How to buy a car

[2535Miles]

I started this thread after reading the following thread: Am I allowed to do this (legal advice por favor)? (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8818)
The aforementioned thread is about legal stuff, but it stems from a bad experience buying a car. I just had a wonderful experience and thought I would pass on some advice that was given to me buy the manager of dealership I know.

I called my friend a month ago because I was in the market for a new car. I loathe even the idea of haggling with a salesperson and wasn't looking forward to the process again so I sought his advice. He recommended:
1. Be prepared by going to Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/) and checking the current prices and invoice for the vehicle in which you are interested. Know the market rates and what to expect so you can identify when prices are too high.
2. Ask to speak with the Fleet Manager. He warns, they'll give you the Sales Manager but refuse to speak with him until you get the Fleet Manager. They make all of the final decisions on pricing anyway, so cut to the chase and avoid the salesmen.
3. Tell the Fleet Manager you were recommended to the dealership by another dealer, garage, friend, etc. in another city.
4. Explain to Fleet Manager that you understand they're in the business of making money, and that you respect it, but that you're not going to be taken advantage of and you aren't going to waste their time either.
5. Finally, ask them how much over invoice they are willing to go and then start from there.

So, I did my research, knew the options for the car and the current market rates. I also got some rough estimates on trade-in value for my vehicle and called the dealership. They gave me the Sales Manager first but was finally able to get the Fleet Manager after haggling a bit.

The Fleet Manager was very respectful and was impressed with the research. We made an appointment to test drive for the next day. When I arrived, he didn't try to upsell me on anything. In fact, he showed me a car that was $2,000 (sticker) less than the model I mentioned because he thought it was a better fit for me. I spent less than three hours at the dealer, got a car $100 over invoice and came out $4,000 under budget.

I'm sure a lot of this is luck; it all depends on the people with which you end up working. But I hope the advice is useful to some of you. Have fun and don't let those darn cars salesmen push you around anymore!

[hc5duke]

I also want to add that you may want to find out when the next year's model will arrive. At Crossroads Ford, I probably spent less than an hour (spread out over 2 days), and I spent about $500 UNDER the invoice, because they had deals going on to prepare for the next year's model arriving 2 weeks after that (probably depends on the car, but for me it was late-summer). Each car from the previous year that they don't sell is just taking up space (therefore money), and if you don't particularly care what color/option you get, this is another place where you can save some more money.

Consumer Reports also has a ~$30 online service where you can look up the actual price the dealership paid for the car (which is typically lower than "invoice"), so with this knowledge, you could even get lower deals. With all the "employee pricing" and "$x000 off" deals, it's hard to see exactly how much money you're really saving - I agree with 2535Miles that you should go from the bottom price then up, rather than start from MSRP and go down.

[cato]

I started this thread after reading the following thread: Am I allowed to do this (legal advice por favor)? (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8818)
The aforementioned thread is about legal stuff, but it stems from a bad experience buying a car. I just had a wonderful experience and thought I would pass on some advice that was given to me buy the manager of dealership I know.

I called my friend a month ago because I was in the market for a new car. I loathe even the idea of haggling with a salesperson and wasn't looking forward to the process again so I sought his advice. He recommended:
1. Be prepared by going to Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/) and checking the current prices and invoice for the vehicle in which you are interested. Know the market rates and what to expect so you can identify when prices are too high.
2. Ask to speak with the Fleet Manager. He warns, they'll give you the Sales Manager but refuse to speak with him until you get the Fleet Manager. They make all of the final decisions on pricing anyway, so cut to the chase and avoid the salesmen.
3. Tell the Fleet Manager you were recommended to the dealership by another dealer, garage, friend, etc. in another city.
4. Explain to Fleet Manager that you understand they're in the business of making money, and that you respect it, but that you're not going to be taken advantage of and you aren't going to waste their time either.
5. Finally, ask them how much over invoice they are willing to go and then start from there.

So, I did my research, knew the options for the car and the current market rates. I also got some rough estimates on trade-in value for my vehicle and called the dealership. They gave me the Sales Manager first but was finally able to get the Fleet Manager after haggling a bit.

The Fleet Manager was very respectful and was impressed with the research. We made an appointment to test drive for the next day. When I arrived, he didn't try to upsell me on anything. In fact, he showed me a car that was $2,000 (sticker) less than the model I mentioned because he thought it was a better fit for me. I spent less than three hours at the dealer, got a car $100 over invoice and came out $4,000 under budget.

I'm sure a lot of this is luck; it all depends on the people with which you end up working. But I hope the advice is useful to some of you. Have fun and don't let those darn cars salesmen push you around anymore!


That is similar to how I went about buying my first car, and I think I came out alright. I have learned a lot more about the car industry since then, though, and the most important bit is that the "invoice" price does not represent the true cost of the car to the dealer. You need to take into account incentives and rebates that the dealer receives from the manufacturer to get to their true cost.

Once you build your best estimate of the true cost, add profit, and then you've got the number that you should be shooting for.

[Misunderestimated]

I highly recommend the article linked below. Its a story about a guy that goes undercover as a car salesman. It's a bit long, but will really open your eyes to their sleazy tactics.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html

[SouthgateWindsor]

I highly recommend the article linked below. Its a story about a guy that goes undercover as a car salesman. It's a bit long, but will really open your eyes to their sleazy tactics.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html

That was a really useful article when DH and I bought our last car. Actually, the whole Edmunds site was useful, we gleaned a lot of knowledge from it.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I agree with the original poster that it pays to do lots of research. You should know the numbers just as well if not better than the salespeople.

I would also recommend using the Internet to get quotes on a make/model you're interested in before you step foot in the dealership or even speak to anyone. You can do this through Edmunds or by going to the manufactuer's website and "building" your car. I have found a lot of success (getting close to and even under the invoice price) using this method.

Also if you have USAA for insurance, you can often get them to setup a great price with little effort on your part.

[g_olaf]

I agree with the original poster that it pays to do lots of research. You should know the numbers just as well if not better than the salespeople.

I would also recommend using the Internet to get quotes on a make/model you're interested in before you step foot in the dealership or even speak to anyone. You can do this through Edmunds or by going to the manufactuer's website and "building" your car. I have found a lot of success (getting close to and even under the invoice price) using this method.


Absolutely, especially if you're in/near an urban area where you can choose between several dealers. The last two cars I've bought, I ended up getting deals that were lower than what I considered a fair price after doing my research.

[jjones0725]

I highly recommend http://www.fightingchance.com. I read the book and got the specific information package for what I was looking to buy. I paid about $750 below invoice, which works out to about $1200 below Edmunds TMV. Edmunds does have a lot of good information. The main point of Fighting Chance is to make dealers compete. Don't automatically buy from the first dealer you go to. After you decide on exactly what you want, contact several dealers, get a quote, then see if they will beat the other dealers. It may not make you popular with the dealers, but I can live with that. And the dealer I went with was very friendly though.

Jeff