Catch me in my Prius! I'm so happy to be the newest member of the 50 mpg club. This car is as me as it gets. Yippee!
While car salesmen sell multiple cars a week, and I buy one car a decade, I know the salesmen are better at the game than me, but I wasn't going to step down easily. I did all I could to be as prepared as possible, so here are five of my car buying tips:
• Browse with no intention of buying. I knew without a doubt this was the car I wanted, but I was sure to shop around and test drive other cars to cement this fact. Dealerships would mostly likely call me a "be-back," because I would let them know I had to talk to the husband... Be back later!
• As soon as I knew it was 'new car time' and this was THE car for me, I was in touch with people I knew who had one - neighbors, friends and coworkers. I also took to Google and searched top hybrid lists to be sure this car was continually making it on those lists, and at the top of those lists no less. You can't ask enough questions or have too much research.
• I used
TruCar to get the lowest quotes on this car in my area. This helped me figure out which area dealerships would be most willing to play. Dealerships don't necessarily honor the TruCar quote because each dealership adds their own extras from window tint to paint protection. What they do is take the discount amount TruCar supplies and apply that to the MSRP. It's a great starting point for negotiations.
• Get online quotes from those same local dealerships. The online sales and floor sales people operate a bit differently. When you get an online quote from one dealership, don't be afraid to take that quote and put it into this cheesy sentence:
I'm ready to buy tomorrow, but I want your best price on your (insert vehicle here). I've already been to the dealership in (insert city here) and got the price of (insert price here). I'm ready to buy tomorrow, but I want your best price. ... And email that to the next local dealership and the next. This way if a dealership replies, "we can definitely beat that quote" - you know you've got some wiggle room.
You can also use this site to get your actual invoice price so you know they aren't playing around when the dealership shows you that number.
• Have a trade in? Don't talk about it until you've settled on a car price. And don't talk financing either. This way you can get the best price possible on the car you want without introducing multiple other variables that can be manipulated without you ever knowing. Be sure to look up your trade in, if you have one, on a site like
Kelly Blue Book and print out a copy of the trade-in-value.
Mean business by bringing in a folder with all of this research... It says, yep, try to get one by me.
Use this site for even more great tips, and this site for an awesome series on
Confessions of a Car Salesman - truly enlightening. The best thing to remember is that you can walk anytime, and that right there, is
all of the power ladies and gentlemen. Even an hour of research can put you in a better position so you aren't an easy target - and that can save you thousands of car-buying dollars. Hip, hip, hooray!
