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Buying a new car tomorrow
Wassermelone
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Help me avoid any pitfalls for a first time new car buyer!
My wife and I have decided on an automatic red Honda Fit (not the sport). We are paying for it outright, so no financing whatnot (we have plenty saved that we will still have enough rainy day emergency funds).
Anything to avoid? We are more or less blanketly going to say no to any extras save PERHAPS the extended warranty depending on price. I was thinking the plastic floor mats would not be a bad idea... but perhaps just buying a set that won't fit as well at Autozone would be better?
We are trading in our current car for 1500 (Bluebook value is 2000 for this car in fair condition so this is a good deal :P).
I can't really think of much else. Any advice?
My wife and I have decided on an automatic red Honda Fit (not the sport). We are paying for it outright, so no financing whatnot (we have plenty saved that we will still have enough rainy day emergency funds).
Anything to avoid? We are more or less blanketly going to say no to any extras save PERHAPS the extended warranty depending on price. I was thinking the plastic floor mats would not be a bad idea... but perhaps just buying a set that won't fit as well at Autozone would be better?
We are trading in our current car for 1500 (Bluebook value is 2000 for this car in fair condition so this is a good deal :P).
I can't really think of much else. Any advice?
Wassermelone on
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Also, keep in mind that a cars value drops upwards of 3,000 dollars after only be driven one mile. Check the odometer on the car you have chosen and adjust your target offer accordingly. ANd remember, you can always walk away. If you keep the salesmen from taking complete control of the sale, then you also keep him from steering negotiations the way he is wanting.
www.mmo-raiders.com
it drops 3000 dollars because its no longer a 'never been owned' title once someone takes possession of it... not because its been driven a mile.
That's no exactly accurate. The value drops after being driven after it's sold. New does not equal 0 miles on the odometer. Price is always negotiable, but the fact that there's 20 miles on the car is not a strong negotiating point to get a significant amount knocked off the price.
I know that you say you're buying a car tomorrow, but be prepared to NOT by a car tomorrow if you don't get the price you want. Check out www.truecar.com to see what the car is selling for in your area, and what is a good deal.
2010
2009 Fits are practically non existent new and used, and entirely non existent where we are.
find the car you want and look at the TMV pricing report.
that should give you a good idea as to how far down you can haggle.
edit: based on what I got out of the system, you can only get about 500 off the MSRP so I would say start your offer at 1000 below and see what you can get.
Also, you *may* consider telling the dealer you have cash. It's a bargaining chip, play it as you will. I'd suggest waiting until you get them down to a price you'd like, then come out with "Well what can you do if I pay cash today?"
Also, go do some reading here:
http://www.edmunds.com/car-advice.html
Especially this one: Confessions of a Car Salesman
Thanks for all the help. I'm reading all these websites now.
It's not a huge deal, but getting free stuff for your car is always a good thing and it's easy to say. "I think we're getting close to a deal. I was looking at your rubberized floor mats, with winter coming I think they're a good idea. What can you do about the price of those?"
We'd decided on a 2009 Yaris. We went to the nearest dealer, asked what colors/options they had in stock, did a test drive, came back, talked to the salesman. After chatting/negotiating for a bit, we settled on $PRICE with 0% APR for 60 months. (Toyota was running a 0% financing deal at the time).
The guy wants us to sign there and then, but we tell him we'll talk it out over lunch and come back.
We go grab a burritio, then make a phone call to Dealer B, ask for sales, basically tell them the following:
"Hey, we're looking for an '09 Yaris. We just talked to Dealer A, and they offered us a car with (options) at (price) with 0% APR. Think you can beat that"
after a minute holding, we get the following response:
"Yeah I can do (price - 2000) and 0% APR. We've got blue and yellow on the lot."
"Blue it is then, see you in 15 minutes."
Everything went pretty smooth from there. I suppose we could have called dealer A back and see if he'd have gone lower, but he was being a bit of a douche already so we decided to roll with dealer B. Treated us very well, too.
I mean, I'm hardly a shrewd negotiator type, but it seemed like an easy way to save a few bucks.
I think in some cases, the dealers may even prefer you to finance, since they may make more money off it. They certainly seem to offer more incentives for financing. I don't think I've ever seen an incentive offered for paying full price.
Also, OP, come back and let us know how you do pricing wise. I'm planning on buying a Fit Sport next month. Sadly, 2009's are sold out and 2010s haven't arrived in Canada for some reason. :?
Edmunds Forums Honda Fit Prices Paid & Buying Experience Thread may be of interest too.
Hah, we would get around 2000 for the car in fair condition. We are getting 1500... for not fair condition which is why its a good deal. The car is on its last legs. It has some serious serious issues.
If that Fit holds up anything like what Civics and Accords do, my guess is your chances are much higher of wasting money on the warranty than recouping it in some kind of failure.
PSN: TheScrublet
actually i think the salesman makes more when you lease it above anything else.
if its a brand new car he is only going to be making a flat rate on it i assume as well
edit: also wouldnt it be better for you to finance it?
say you pay X amount of dollars up front so that you get a small payment plan a month, then you take the rest of your money and put it into a high interest savings account.
Not cash cash but 100% financing on your own. For example I use USAA for my banking, they also gave me a loan check worth $20,000, so I could spend up to that. That's cash as far as a dealer is concerned. They deposit it, USAA pays them $20,000.
Good luck beating the interest you'll be paying on a loan. If you've got that kind of savings account I want to see it.
Just get weathertech mats, unless they throw in plastics for free (I got them to throw in a 300 dollar spare tire and jack kit when I bought my car). Don't let them talk you into doing scotchgard or paint protect ant or rust proofing or any of that crap. It's rust-proofed from the factory, and you can buy scotchgard and paint protectant(also known as wax) from autozone and do it yourself, or get someone at a carwash (not like automatic but the fancy kind where they actually wash your car) to do it for 50 dollars at most.
Extended warrenty is always a waste of money. If it wasn't they wouldn't be selling it to you because they'd lose money. 9 times out of 10 you'll be better off not taking it.