Help Me Buy A Car?

[Thunder_Snus]

So Snuson I am looking at buying a new car. It will be my first time buying a new car. I've been researching all over on what to expect while at the dealership and everything seems to be incredibly confusing and what one "expert" says will get me the best price is the exact opposite of what another "expert" says. I always find snuson to be a wonderful source of information and was hoping someone could help me out.

Due to my past 2 cars being a nightmare (an old 94 la sabre and an 06 taurus) I have finally reached the point again where the taurus is costing me more to maintain than a new cars payments would cost. I'm looking at purchasing a 13/14 kia forte/optima/sorento. I've got a feeling when i see the forte in person i will think it is just too small and will opt for the optima. The sorento is a little more expensive but I havent ruled it out. I'm getting a kia because i plan to get the 10year/100k warranty because repairs on my current car has been a nightmare. The amount I would have saved with that kind of warranty on the taurus probably could have bought me the new car i seek.

Heres where i need my help. What the hell should i be paying?
I'll be trading in the 06 taurus which kbb has at about 3500. The car is not in pristine condition. I've backed into my girlfriend car a few times and there is a little bb gun dent in the driver side door. The inside is a little dirty from a previous job at a factory and small crevices that can't be reached with a cloth or vacuum are teaming with old copenhagen. I would say im willing to take 2k and nothing less for it.

I can get 1.9 apr from my current employers credit union so i plan to already have financing by the time im ready to purchase. I'd really only consider something else if kia is offering 0 intro apr or something (I plan on probably making 500$/month payments but I plan on taking the 5 year loan which should range from 350-375/month just incase there is a change to my expenses/income so i can fall back on the lesser payments)

My biggest problem is figuring out what I should be paying. I know the MSRP on the vehicles im looking at and notice some also have the "extreme price" listed which is the dealership i'll be buying from. I don't know if thats some sort of no haggle price or what but just assuming All i have is the msrp what price should i be looking at? I know i should be paying UNDER msrp but how far under should i be paying? I also know with my trade in and other rebates/incentives i should be looking at an additional 4k atleast off. I don't know what other information I can provide other than I am looking at putting 2-4k down.

Any help is appreciated.

[Snotgifff]

look up your car on truecar.com. It will show you msrp, invoice and dealer cost. It'll also show what people around you are paying. Never ever pay sticker, never pay more than invoice. that's my 0.02...Good luck!

[Crow]

Help me buy this car............



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[Crow]

I've backed into my girlfriend car a few times

Your girlfriend must be asking herself............. What the hell is wrong with this guy? .............

[Thunder_Snus]

Your girlfriend must be asking herself............. What the hell is wrong with this guy? .............

I would park at the back of the driveway so she could park in front....instead she would manuever to somehow still be behind me and somehow still on the driveway with no way to get out unless i moved my car. With that situation in mind "is she behind me" is usually not on my mind.

[Thunder_Snus]

look up your car on truecar.com. It will show you msrp, invoice and dealer cost. It'll also show what people around you are paying. Never ever pay sticker, never pay more than invoice. that's my 0.02...Good luck!

What if truecars price is literally 3k below invoice.

[rickcharles606]

NEVER BUY A NEW CAR...no matter what you pay, the moment you leave the dealership, you just ate a shit sammich in depreciation. Go buy a nice used vehicle and pocket the difference. Also, you don't have to worry about eating the initial depreciation...the first owner already ate that.

[Snotgifff]

What if truecars price is literally 3k below invoice.

Sounds like a good starting point to me! I've bought a lot of cars and always ask the salesmen what they paid for the car. Some are dicks and say they cant tell you that...BS, walk. I got my last car for $500 over dealers price and walked away happy. Just don't let them screw you on your trade in then.

[Snotgifff]

NEVER BUY A NEW CAR...no matter what you pay, the moment you leave the dealership, you just ate a shit sammich in depreciation. Go buy a nice used vehicle and pocket the difference. Also, you don't have to worry about eating the initial depreciation...the first owner already ate that.

I don't buy this theory anymore (no offense). The last 2 cars i bought were new, the difference between new and used was nothing. When you take into account all the offers and cash back deals...I woulda paid the same for a used car with 25k miles on it.

[Thunder_Snus]

So I guess a good follow up question would be this. I dont want to spend all day at the dealership when i decide to buy. I talk to people all the time at the insurance company i work for that say they have been at the dealership for up to 6 hours. Although I don't live in the bronx or philadelphia where most of these people say that I can't imagine its too drastically different here. Would it be unwise to decide which car i want, tell the guy(or girl) That i know i get x amount in incentives and that i just want to see a number for the car after my trade in and incentives and see if its anywhere close to what I have in mind?

I see countless people posting about keeping things secret but i plan to have a number in my head when i go there and I just want to see if they can come close. I don't want to keep my trade in a secret or the fact I already have financing. If disclosing that information will let the dealer "screw" me out of 200 extra bucks for what I want so be it. If I think 20k is an acceptable number after incentives and tradeins and other stuff and they're at 24 I can always leave. I will not be pressured or bullied into an unfair price. I just dont want to spend all day slowly disclosing that I have a trade-in.....and pre approved financing.....and this and that and whatever. Am I crazy for this mindset?

Also Rick, I have to agree with snotgiff here. As far as msrp and market price go there is a difference of maybe 1thousand betwen a 12 and a 13....and maybe 500 between an 11 and a 12. I plan on having the car for probably 10 years and at that point the initial depreciation wont mean a thing.

[Snotgifff]

I hear you on the all day at the dealer crap. Here's what I did...researched till I reached the end of the internet, went and test drove different models, checked out all the options and what not then left. About a week later contacted the dealer through the website, did all the haggling minus my trade in via email. I was done in less than 2 hours. It should be even less for you since you already have financing set up...they're the ones that take forever.

[GoVegan]

If it is your first car I would stick with Honda, Toyota and some Fords. Make sure it is a model they produced a lot of like a Corolla or Focus and that way aftermarket parts will be cheap and plentiful. Stay far away from European brands. They are fun to drive but a lot of them use premium gas and will cost you $500 for a small repair. Stay further away from Dodge. Also remember, the price of gas isn't likely to go down. Getting a car with 30 mpg or better will pay off at the pump.

[LincolnSnuff]

Do not mention your trade until you agree upon a final sales price. Tell them you are paying cash. Demand the invoice price. Find the car you want at two different dealerships and play them off of each other until you get to the absolute bottom price. Try to find out who the sales manager is and go in asking to work with this person.

[Riggins44]

Honestly if I were to buy a new car and I knew what make and model and options I wanted, plus a good idea of the market value of the car in advance I would buy it just like a business would buy it, and that would be with a competitive bid process to at least two (preferably 3) dealers who sell the same car.

It doesn't have to be formal bid sheet, it can be a letter, email, or even as informal as over the phone (preferable to deal with the Sales Manager, so you don't deal with some flunky having to ask his boss everything.)

Detail what you want exactly in terms of the specs of the car and ask for a price from each dealer...their best offer. You want them knowing they are bidding against other sellers, it is to your advantage. Leave the cash down part out and the trade in until you get a price. Frankly your better off selling you used car for cash before, but not a deal breaker either way. Every dealer is going to want to talk monthly payment in person, and you want a price for the vehicle in writing. Financing should never be discussed without a price set already ever. When you get three offers take the best one, walk in with it, and take care of the formalities of the deal which is when to reveal the down payment.... OK this is the price you gave me and I want to pay such and such amount in cash down and what will you give me for my trade.

You may be surprised at the differences in what is submitted back to you, I bought fleet vehicles for companies this way and saw differences in price that were glaring on the same exact models.

The best thing is you don't even have to go there until you get the best offer by letter or e-mail and you stay in charge. They are probably going to BS you and say you have to come down to get a price but tell them you got a price from someone else that way and thanks anyway, goodbye. They'll give you an offer more than likely.

I don't know if this would work in terms of enough dealers close enough in proximity to you to make it convenient for you, that is a factor.

But overall I think this is the way to go if it were me.

[Mordred]

Just to chime in, don't get a Kia Sorento. I had one on loan when my car was being fixed (somebody rear-ended me), and it was a POS. It was slow and handled poorly. About the only "good" thing about it was that it had a soft suspension, but that's not even necessarily a positive.