A few buying tips
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A few buying tips
Just a few buying tips from my recent experiences in car purchases (3 in the last 2.5 years).
My goal from the outset was to require as little work from the dealer as possible so it their hourly rate for time spent selling the car was minimized.
1) Know what you want. Be specific as to what you do/don't want (colors, options, etc.) to require as little work from the dealer as possible. It's much easier for them and takes much less time than a constant back and forth of him e-mailing or calling with various cars hoping one sticks.
2) Use the internet sales department. If you love bargaining and negotiating, you MAY get a better deal in the showroom but unless you really love it and are very good at it, I've found the internet sales manager to offer the best deals with just a couple back and forths (ended up at 1.5% over invoice for a new '06 6MT with 12 miles with a single back and forth) and 2% over invoice for a new '05 Acura TL.
3) Play the dealers off each other and don't be afraid to travel a little. I found the car I wanted in-stock a 2.5 hour drive away. If you ask them to pay for a train ticket to a location near the dealer, they might just foot the bill for that and pick you up from the train station. Doing it that way, the $$$$ doesn't come off the sales price so it doesn't affect their commission unlike asking for a discount on the sales price to off-set the price of the ticket.
4) Pull your own credit reports. They are free now so get it, and pay the 5 bucks to get the credit score from at least one of the major bureaus. If you have a good number, get pre-approved through Capital One Auto Finance. Tell the dealer you already have finacing approved but if they can beat it by 0.25% (I asked them to beat it by 0.4% and they did after a couple calls) you'll consider financing with them. They probably will. Capital One has a rate guarantee with their check and will then beat that. My dealer didn't want to compete with them on that any longer so I used the black check from them. I saved $350 over the life of the loan just by making those 3 phone calls totalling 5 minutes.
I didn't lie throughout the entire process and I believe that helped. The entire transaction probably took 45 minutes of sales persons time with the finding the car on his lot, checking the mileage, options, negotiating and arranging transportation. The dealer is getting his full holdback ($1100) as well as ~$575 in profit for a little over 3 total hours work by his shop. The salesman is happy as he's getting his standard commission + probably 20% of the $575 so he's pocketed ~$250 for something that took just a couple hours of his time.
That's how I went about it, your mileage may vary, so good luck. I wish they hadn't used steel wool or a scotch bright pad to apply the wax to my new car (didn't see it until I got it under my flourescent lights in the garage) but I'll fix that later today.
My goal from the outset was to require as little work from the dealer as possible so it their hourly rate for time spent selling the car was minimized.
1) Know what you want. Be specific as to what you do/don't want (colors, options, etc.) to require as little work from the dealer as possible. It's much easier for them and takes much less time than a constant back and forth of him e-mailing or calling with various cars hoping one sticks.
2) Use the internet sales department. If you love bargaining and negotiating, you MAY get a better deal in the showroom but unless you really love it and are very good at it, I've found the internet sales manager to offer the best deals with just a couple back and forths (ended up at 1.5% over invoice for a new '06 6MT with 12 miles with a single back and forth) and 2% over invoice for a new '05 Acura TL.
3) Play the dealers off each other and don't be afraid to travel a little. I found the car I wanted in-stock a 2.5 hour drive away. If you ask them to pay for a train ticket to a location near the dealer, they might just foot the bill for that and pick you up from the train station. Doing it that way, the $$$$ doesn't come off the sales price so it doesn't affect their commission unlike asking for a discount on the sales price to off-set the price of the ticket.
4) Pull your own credit reports. They are free now so get it, and pay the 5 bucks to get the credit score from at least one of the major bureaus. If you have a good number, get pre-approved through Capital One Auto Finance. Tell the dealer you already have finacing approved but if they can beat it by 0.25% (I asked them to beat it by 0.4% and they did after a couple calls) you'll consider financing with them. They probably will. Capital One has a rate guarantee with their check and will then beat that. My dealer didn't want to compete with them on that any longer so I used the black check from them. I saved $350 over the life of the loan just by making those 3 phone calls totalling 5 minutes.
I didn't lie throughout the entire process and I believe that helped. The entire transaction probably took 45 minutes of sales persons time with the finding the car on his lot, checking the mileage, options, negotiating and arranging transportation. The dealer is getting his full holdback ($1100) as well as ~$575 in profit for a little over 3 total hours work by his shop. The salesman is happy as he's getting his standard commission + probably 20% of the $575 so he's pocketed ~$250 for something that took just a couple hours of his time.
That's how I went about it, your mileage may vary, so good luck. I wish they hadn't used steel wool or a scotch bright pad to apply the wax to my new car (didn't see it until I got it under my flourescent lights in the garage) but I'll fix that later today.
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