Car Buying Advice

Auto - Buying and Selling

By: goodselfme 06-Aug-2012

Introduction:

Successful car buying is well known by the author. My vehicles have all been purchased on my terms, not the salesmen's terms.

Plan Before You Need to Buy a Car

Make sure you do not do compulsive buying of a car, unless you absolutely need to do that. Some sales people can detect your urgency even when you do not divulge that to them. Determine at home, with your partner, if you will be trading in your present vehicle or not. Whenever possible sell your car yourself to get the best money from that. You can rent a car for a couple of days if the timing does not coincide well with your selling and buying events.Public transportation or car pooling might be options to look into before the other car becomes yours.

Search Before You Look to Buy

Do your own homework online, in the newspapers, consulting with other people and many dealerships if possible.Concentrate on your important requirements and write them down so they are not forgotten as the car buying process unfolds. Do not show that to the saleman. You can tell them your specific needs and the things you do not want at all too.Get a really good idea of the cost of the "must have" options and choose a package with most of your "must haves" in it while you are completing your homework. This list might be adjusted more than once depending on how adamant you are in your requirements.You could ask if the items you do not need can be removed. Sometimes a car in another dealership has a different package and the things you don't want to pay for are not included that other vehicle package.

Pick Your Sales Person

Now I don't mean that you enter the dealership and tell them the name of who you want to deal with there. You just might be able to determine if you think you have a better rapport with middle aged salesman or just the approximate age of the person whom you would select if you could. Sometimes the dealership has a routine they follow with who is next to talk to a customer, but at times If you have a preference, it will be given if you have such a request. Drive around the parking lot on lunch hour to see the staff of salesmen to get an idea of who you want.

Stay Together

When you enter the dealership, do not let your wife go to the powder room. If she has some personal needs, you claim you do too and both leave at the same time and wait for each other before heading back to the drawing board where your salesman awaits you. Pre-arrange this with each other before going to the dealership. Pick which one will be the main person in dealing at first. Be prepared with a clue to the other person to switch places if the other gets worn down.Inform the sales person you will not be buying today! Tell that person you are just looking!Gather all loan information so you can go home and find a credit union or workplace loan officer to buy your vehicle unless the loan they offer is exceptional.

Negotiate at the Dealership

Salesmen think you will be buying the item when they find it for you. Get a poker face and don't let it be known when you find a deal that rocks your boat.Take more than one car for a test drive so they will not know which one is what you like the most. When you find something that must be fixed (a shimmy in the chassis)or other important discoveries, let them know about those defects. Inform the salesman you will come back another time when that problem is fixed, you will consider driving it again at that time. Tell them to call you when it is done.When you return,check the paper work to make sure they did not increase the price to cover the repairs.Read the fine print. Re-read the fine print, so you are getting what you think for the agreed upon price.

Give this list a high five!

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dptstretch 8/7/2012
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Good advice for what a lot of people find to be an intimidating experience.
thingsilike 8/6/2012
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Good advice to follow. H5
hummingbirdee 8/6/2012
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This is all good advice about purchasing a car. It is easy to get ripped off.
pamperedpen 8/6/2012
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Great advice about buying a car. Thanks for another top list. H5