How do you buy a new car?

[GQNammer]

Alright, all the topics i look on buying new cars, everyone says to haggle the price down. But i'm just wondering, how do you do it? You walk into a dealership knowing that the car is worth a lot less than the ticket price. But how do you tell a salesperson that you want the car for lower than what it says it costs?

Planning to buy a new Mazda 3 GFX within the next month, need help asap!

[Shaolin]

i shop around as much dealerships as possible.. find out what their offer is... if they said 18300 for what i want, I'll go to other dealerships and say "so and so offered me (insert lower amount here) for this, can you match it?"

just always be ready to walk.. and try to take control of the negotiations.

[lint]

Originally posted by GQNammer
Alright, all the topics i look on buying new cars, everyone says to haggle the price down. But i'm just wondering, how do you do it? You walk into a dealership knowing that the car is worth a lot less than the ticket price. But how do you tell a salesperson that you want the car for lower than what it says it costs?

Planning to buy a new Mazda 3 GFX within the next month, need help asap!

Do your research. Get as much information as you can. Here are some sites with great information.

http://car-links.ca/
http://www.where-can-i-buy-a-car-online.com/data/ca/53250.htm
http://www.carbuyingtips.com/canada.htm
http://www.buy-and-sell-car-secrets.com/CAR-TERMS-car-buying-terms.html

Know what your bottom line is, and what the dealerships bottom line is. And I don't mean what they bought the car for (invoice) I mean what their actual cost is (invoice - incentives - kick backs, etc). Most models can be sold at invoice or below, and the dealership will still make a nice profit. Hell, aside from the test drive, you can do all your research on the net, build your car, price it out, etc. The salesman really isn't doing much more than paperwork, if you do some leg work.

Knowledge is your biggest advantage. Don't get suckered.

[C4S]

depends you want to buy a domestic or not .

even import, as Honda or Toyota, not much mark up, and not much room to go ..

Import such as BMW, BENZ, VW .. depends if it is a "HOT" model or not . say if you are buying a SL55, then not much discount you can get, and we all know Luxury cars got around 8% mark up anyway .. however, if you are looking for SLK, ML from Benz, then you can expect a huge discount, since they both have new model coming soon .. and they are not "hot" models anymore, and should have some huge rebates from manufacture.

Also, such as a C5 Corvette, if you wanted to buy 1 7 yrs ago, hard to get a discount, but now ? tons of rebates.

Mazda 3 is a high demanding models, and very nice car, however it is still under FORD, and 2005 model should be coming in few months, so there might be some small room to play with.

:)

[20incheyes]

or you can just offer something really low, and increase the amount slightly till both parties agree to a deal. Sometimes they will ask you to put $500 down to make sure you're serious so I usually never accept their offer but wait for them to accept one of my lowball counter-offers. But usually if they ask me to put cash down, I tell them to go get their manager and ask him what kind of respect do you give your customers? I come into your place out of all the stealerships in this city and you want cash before we talk about price........

[lint]

Originally posted by 20incheyes
or you can just offer something really low, and increase the amount slightly till both parties agree to a deal. Sometimes they will ask you to put $500 down to make sure you're serious so I usually never accept their offer but wait for them to accept one of my lowball counter-offers. But usually if they ask me to put cash down, I tell them to go get their manager and ask him what kind of respect do you give your customers? I come into your place out of all the stealerships in this city and you want cash before we talk about price........

Good point, never put down a deposit. A coworker of ine got suckered into that, and was stuck with the lease. Never.

[C4S]

Originally posted by lint


Good point, never put down a deposit. A coworker of ine got suckered into that, and was stuck with the lease. Never.
No way ! basically, unless special order a car ! ( such as BENZ, LOTUS, Ferrari etc . ) otherwise any kind of deposite can refund ! before you pick up the car ! or at least, dealership can offer you a Credit for same amount ! :thumbsup:

[turbo_equiped]

Originally posted by C4S
depends you want to buy a domestic or not .

even import, as Honda or Toyota, not much mark up, and not much room to go ..

Import such as BMW, BENZ, VW .. depends if it is a "HOT" model or not . say if you are buying a SL55, then not much discount you can get, and we all know Luxury cars got around 8% mark up anyway .. however, if you are looking for SLK, ML from Benz, then you can expect a huge discount, since they both have new model coming soon .. and they are not "hot" models anymore, and should have some huge rebates from manufacture.

:)

:werd: on that.
When my dad bought the 745Li a month or so ago. The price they were telling him was $115,325. But he ended up getting it for $92,950. Which is still like more than 20G difference, which is a lot. It all depends though, he knew the manager, so maybe thats why he got more discount than what others get.

[benyl]

Originally posted by lint


Good point, never put down a deposit. A coworker of ine got suckered into that, and was stuck with the lease. Never.

Hate to break it to you, but your friend got bent over and taken for a ride by every salesman in that dealership.

It is against the law in Alberta for a dealer to keep your money unless you are getting something for it. There is always a way out.

A few years ago, we were buying a car for my brother and the salesman lied and said we were getting keyless entry. The car didn't even have power locks, how could it have keyless entry. I signed all the paperwork and even registered the car. But because the salesman lied, they took the car back.

As everyone else has said, just be prepared to walk. There is always room to negotiate. If they don't go somewhere else.

When buying my STi (they only make 500 for Canada each year), I got quotes from dealers as far as Vancouver and Winnepeg. Used those numbers to my advantage to get a decent price in Calgary. It is a buyers market right now... why do you think that they have had 0% so long. Why do you think Chrysler is offering to terminate you lease early... they need to move the new cars off the lot. Just be patient.

[1badPT]

Research: Make a list of cars you know you can afford and that you could see yourself owning.

Recon: Email one of the dealers for each of the cars to find out if they have a model you can test drive and you can also ask some questions about special handling like trade-ins, type of financing etc.

First visit. Don't bring your money, but bring a pad and paper, and make sure you have a list of things you MUST have in your car. Go for the test drive, see if this is one of the "possibles" then make your notes about what you like or didn't like. Then ask the dealer for price - don't deal at this point, you are just looking for a starting point.

Make your first visit to all the other dealerships that have the cars you're interested in and keep your notes.

From your notes try to narrow it down to two cars. You want to get the best price and for that, all you need for the dealer to know is that you have another car you're seriously looking at at X price. Then you deal. Go to the dealer that has the more expensive of the two cars, this time armed with your money and try to strike the best deal. Let them know what the other car you're looking at is, and how great of an offer the other dealer is prepared to give you. When you get a deal you're happy with, slap your money down because there's no sense in bargaining a great price only to come back the next day and have to start all over again. If you don't get an offer you're happy with, walk, but don't come back. Take the best offer this dealer gave and go to the other dealership and try to hash out your best deal and either way, you have your new car at the best possible price. If you're financing the car, the repayment terms are just as important as the price of the car. Make sure you get the best deal on both, and if you're looking at a domestic and you have good credit, you should be able to get 0% financing on most standard production models.

GL

[lint]

Originally posted by benyl


Hate to break it to you, but your friend got bent over and taken for a ride by every salesman in that dealership.

It is against the law in Alberta for a dealer to keep your money unless you are getting something for it. There is always a way out.



You have to read the contract, and she didn't read it carefully enough.
I don't care what dealership it is, I'm not putting down a deposit to negotiate price.

[lint]

Originally posted by 1badPT
Research: Make a list of cars you know you can afford and that you could see yourself owning.

Recon: Email one of the dealers for each of the cars to find out if they have a model you can test drive and you can also ask some questions about special handling like trade-ins, type of financing etc.

First visit. Don't bring your money, but bring a pad and paper, and make sure you have a list of things you MUST have in your car. Go for the test drive, see if this is one of the "possibles" then make your notes about what you like or didn't like. Then ask the dealer for price - don't deal at this point, you are just looking for a starting point.

Make your first visit to all the other dealerships that have the cars you're interested in and keep your notes.

From your notes try to narrow it down to two cars. You want to get the best price and for that, all you need for the dealer to know is that you have another car you're seriously looking at at X price. Then you deal. Go to the dealer that has the more expensive of the two cars, this time armed with your money and try to strike the best deal. Let them know what the other car you're looking at is, and how great of an offer the other dealer is prepared to give you. When you get a deal you're happy with, slap your money down because there's no sense in bargaining a great price only to come back the next day and have to start all over again. If you don't get an offer you're happy with, walk, but don't come back. Take the best offer this dealer gave and go to the other dealership and try to hash out your best deal and either way, you have your new car at the best possible price. If you're financing the car, the repayment terms are just as important as the price of the car. Make sure you get the best deal on both, and if you're looking at a domestic and you have good credit, you should be able to get 0% financing on most standard production models.

GL

You won't know that you're getting the best possible price unless you know what the car cost the dealership. Going back and forth between dealerships won't always get you the best deal, especially incases like Toyota's Access Toyota pricing.
Globe and Mail article (http://www.globemegawheels.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040617/RTOYOTA17/cars/)

[benyl]

I would also try http://www.carcostcanada.com

[NickGT]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned, but I would also consider the time of year an important tactic in car shopping. For me, buying a slightly used Mustang GT Convertible in winter was awesome. Those wanting to get rid of them and were ready to take a hit in price just to sell. Looking on the auto trader now and they still sell 3-4K more than I paid for mine. Patience and shopping around are the key as everyone else has said. I shopped around for a year before I bought mine (not that everyone needs to. It's painful as hell waiting). I knew exactly what I wanted, and exactly how much I should pay.

As far as going through the deposit process to negotiate. I have done that as well. It is fully refundable.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by GQNammer
Planning to buy a new Mazda 3 GFX within the next month, need help asap!

If you have to buy new, can you wait a little bit longer? The 2005 models are coming out shortly and dealers will be motivated to clear out the 2004 cars.

Also, bring a digicam with you to take pics of the car you test drive for the things you don't see in the brochures.

When test-driving, make sure you do the mundane everyday things like parking, backing up, loading stuff into the back, changing radio stations / CDs / HVAC while driving, etc. The everyday things you do with your car are just as important as the performance aspects.

[CKY]

also, when negotiating, don't get lured into buying the amentities you don't really need.

ex. say that you're interested in the 3, but don't show signs of wanting the GFX package, instead ask them to throw it in for free or on a discount

[Xtrema]

CarcostCanada will give you the bottom line cost. But they rarely show dealer incentives.

But since you want a 3 which is moving pretty fast, I doubt there's any dealer incentives at the moment.

My buying tactic:

1. Research: Forums/Manufacturer site to know everything there's to know about this car. Cost of everything including OEM aftermarket parts and what they're worth.

2. Test drive, make sure it suit you but don't put in offer yet.

3. If you can, check dealership lots on Sundays (No saleman) and see what models they have on the lot that you want. They are more eager to move models on the lot than one order from factory.

4. Start the bargain. You have more bargaining power if you pay in cash in full. Start @ $500 below dealship cost and up from there. When they can't go any lower, ask them about throwing in extras like matt, knobs, tints, badges, gfx kits, undercoating, detailing or life time oil change or other future sevice deals.

5. Get ready to walk out when you don't get your way.

Months best for car deals are Feb (least selling days) and Dec (people are spending for Christmas). Summer is pretty good to for outgoing models especially on last model year cars like Odessey. But the 3 is pretty new, unless you really need one now, you won't get much deals.

[Skyline_Addict]

always do your research first... show how much you know about cars in general, as well as the ones being negotiated.
the dealer will know you are:

a. serious
b. not stupid

it is less likely that he will try to trap you into something and rather, let you do the talking, tell him what you want and what he can do for you; not what you can do for him.