www.carbuyingtips.com <---- Everything you need to know right there. I think half the battle is choosing the dealership. I bought a Nissan at a certain dealership, and got nothing but lies and higher price quotes. My brother went to Mossy Nissan, and they quoted him UNDER what he expected! They still tried some crap, but the price quote was great.
hmm...Codell hasn't shown up yet JERRY: (To Kramer) Would you stop it? You'll have plenty of time to destroy it after I get it. Hey, George, I'm buyin' this car. (Gestures to a black Saab) GEORGE: What is wrong with you? You never tell 'em you like the car. (Advising) You're not sure what you want. You don't even know why you're here. GEORGE: Look at these salesmen. The only thing these guys fear is the walk-out. No matter what they say, you say, "I’ll walk out of here right now!" (A salesman approaches) SALESMAN: Can I help you with something? GEORGE: (Threatening) Hold it! One more step and we’re walkin’! JERRY: (Scolding) George. (To salesman) Sorry, we’re just waiting for David Puddy. GEORGE: (Still with a tone) He is. You don’t know what I’m doin’ here.
I actually was looking to buy an 04 Odyssey this past month. My research told me to wait for the 05 model that should come out in Aug. It's a completely new model and supposed to blow away the competition. I imagine I will have to pay MSRP for it. The 04 Ody is going for Invoice right now "before" I haggle. This quote is from Clear Lake Honda on 5/26: 2004 Honda Odyssey EX....Power Pckg, Dual Sliding Drs, Climate Cntrl.......................$24,289 2004 Honda Odyssey EX-L......Leather, Heated Seats, Extra Luxury.................Just Add $1400
Clutch, don't waste any time attempting to negotiate on interest rates. It's hard to negotiate interest rates because so many dealerships send the debt to lenders that they have no control over. I created an Excel model that analyzed the rates vs. rebate decision, and the conclusion that I drew from that model is that most dealerships have accurately balanced the low interest rate trade-off versus the cash rebate/discount up front. I will never trade a car in. You simply lose to much money. I sold my last car in the Chronicle and had no trouble. I probably invested about 3 hours into the entire process and received an additional $4,000 above the CarMax price (which was higher than any dealer's trade-in offer). Now, don't get me wrong, The_Conquistador's time is very valuable, but it is not worth $1,333 per hour. I do recommend having CarMax appraise your car. They do it all the time and it is pretty simple. Definitely worth an hour of your time (or less if you go during the week). If you insist on trading in your car, at least you have a strong data point to provide leverage in a trade-in negotiation. ... or you could screw all of this and just give them the Tim Duncan stonewall face from that commercial. Just sit there and say nothing until they cave.
peleincubus -- Many dealerships outsource the lending aspect of a car purchase. When you say that you'd like to finance the car, they will figure out your credit score by calling the three major rating agencies, and then take that score to their pre-selected lenders. The lenders will give them an online quote on financing terms, and they will choose the most competitive rate. Because of this system, the auto dealers themselves don't have much say-so in the rate determination process. They (and the buyer) are simply price takers. The dealers themselves don't serve as the lending institution. Some do, but most do not. If you go to a dealer that does act like a bank and lends people money, then that does open up the window to negotiate interest rates and terms of the debt. Many dealerships extend an offer of taking *either* zero percent APR or [$X] in cash rebate up front. That $X typically is set equal to the NPV of saved interest expense from the better financing package. In real dollars, your choice is the same. From there it becomes a personal decision.
I too recommend using the internet and e-mail. I e-mailed some dealerships what vehicle I wanted. I gave a list of options it had to have and some more that I would like to have. It took about 4 e-mails to find the one with the right mix of options for price, but I got a new minivan for $100 under dealer price according to Edmunds. For what it is worth, I have sold a few used cars and I have found Edmunds to be closer to actual sale price than kbb.com
I agree there is a hidden cost, but I do not believe you have to pay sales tax on the car you sale. The buyer pays this when he registers the car. The hidden cost is by trading it in you reduce the amount you pay to the dealer by the trade in amount. By paying tax on this lesser amount, you are in a sense not paying sales tax on the trade in. I guess that is splitting hairs, but the point is valid. If you cannot beat the trade in price + sales tax + advertising + your time, then trade it in. I have done it both ways and been happy each way.
Great advice all. Thanks .... I really appreciate you taking the time. On selling the cars, I'd like to ... but it's hard right now time-wise and I figured it would be a hassle. I would be happy with peak trade-in value because of the tax break and convenience, but I'll probably give selling the cars a shot for 2-3 weeks. I think I will put the cars up for sale, but take them in to another dealership or two for trade-in estimates. I had a friend who got peak trade-in value at one place, then he went to buy the car he wanted somewhere else.... negotiated the best price, then said he wanted to trade-in his car. That caught them by surprise. When they lowballed him on the trade, he just did a pass-through (or whatever that is called). They tried to charge him $500 for that, saying it was a standard fee. He refused... and ultimately got that off too. Some excellent advice in here. Really helps me. Thanks again.
A seller doesn't have to pay sales tax regardless. The buyer does. If you sell it individually, then the buyer has to pay the sales tax in order to get the title in his name. BTW Clutch. Consider selling your Pathfinder outright. They are hot right now. I just sold our 2002 Pathfinder and I got about 15-20 calls on it in the 1st two weeks. Ended up selling it for full NADA value, which is amazing considering how bad the used car market is right now. Anyone want to buy my 2002 GMC Truck (low miles)??
I was told if you trade in, it is not that you don't have to pay the tax for the car you sell but you get the tax break for the car you buy. If you buy a $30K car and if you trade in a $10k car, you only pay tax for the $20K difference. Am I right? BTW, the last couple times I bought from a dealer, I came in on the last day of the month and got extra break on the price. They have monthly quota to fill!
If you do the thing where you e-mail the dealership for estimates, you may want to send two e-mails: one under a male name and one under a female name. The e-mail addresses should have a masculine/feminine name and the name you sign should be respective to those e-mail addresses. Send the exact same wording in each. Send the feminine one first...then about two days later send the masculine one. Be sure you keep time-stamped copies in your sent box. See if you get different price quotes or only get a reply to the masculine e-mail. If there is a difference in price or you only get a response to the masculine one, take all the e-mails with you to the dealership and tell the manager what happened...then ask why that happened. The manager won't have an answer (at least one that won't get him in deep ****). This will scare them into making you happy so you don't tell others/media/BBB about them. Try it...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...but it usually does.
Yes, you are correct.....and that can sometimes be a significant amount. A "pass through" is when the dealer you are buying from takes your trade in at someone else's price. This is typically done with a wholesaler. It allows you to enjoy the benefits of the sales tax break of doing a trade in, but the dealer isn't personally taking your trade. He's essentially brokering the deal for someone else. And yes, they typically try to charge you because they are doing added paperwork and handling. Still, it's occasionally done. I put my last vehicle in the Chronicle....ostensibly to sell myself, and I got more calls from wholesalers than I did individuals. I got one offer that would be acceptable to me (if I were to trade in--because of the sales tax break), so I asked the dealer if he would do a "pass through." He agreed, but at the last minute, they just stepped up to the table and gave me what that guy was offering....even though they were originally separated by over $2500! My wife has the Ford X-plan available to her, and I ended up negotiating a price that was right at three grand LESS than X-plan (along with the rebates) AND I got a really good price on my trade-in AND I got 3.9% for 72 months through my credit union. I was a happy camper.
I am selling a 1998 chrysler 300 M loaded with sun roof and leather. Very fast car. Champaign color. Asking $12,000 It has 49,000 miles on it. I bought it 2 years ago for 18,000 and it had 35,000 miles on it at that time. I have only driven it on the weekends. call me at 281-480-6204 if you are intested. I live in the Clear Lake area
Last September. About $16K BELOW the asking price, plus free pest control for 3 years and a two-year home warranty. You should have seen me buying the new appliances for the kitchen...it was a work of art. And just because you already bought something doesn't mean you can't get part of your money back. I bought a lovely Bosch dishwaser back in March. In early May I saw it on the store's web site for $200 less than I paid. I sent them an e-mail about it...they sent me $200 + the tax on it. All you have to do is ask.... The price on anything is just the seller's first offer. The only things I ever pay full price on are dinners at restaraunts (but about 40% of the time I get something knocked off those) and occassionally groceries. I do often go into the grocery store and walk out with five bags...only paying $5 for it all. I recently went to Kroger and after all my coupons, I ended up with a negative balance due...I didn't know that was possible. It did freak out the kid working the register! I absolutely refuse to pay full price for clothing. I usually buy it on sale, with an additional percentage off of that the store is offering PLUS a coupon. I get $90 pants for about $20 (I got 4 pairs the other day for $11.17 each!) and shoes for $15 - $45. Dana Buchman shirts retailing at $200...get those for about $40. Everything I buy is current season stuff...and always a major designer. I buy almost everything at Lord & Taylor. I did splurge the other day and bought a pair of Nike TL Shox...$65 on Macy's web site....used a coupon! Sometimes I will head over to Neiman Marcus and pick up a few things...always on sale! It IS possible to get Chanel at decent prices! Vacations are generally pretty cheap, too...I did Disney World for 3 people over 7 days for less than $1000, including staying on property at Carribean Beach and a rental car. Also, if you go to Universal Studios Florida, they have tickets that they don't advertise...there's a 3-day two park pass that's LESS than the 1-day two park pass...$79.99 I think. All you have to do is ask about it.
Impressive. It seems like the bargaining is something you enjoy doing rather than something you must do for financial reasons. I thought my mom was an excellent bargainer, and I didn't think buying under invoice was very common(Apparently it is), and she got both her and my car for under invoice. She's a good grocery shopper too, taking full advantage of Wal-Mart's price match. How exactly do you buy "in-season" clothes? I thought the whole point of sales was to get rid of stuff from the previous season or stuff that wasn't selling well.
