oneupper, you'd probably be a lot more comfortable at a CarMax -- used cars with no-haggle pricing and a new-car buying experience. From the ones I've researched, I'd say their prices are pretty good; usually less than Blue Book, definitely less than most other places will try and get you to pay. Probably not the best deal you could find if you enthusiastically searched and haggled. But if you want a good (if not the greatest) deal with a minimum of hassle? Can't beat it.

    We bought a Honda Odyssey there last summer and it was much more pleasant than for any other prior auto purchase. From now on, I'll buy a used car somewhere else only if they can't get what I want.
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  15. #59
    Man Pills Falls City Beer's Avatar
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    Re: Car Buying Advice?

    Quote Originally Posted by oneupper View Post
    I know that this is the "american way" of doing it (car buying)...but it is awful. Going to buy a car in America is for me like getting my teeth pulled.

    You basically have to go out and try to screw the "dealer/salesman" before he/she screws you. It's unlike anything else you buy in this country.

    Everything else, the price and characteristics of the item is a known quantity. You like it, you buy it. You don't...you go elsewhere. If you find a better deal...you can sometimes bring it back. Sure, you may have found something better elsewhere, but if you look well and wait for sales, you do well.

    In any case, if you find a great deal, its Walmart, Target, Best Buy or Amazon who's giving it to you, you're not taking it out of some salesperson's pocket.

    In car buying, the price is a variable. The price on the tag is A LIE.
    How can you compare different products if the price isn't known? Or the same item at different places?

    I find the whole ordeal barbaric and disturbing, and I've been putting off a car purchase because I don't want to deal with it.

    I actually love haggling. Love it. I always freaking win. I'll spend 4, 5, 6 hours breaking them down. I've never paid more than what I think is a fair price for my car.
    “And when finally they sense that some position cannot be sustained, they do not re-examine their ideas. Instead, they simply change the subject.” Jamie Galbraith


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