Save Money on your next Car Purchase
An automobile is one of the biggest purchases most of us will make, second only to buying a home. We think a lot about the initial expense – buying the car, but it’s also vital to consider the cost of maintaining and using the car for years to come. Reliability and resale value are important too. Doing your research up front can save you thousands of dollars over time. It’s well worth the time and money you’ll invest. Fortunately, the internet makes that easier than ever. Car dealerships are seeing more of their customers doing online research, so they’re making it easy by putting the information you want right on their websites.
Which Car Should You Buy?
You already have a general idea of what you’re looking for. A Mazda3 to save gas, a luxurious Lincoln MKS to impress clients, a Ford F-150 for heavy work? You’ve probably already got your eye on a particular model. Now you need to investigate that model a little more. First, find out what Consumer Reports and Car & Driver say about that model and its closest competitors. Consumer Reports makes its research available only to subscribers. I think it’s worth the price of a subscription. Plus you’ll get unbiased reviews of everything from vacuum cleaner to annuities. Next, find a few reviews from other consumers. Google the make and model and see what comes up. Chances are that someone who owns the automobile you’re looking at has written a review and posted it on the internet. Keep in mind that anyone can write anything they want, and take it with a grain of salt. Look at the information they provide and think about whether it’s relevant to you.
Ford F-150
Now use the same resources to investigate a few of this model’s competitors. Do any of them have higher rankings, a feature that’s essential to you, or better customer reviews? What about the price? You may choose to take more than one model to the next step of your research.
Need more information? Many dealership websites offer an online car comparison tool that does a side by side comparison of the models you select – whether or not they sell those models. For example, go to the comparison tool page at this Palm Desert Ford Dealership. You can compare up to 4 models at a time.
Research the Options
The next step is to find out what the options cost. The price of each option will be a factor in which options you want. Go to the Build Your Car option on this Riverside County Ford Dealership’s website. Select the car you’re looking at with all of the options you’re considering. The tool will show you the price of each option. Now decide which options are worth it to you.
Who Has Your Car?
Everyone knows that it’s easier to negotiate on a car that the dealer has on the lot. So now you have to find out who has the car you want. Many dealerships, like Ford Dealers Los Angeles, list their entire inventory on their websites and update it daily. They often show mileage, features and multiple photos of used cars in their inventory. It’s possible that no local dealer has the exact car with the exact options you’re looking for. If that’s the case, you’ll want to look for the closest match. If you’re holding out for something specific that nobody has in inventory, check back in a week or two.
Price Homework
There’s one more thing to do before you go to the dealership. Get your backup in order for the car you want to buy. The pricing you’ve seen so far is for comparison purposes, but now you need to figure out what is the lowest price the dealer will accept for the car you want. Consumer Reports sells Pricing Reports for $14 each. They’re specific to a make and model and are WELL worth the price. If you are still considering more than one car, order a report for each. Add the prices of the options to the Consumer Reports Bottom Line Price and that’s where you start negotiating. There will probably be less negotiating room on a car that’s in great demand and more on something that has been sitting on the lot a while.
Lastly, go to the internet and do a search on prices paid for that vehicle. You can find forums where people have posted what they paid for a car and at what dealership.
Now, before you go to the dealership, decide on the maximum price that you would be willing to pay for this vehicle.
Financing Research
Use the loan calculator on this Southern California Mazda Dealer’s website to find out what your monthly payment would be. Review your budget to make sure you can afford this payment. Look at the Dealer’s Specials to see if any special financing is offered. The Consumer Reports’ Price Report should have this information too. Now compare the finance rate to what’s offered by your credit union or bank. Check their website to see if rates are listed. If not, call them. Dealerships frequently offer great financing deals in order to sell their vehicles, but it’s a good idea to make sure that it’s the best choice for you.
Buy Your Car!
Finally! Your research is done and it’s time to go shopping! If possible, go to the dealership when it’s not busy. You’re likely to get more attention on a weekday afternoon or a rainy than you would on a sunny Saturday when there are many other customers on the lot.
Go for a test drive. If there’s something you don’t like, think carefully about whether this is an issue that would cause you to reconsider this car. The salesperson will try to convince you to buy this car or another car he has. If you can’t think objectively while he or she is talking to you, you may need to leave the lot to do your thinking. You may need to sleep on it or go test drive your second choice.
If the test drive confirms that this is the car for you, make an offer on the car. Make your offer in terms of purchase price, financing and trade-in value, if appropriate. Don’t negotiate on part of the package. You may find that you’ve negotiated a great monthly payment, but the term of the loan is longer than you expected or that you got a great price on the new car, but you’re going to get much less than you expected on your trade in. Address all the pieces in your offer and clarify any counter offers you receive. If the sales person makes a counter offer that’s more than your maximum price, don’t be afraid to walk away. Unless it’s an extremely popular car, it will be there tomorrow.
After the Sale
While you’re enjoying that new car smell, take a few minutes to go back online and contribute to the forum that helped you. Tell them what you bought, how much you paid and what your experience with the dealership was like. The next person in your shoes will appreciate it!