New Car Buying Tips

The first thing that you should know when you want to buy a new car is that both you and the dealer are looking to get the better end of the deal.  (But you knew that.)  If you don’t learn anything else from this guide you will learn how to walk away from the deal with both you and the dealer satisfied.

A good deal is a win-win situation for both parties, but most of the time it is the buyer that leaves dissatisfied.  Well, actually, if the salesman is good, the buyer won't feel dissatisfied until he's been home a day or so and realizes he's been 'had'.  Especially if he  was fooled into thinking that he needed a 'bad credit car loan' because an unscrupulous car dealer tricked him into thinking he did.

 
In this day and age a car is no longer a luxury, but an absolute necessity. You will likely have to purchase a new car more than once in your life, so you might as well learn to do it in a way that will make buying the cars less painful.

    If you are looking to buy a car you should begin with these tips:

1. You should purchase your new car at or around Christmas time.  Reason is with everybody buying their Christmas presents, not many of them are looking to buy a new car; This forces dealerships to ramp up their sales strategies.  They'll do just about anything to make a sale during Christmas.
   
   
2. You can also get a good deal from July to October because that is the time of year when dealerships are trying to get rid of their inventory to make way for the new models.
   
   Purchasing a car online is becoming a great way to get a new car. Just wait for good rebates and incentives online and shop around.  But make sure you:
   
   Print out your information including the best quotes from your online searches and bring these printouts to the dealer that you are most willing to work with.  Bringing in lower quotes from another company might be your best bet in getting a good deal.  The importance of this can't be stressed enough! 
   
   
3. FightingChance.com is an interesting site that sells a downloadable buying guide for about $35.00.  We haven't reviewed it, but the site is apparently popular, judging from the visits its had.  Another website to possibly check out is Consumer Reports.  (We'll cover that later.) However, you really don't need to go anywhere else than where you're reading right now. 
   
   
4. A good place to start when physically going into a dealership is to bring a copy of your credit score with you. It can lower your interest rates on your car loan. Now, your car dealer should not know more about you than you do...right?  But for some mysterious reason, the dealer often comes back from the "managers office" with a credit report that isn't as good as you thought!  (I wonder how this happens ;-)  This results, of course, in the dealer telling you that your interest rate for your vehicle will now be higher.  Don't fall for it!  Have your credit report handy to protect yourself from this scam.
   
   
5. You can avoid another common scam that dealerships pull: You will often hear that your financing fell through and that you have to respond by paying more money on your loan. Don’t believe it!  It’s another reason for you to get a copy of your credit score.  Don't let them make you think that you'll need a bad credit car loan.  Your own copy of your credit report can be your key to a good car loan application.
                                                              
6. Another common scam by dealership salesmen is for them to tell you that they have found you a lower rate, but that they want you to re-sign your loan papers. Usually, that is a downright lie!  Once they pull up your financing information, they have the upper hand--if you don’t know the details about your credit information. You can get a copy of your credit report online.  You can get your Equifax credit report for about $10-$15. It’s better to pay $15 now than thousands later.
   
   
7. Don’t bring in a car for trade in if you still owe money on it.  Buy a cheap car loan payment calculator and bring it with you.  The dealership rarely pays the rest of the loan on time which will result in you having to pay a great deal of late fees to the bank. If you do decide to bring a car in that you owe money on, get it in writing from the dealership that they will pay the balance on the car within 10 days.  Otherwise they'll screw you.  If you don't have a hand-held version of a car loan payment calculator, wait 'til you get home and simply go online and do a search for one.  They're everywhere. Hopefully you won't be in such a hurry to  buy a new car that you can't make another trip; this will buy you time to think and investigate the car dealership's offer as well. 
                            
   
8. Sometimes a car dealership may not have all of your options and must order the car directly from the dealership.If this happens they will often ask you to pay $500-$1000 for a deposit on the car. Try not to pay more than $500 and be sure to pay with a credit card.   Why?  Because sometimes the dealership will tell you that there was a price increase on the vehicle and will want more money...if you pay with a credit card you'll have room to dispute the amount being taken from you.  You'll be able to cancel the charge; If you pay by check, you can just consider the money gone and they know that.
   
   
9. You should never buy a car when you are in desperate need for one.   The dealer will sense your desperation and take advantage of you.  And never wait until an old car is dead before searching for a new one because you'll lose the time needed to shop around for the best deal possible. As you know, desperation often clouds your judgment. 
   
   Related to desperation is wanting one and only one model car.  If you are absolutely stuck on one particular model then you are putting the dealership in the driver's seat; they know you will pay more because you only want one model.  It's much better to be able to be flexible on your choices.  At least--even if you are stuck on one model--don't let the dealer know this unless money's no object for you...Or, your best bet is to have in your "buyer's folder" quotes from several other dealerships for that same make and model that you just gotta have.  This is a very important point and mostly common sense, but good sense isn't always so common!
   
   Now click on the next link down on the left panel: "Never Do These Things"...
   
   

   Enter your search terms Submit search form