When I bought my first new car, I was just out of college and felt flush with cash. I had just started working full time and I was enjoying my new salary. After donating my old clunker of a car to charity, I confidently strolled into the Volkswagen dealership to pick out a brand new Jetta.
The salesman must have heard cash registers going off in his head as he looked me over and saw me for the easy mark I was.
I’m not proud to admit it. I got taken.
I bought a car alright, but I ended up with more extra features than I needed or wanted. I also paid a lot more than I had planned.
But the next time around it was a whole different story. I had picked up some car buying tips and tricks over the years and I was able to use them to my advantage to get myself a great deal.
You can do the same if you follow these 6 simple new car buying tips:
1. Know what you want before you even get close to the dealership. Research the different car models online so you can walk into the dealership knowing exactly what you want. Skilled salesmen can easily talk undecided buyers into unnecessary upgrades and features.
2. Do your homework. There are plenty of websites that offer new car reviews, pricing, and comparisons of different models. The more knowledge you have the better informed your choice will be. The dealer’s invoice price is especially important. Dealers hate when you know how much they paid for the car because it takes away one of their biggest edges in negotiating car prices.
3. Dealers love to combine the purchase price, finance charges, and value of your trade-in into one negotiation. This way they can play with numbers and try to confuse you into thinking they’re giving up more than they are. You can keep them from doing this by insisting they negotiate each individually.
4. You can take away one of the dealer’s biggest bargaining chips if you secure financing ahead of time. Go to your bank or credit union and secure a new car loan before you head to the dealer. This lets you focus strictly on the price of the car. Once you’ve agreed on a price, you can always see if the dealer will beat the rate you already have.
5. Timing is key. You want to hit the dealer when he is most likely to give you a good deal. The ideal time is just before the next year’s models arrive as they will need to make room for the new stock. You can get a great deal on the previous year’s model.
The end of the month is also a good time because salesmen who are short of their monthly quota will be pushing hard to make sales. Also, go late at night an hour or two before the dealership closes. They’ll be more anxious to close the deal so they can go home and see their families.
6. Above all, whenever you are negotiating new car prices with a dealer you must continuously remind yourself…”This guy is NOT my friend.” Don’t fall for the old “I really want to give you a good deal. It’s my boss that’s taking a hard line here.”
The salesman’s goal is to get you to pay as much money as possible. He doesn’t want to be your friend and he doesn’t want to invite you to his house for a barbecue. All he sees when he looks at you is dollar signs. Remember that, and take everything he says with a grain of salt.
Follow these simple car buying tips and tricks and you’ll drive off the lot knowing you got the best deal possible.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for posting this! I will be buying a car soon (not sure if through a dealer or not, but quite possibly), and since I’ve never bought one before AND I’m kind of a pushover, this will definitely come in handy! =]
Go at the end of a bad weather day or month…they are dying to sell cars when it’s been raining all week or all month!
Hi, I’m a new Yakezie member and thought i’d drop by and say hello…and of course an article on cars got my attention!
Very good summary!
Car Negotiation Coach´s last blog ..10 expensive car negotiating mistakes
Thanks for stopping by and commenting…and welcome to the yakezie!
Woot! Yakezie!
Another tip I would add is to play these guys off each other. There is No rule that says you can’t call another dealership and tell them the price you just got offered.
Evan´s last blog ..What is Your Day Job or Profession?
Great tip Evan! Use every bit of leverage you can get!
Got my car as a model-year leftover (6.5 years ago now). New models were rolling in during September, so by January, they were desperate to get rid of the previous year’s models. We also did our homework when buying our husband’s truck, which we got a good deal on (plus 0% financing).
RainyDaySaver´s last blog ..Fix-It Friday: Drywall Progress
We did the same thing and picked up one of the previous years models, saved ourselves a few bucks on what was essentially the same car.
I like the idea of going shortly before they close. One thing I’ve always hated about buying cars from dealers is that it takes FOREVER. When we bought my husband’s (used) car though from a dealer, we told them up front that we wanted to be done very quickly, and that we weren’t going to sit around for hours. That seemed to work as well.
Jackie´s last blog ..Not the Usual Career and Financial Advice
Number 4 is a great tip. After you secure your approval from your own lender, ask the dealer via their internet department what the “out the door” price will be. These will include sales tax, dealer fees, etc…
Tampa Used Cars´s last blog ..Park Automall Has 2 Smart Cars Available This Week
Great points especially #4. My dad loved to toy with these salesmen. He would go in with a stack of 100’s and put them down one at a time and offer them ½ of sticker. They would most often show their hand real fast. Once he knew how low they would go he would go to the dealer he wanted to buy from and close the deal.
Knowing the dealer’s invoice price is a great tool to have on your side. Thanks for this article- to sum up the timing, visit on a friday several hours before closing, at the end of a month, after there’s been some bad weather, right before the new models come out
Thanks again for the tips!!
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