Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Always negotiate the new car price before you address any trade in.
This makes them two clean deals.
Get the right price for your new car and get the right price for the trade in. Dont move money between the two (the 2K) as you will probably lose in the end.
Nevada dealers hit you with a doc fee between $300 and $600 AND THEY DO NOT REGISTER YOUR CAR FOR YOU.
To get mine down, I told the dealer I wanted $200 off their fee and they could put it as a disocunt to the car if they wanted, but I wanted it lower.
They did that.
The VTR is also a problem here. They make this $195 window ethcing program sound like it is required by law, which it is not. A few dealers here wont even mention it until you are in financing and you see it on the contract. By then they have etched your windows and the argument ensues.
Of course after all is said and done, the State of Nevada sticks it to you anyway.
Our car is $15K and to register it we will be paying $300. They call it a governmental supplement tax. It will take bout 5 years before the registration drops below $150. My 2000 Miata cost me almost $200 to register this year.
Here in Virginia it's called a 'personal property tax' and I have never complained about it. If you choose to buy a more expensive car, you have to pay more tax.
Many people in our state did not like the tax, so they elected a Republican for governor and he reduced the tax a great deal.
Some complain that when you move out of Virginia the state charges you the 'personal property tax' ... for removing something of value from the state.
tidester, host
I wonder how may people lay on their deathbed thinking, "I wish I had complained more during my life."
tidester, host
I am looking to purchase a new titan. I am looking to pay cash which is something i've never done. I've heard that i shouldn't mention the fact that I am paying cash until the price is settled. Can anyone give me any tips on how I should approach the salesman. I am looking at the Titan SE what is a price I should target?
Thanks
The buying process is the same as for anything else. Approach the salesman politely. ;-)
First, do your research here on Edmunds and configure the car you want in the TMV section. Discount it somewhat because that information is, even at best, a little out of date; you can probably get a better price now if you're looking for a 2006, since we're at the end of the model year and dealers want to make space for the arrving 2007s.
Test drive the car and see if you like it. If the dealer has one in stock with the options that you want, that's probably going to be your best deal, rather than have the dealer trade for it with some other dealer.
Talk ONLY about the overall price of the car; ignore any forays from the salesman re: monthly payments.
When you get to an acceptable price, bring out the checkbook. The dealership may want to run your credit; that's standard, since you're giving him a piece of paper and he's giving you a car.
Call your insurance company from the dealership and update your insurance.
Drive off happy!
Farout
Metro punched "reply" to my post, so my name appeared in bold in the title, just like your name appears in bold on this post.
ANY-way - personally, I've never gone out of my way to conceal that I'm a cash buyer, but I certainly never mention it until the deal is written up. I just talk about the total price of the car, period, and negotiate down until that price is acceptable to me.
When I bought my Camry in-the mid-90's, after we got to a price the salesman said "and now I'll see what kind of interest rate I can get for you." At that point I said "oh, that won't be necessary, I'm paying cash."
His face really fell (it had taken maybe half an hour of negotiation for us to arrive at a VERY good price), and then he said "Oh, I thought you'd be financing it." He maybe had been counting on that extra profit from financing, or maybe he was just playing a game. Whatever. Didn't really matter, he made a sale and I was happy with the price, so seemed like a win/win situation to me.
More recently, when I bought my Z, I asked the credit union what kind of rate I could get, and it was 4.49. For that low a rate, it wasn't worth it to me to cash in a mutual fund that was doing better than that. So I paid half in cash, financed the rest with the C.U. Dealership didn't seem to care, they quickly agreed they couldn't offer a lower rate than that, so we were done very quickly. In fact, they let me drive away with the car, after I gave them a check for half the price and a promise to come back in a few days with the check from the C.U.
They knew me there, don't know if they would let someone they'd never heard of before drive off in a car like that, only having paid part of the cost.
Point being - don't get lost in the woods of playing some sort of game trying to hide that you're a cash buyer. Focus ONLY and ENTIRELY on the price of the car until you come to an agreement. THEN bring out your checkbook to pay. Don't lose the forest for the trees, in other words. The price of the car (of course along with dealer reputation, etc.) is the important thing. Let them think what they want about how you're going to pay for it; it's not really relevant for you.
Usually, when the salesperson asks me about financing, I usually reply "....we'll get to that part in the finance office if we come to a deal".
If they insist on running a credit check first, again I'd tell them you'd be happy to do that once a deal is struck.....even if you're paying cash.
If there's a trade involved, and you owe money on it, things get a bit trickier since the dealership is going to have to pay off your trade. Then, I don't mind if they run a credit check up front. There's nothing there that I (or they) should be afraid of.
With your advice and my input maybe it might help someone.
Farout
The fewer variables in the price of the car (like accesories, warranties, insurance sold by the dealership, etc) the less padding you'll have to deal with in the deal.
Other than that one would have to look at what you would do with the cash if you took out a loan. Basically what interest will you be paying on the loan as opposed to what interest you would receive on your investments.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
However, if you have been living in Siberia and have never used a credit card then get one or two. Use them for your next purchase(s) and make sure to pay the bill as soon as you get it.
It's simple stuff.
Who said that, a salesman? You have to understand that dealers make a lot of money off financing, sometimes more than on the sale of a car.
If you don't have credit, I can think of better ways to get a credit history other than to finance a car.
What I don't know is if Canada shares data with the 3 U.S. based credit score companies.
Either way, in general, paying cash is the preferred way to buy a car, if you can.
If you can get an interest rate on the loan that is less than your after tax interest rate on your taxes then the best thing is getting the loan.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Geting a car loan less than 3.5% probably means you paid way too much for the car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yep, I've found that this works very well.
About fifteen years ago the wifee and I were having a new house built, so of course we needed all new kitchen appliances also. Went to one of the big stores that carried all the brands and picked out all of the appliances and no two of them were the same brand.
While the salesman was writing up the order, he was really pushing the sale of the 'extended warranty' and I mean he would just not stop. Finally I had enough and said, "if all of these brands are that unreliable, maybe I should be buying all of them at Sears". That worked immediately!
We all know that these extended warranties are a real money maker so I guess that explains why they keep pushing the sale of them. It's just that I'm tired of hearing it with every major and semi-major purchase.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
right after i finished college, i sold appliances at a popular retail store. back then, we made more commission off of selling a $150 extended warranty, then we did off of the $1,500 refrigerator that it covered.
i have always hated having these things crammed down my throat when i was buying something, so my approach with the customer was that after they were sold on a particular appliance, i would hand them the warranty brochure (that had the prices listed in it), and would tell them to take a minute to look it over while i walked to the back of the store to make sure i had the appliance available, and to let me know if they were interested before we rang the appliance sale up. i think i averaged about as many extended warranty sales with my approach as did the guys in my department that really pushed the warranty.
English major?
But, if the dealership isn't going to offer a good rate on the loan, go to your bank or join a credit union (usually can be done for $50, or less) and get pre-approved for financing. Ask the dealership to beat it.
Extended warranties are things I just don't understand. I only bought one on a big screen TV I bvought a couple of years ago. TV repair companies just don't seem to exist in my 'burg. Sure enough, a year into the warranty period, the TV "fritz's". It took two days to get a service guy out. He looked at the TV....proceeds to tell me he only works on "Tube" TVs (mine was a DLP). Two days later, I've got a brand new big screen because no one knows how to fix DLPs.
On a car, you're covered for at least 3 years/36K miles. I'm of the mind that if you do the routine maintenance, any car should last 100K miles with little, or no major breakdown.
As much as I read about the lack of reliability of Mercedes, VWs, Land Rovers, etc....you can't stay in business long as a manufacturer if your products constantly break down.
If the dealership isn't going to offer a good rate on a loan it's possible that your bank or credit union won't offer you a loan at all.
Banks and credit unions offer loans to people with good credit. If you don't have that, the dealer is likely the best place to get some - and at a way-better rate than anyplace online will get you.
A banks and credit unions will more likely do business with a established customer in good standing. Often at better rates than you would get from a dealership (who is just going to banks and credit unions anyway).
The whole ideal is to get the best rate you can and see if the dealership can find you an even better one. Sometimes they can.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
And I had always thought that MSRP should be the same nation wide (that's the case in Canada), but it seems to me that each dealer has their own MSRP! Thanks.
Will someone buy a used vehicle just to save a thousand? They will if they don't know what they are doing... it's a bad move. Dealers typically pay wholesale which is less than Edmunds trade-in value. Offer what you think the car is worth. You should be able to get it between dealer trade in and private party sale. The dealer asking price is just that... what they are asking.
If the dealership is asking $15,995 for the Corolla, they would probably take $14,000 or less. Read the 2,000 plus posts in Purchasing Strategies and in this discussion. Only then you will be prepared... grasshopper.
The local toyota dealer recently bid on a tacoma I was selling at auction, They were offering 16K and would have put it on their lot for around 22K. The wholesaler who was selling it for me told them to forget it. If they could have gotten the truck at 16K, they would have made a huge profit even selling it at 20K.
Zip code: 01752 (MA, Boston Suburbs)
Certified vehicle from Toyota dealer:
Toyota Corolla LE 2005
$14997
10550 Mi
Power locks, A/C, Gold Colour, Both sides airbags, cruise control
No... you can't. The True Market Value is the average price paid for a similar vehicle. Half the buyers of that Corolla LE do better than that price, and half do worse. Did you read the 2,000 or so posts I asked you to read in yesterdays post? If you want to save some money and become an informed buyer... I would suggest you start reading.
Also, I would have the car checked out by a mechanic(and get a carfax report) if not being offered for sale at a top notch dealership. For a dealership to offer Edmunds TMV on a low mileage car... well, I would be a bit suspicious.
I will be going alone (I don't know anyone here) and I am a small female so I don't think there's anyway I can buy it below invoice price. Good luck to me.
Yes I am going to do that (tell them the price I am willing to pay) but I just wanted to be sure that when they counter offer I have things to say. I pretty much have no other choices because this is the only dealer I am able to drive to (the other ones are too far away for me), and I prefer to buy from a dealer, and, I need a car as soon as possible.
I have read about 1/4 of the posts, still working on them.
First, don't be nervous. Be confident.
2nd, when you walk into the dealership, ask for the salesmanager, immediately. Tell the sales manager you want to talk to the person who knows the most about Corollas.
Test drive.
Now, getting to the negotiation part, there's about a $1,500 swing between invoice and MSRP on a Corolla LE. So, the sticker you see (the one with the Toyota logo....not anything that looks like an "additional" sticker) will have the MSRP. Tell the sales person you'll buy the car for $1,500 off the MSRP price. They'll go to their manager and come back and ask you for more money. Give them one more shot. Tell them you'll buy the car, right now, for $1,300 off MSRP....final offer. If you're a recent college grad (last 2 years), tell them you also want the $400 college grad rebate Toyota is offering. If they don't want to take that deal AND try to bump you more, give you reasons they can't do sell you the car for your "final offer"........thank them for their time and walk out the door.
They'll do one of two things...either they'll come after you (which means you're close enough on price they may accept the offer) or, they'll let you leave. Don't sweat it if they let you leave. They'll be calling you back.
If you leave without a deal, post back here and let us know what happened. We'll coach you the rest of the way.
Also, if you're going to the only Toyota dealer in your town, there's probably a Scion dealer attached to it. Don't overlook those cars. They're essentially different types of Toyotas, but every bit as good. You can't negotiate on them...but they offer good value. You pay the MSRP sticker. Stay away from the accessories if you buy a Scion. You can always add them later if you must have them.
Good luck and let us know.