Car Buying Tips

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For new cars only, beats the lowest quote you'll get through internet pricing or other means. I asked for a quote on CRV and got almost 800 bucks less than the lowest quote which in itself was pretty low.
 
I got a 2005 Pacifica with an MSRP of $25,570 for $19,100 plus $99 docs fee July 2005.

We test drove the vehicle on Friday evening and the sales rep wisely told us to drive it home so we could try it overnight. The next day we drove it to the Toyota dealer and Honda dealer and test drove Pilots and Highlanders. I preferred the Highlander and my wife preferred the Pilot.

When we drove the car back, the sales rep asked what it would take to put me in the Pacifica and I told him I would be embarassed by the number I would offer. I asked to borrow an office and a PC and I went to www.intellichoice.com and created a spreadsheet that compared the prices of the three vehicles and their depreciation, repairs & maintenance, fuel cost, etc. and then told him the best I could do was $19,000. He came back and said the sales manager wanted to have the last word and asked for $19,100.

The Honda dealer wanted MSRP and the Toyota dealer would discount $500 but we got the Pacifica for $6,470 off MSRP! That's why domestic cars have 'high' depreciation! The depreciation figures are quoted off MSRP and the domestic dealers have high MSRPs and then discount a lot off the price. It's a vicious circle.

www.intellichoice.com is golden!!! A buddy was going to lease a 2006 Corvette and they gave him a good price on the car but they were going to screw him on his trade-in and the residual of the lease. We used intellichoice to figure those two details out. He decided to buy the Vette at the great price but then told the dealer 'no' to leasing and sold me the 1997 Vette at the lowball dealer wholesale trade-in value. I got it for $5,000 less than private party retail. (It helps that my buddy has never sold a car before and is too busy to deal with the hassles.)
 
Never work from MSRP, always work from invoice price. Watchout for add-on costs after you have gotten the quote (doc prep, glass etching, messanger fee). To avoid this, I alway ask for an "out the door" price, this price must include absolutely everything.
 
umm...I printed out this whole thread and brought it in to the Toyota dealership today. I tried to purchase a Prius for under MSRP and told them that I'll let them make $200 over invoice. I showed the print out of this thread to the salesman and he said he can do it only for a new Corolla but not a Prius or the FJ Cruiser.

I went to a different Toyota dealership with the same approach and got the same results. Finally, I went home in a Scion tC at the MSRP sticker. They won't cut any deals on the Scion too. I think I got ripped off. Any testmonies from others that this stragety mentioned above actually works?
 
The whole point of a strategy it to USE it!!! Not show it to your opponent!!!
 
The Scion and Prius are both very popular cars. People have actually been known to buy the Prius and sell them above what they paid for them due to how much in demand they are. With the FJ Cruiser, it is probably the same thing since it is a "new" model (or new version of an old model.) Toyota makes more Corollas than any other car as it is the world's best-selling car so there isn't a demand issue with them.

I went to a local Hyundai dealer to look at a nice used Corolla they had on their website two weeks ago. The Carfax was perfect. One owner in SC, serviced at the dealer every 3k miles obviously for oil changes, etc. The car had been sold, but it is STILL on their website to get people in there. They tried selling me a crappy Mazda that was from NJ and had all kinds of rust under the hood and wouldn't even start. I told them I didn't want that piece of crap and left.
 
In my book, car dealers rate somewhere between suicide bomber and ambulance chasing lawyer...

I went to Houston to my my new Accord because there are 8-10 dealers between Conroe and Galveston. The only thing a car dealer has less respect for than the customer is a competitor.

Oh yea, never buy the Extended Warranty. Once your factory warranty runs out you'll get a ton of mail from different companies trying to sell you an extended warranty. If you really feel you need one, given the vehicle's history, buy it then... There's no sense in adding the cost of the extended warranty to the ammount you finance.
 
Kage_ said:
I second that with sleazy sales persons. Our truck got totaled a while back so we had to buy a new vehicle. We looked at a new Chevrolet and it was nice, but the guy would not come down on his price. We looked at another dealership the next day, but we did not mention the other dealership to start with. When the deal was done we saved almost $4,000 off of what the other dealership was offering and it was the SAME make, model, color, and options ect. I used almost all of the websites listed above.

Another tip is you can use Edmunds to submit web quotes to several dealerships in the area. That is how I found the dealership where we bought our new truck. Doing that, you can get an idea before you go to the dealership where they are going to be starting on price. Thanks for the info Spoofee.

Kage_
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What do you mean by "you can get an idea before you go to the dealership where they are going to be starting on price"? I requested a web quote yesterday at 3 local Honda dealerships websites for a new 2006 Honda Pilot EX-L w/DVD 4WD. They were all within $100 of each other. Im going to test drive the car today and if I like it I expect to pay the amount that I was quoted which includes destination charge but does not include tax, title, license and doc fees.

I understand that if you add more options the price will change from what the quote was but if you dont than it should be the same? Correct?

thanks
Angelo
 
I personally learned a lot by reading through the carbuyingtips.com web site earlier this year before I bought my new vehicle. It really empowered me. I used all the tricks and feel that I got an excellent deal. I recommend that site to everyone. Be sure to read all the hatemail the guy from that site gets from salesmen that find out about his site. There's some classic ones in there. LOL!
 
Spoofee, can we filter people like this from the forums? This is the same guy who buys stuff with a stolen credit card and has it delivered to his house. Common sense is the phrase of the day.

Just kidding guy.
 
Above post was for lenkum. I am not looking too smart either now. :)
 
Fomer rental car OK, IMHO

uknow08 said:
I wonder if buying a rental car is a wise choice. I tired to persuade my dad to buy a car from Hertz but he insisted that ppl that rent out those cars mistreat the vechicle like flooring it too hard, etc. Has anyone bought a rental car?
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My first car was a former rental car. It provided 7 years of (relatively) trouble-free operation before I totalled it. Even then, it saved my life!

My feeling is that MOST people don't mistreat rentals as badly as they tell their friends they do. I generally don't try to destroy the car I'm riding in - even if I don't own it. On the plus side, most rental car companies follow the manufacturer's suggested schedule for oil changes, maintenance, etc., so those cars are treated well in that respect.

Of course, you should always do your homework - doubly so when buying a used car!
 
KaBoom!

sensei said:
In my book, car dealers rate somewhere between suicide bomber and ambulance chasing lawyer...
Click to expand...

Now THERE'S a collision I'd LOVE to see! :tongue:
 
aphoebic said:
The whole point of a strategy it to USE it!!! Not show it to your opponent!!!
Click to expand...
Costco Executive Program : $100
AAA Club Membership: $50-$80
Savings on New Car through car buying program with the Club/Program:$1000+ (Depending on the Car).
Giving MSRP to a Dealer: Priceless.
 
Anyone has a nice suggestion on getting a good value for the trade-in?
 
always look at NADA and don't let them use KBB as trade-in value
 
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