Buying a new car survey.

My 20 year old Nissan has died and I'm looking to get a new car. It's been a while since I've haggled with a dealer. Just curious as to what others have done.

How much did you spend on the car?
How much was your down payment/trade in?
How much is your monthly car payment/how many months?
Finance through the dealer or your bank/company?

Right now I'm looking at a Toyota Corolla; I pretty much picked 5 or 6 models from Consumer Reports that they recommended; it goes for about 16-17k, might put 4-5k down and pay around 250 over 48 months.

before you worry about the monthly payments. If the price you negotiate is low than it follows that the payments will be reasonable.

Also know your 'walk away' price for the car you're looking at. That would be the price that you absolutely won't go above.

Get pre-approved for a loan at a bank or credit union before you go car shopping. That will let you know what interest rates are reasonable. Often the car dealer has higher rates.

the Toyota will do well by you. And it sounds like your financing is just fine.

Which is one of many many reasons I recommend using a bicycle for transporation

but I guess I can live with the payments. I had better be able to anyway.

How much did I spend: All told, it was about $23,000
How much was your down payment: $5000
How much is your car payment: $350/48
Financing: through a bank, the dealer was about 3% higher

I bought an 07 Scion tC (Toyota) and so far I love it!

heres what I did

1. Researched the available packages at all the local dealers. Toyota dealers usually put thes on line, and you can browse their inventory. Pick out exactly what kind you want, color choices, what options.

2. Go to Edmunds.com and find out exactly what the dealer paid for the model and options you are looking for.

3. Go to your bank/credit union and get your loan pre-approved.

4. on a Tues or Wed, email all your local Toyota dealers with the specifics of what car you want, color, options, etc. Tell them that whoever emails you the best price by 5PM will get your business. Email lets you have a paper trail, so they cant try to back out of a deal. DONT mention if you have a trade in, or make that part of the deal. You are just trying to nail down the price of the car.

5. Pick the deal you want. Only AFTER you have settled on an exact price should you worry about trade ins, warranties, etc.

I got my Corolla for less than invoice, I think it was $14,250 at the time.

I highly recommend the email approach. All dealers will have an online price quote form on their website, or an email address. Everything can be arranged through email and fax- just verify everything to be sure there won't be any last minute fees added on. Going through email gives you time to think and make the right decisions- trying to negotiate at the dealer is much more problematic.

I emailed around 20 dealers (not all responded) and ended up getting a great price and the color I wanted. The more dealers you contact, the more likely you are to get the car/price/options/color you want. I also recommend using your credit union- that way you can just walk in with a check and pick up your new car.

One last thing- while you can't go too wrong with a Corolla, the 2007 Accords can be had for very close to the price you mentioned. The Accord is a larger car with better safety/crash test ratings, yet it still gets excellent mpg, etc.. Toyota makes the side curtain airbags an option (sleazy!) while they are standard on Hondas. The Corolla and Accord are both being redesigned for 2008, if that makes a difference. If you go to the Edmunds site, check the "prices paid" forums to get a feel for real world prices.

so you can look through what they have to find exactly what you want. I picked a relatively common color and a standard options package, and nearly every dealer had exactly the car I was looking for.

they work real hard at the end of the month to close those last couple deals

or whatever they're currently charging for Consumer Reports new car buying guide. Saved us a pile!

Whaddya wanna know? :shrug:

But it'll help you save money.

Edmunds has a recent article about a undercover reporter working as a salesman at a couple of dealerships. I suggest you visit there website and see some of the recomendations they have. For 1 they can tell you exactly what the dealer really has to pay for the car (Not the ficticious invoice price) As well as any factory rebates offered for your geographic area, whatother people in your area are paying for the same car, etc.

Bottom line is no exactly what your numbers should be before you make any visit to a dealership, if you go at all. Apparently the dealers are now having "fleet sales" office take care of internet purchases.

For refernce the average purchase price is reported as $16,239 and with a current $500 rebate this is $15,739, including destination charge but not Tax. Also if you are going to finance it work out all of you finance numbers before ever talking to a dealer about your financing.

You can get MSRP v. dealer invoice info, as well as typical price paid for the car in your zip code.

I actually just put down a deposit on a new car today and used edmunds as my base for negotiating figures.

first get pre approved at your bank/credit union for a new car loan. shop around even and get the best APR you can find

then when you go in, the salesman will have a page with 4 boxes on in, you'll only use three with no trade in.

negotiate each box separately. first negotiate price (look for at least 5% off MSRP if not 10) when you have decided what you are paying for the car, then discuss downs and payments.

Tell em you are pre-approved BUT you are willing to let them get the "back half" of the deal if they can beat your bank's rate.

Go in knowing what you want to spend a month then ask for that with a ridiculous low down and work from there. make them show you payments with your bank's APR and what their finacing can do with each increment of down payment (start at about 2 months payments worth--if you want $250 payments offer $500 down to start)

don't get caught on any one number, they're all negotiable

that all being said, if you are a AAA member, a Costco member or some large insurance companies (USAA for example) go through them instead, they'll buy it at fleet prices (5% over invoice) and you can't do better but you will need your own financing in that case

$18k
$2k trade-in
$254/month
Financed through the dealer (got 1.9% APR over 6 years).

It worked out great because I was able to trade it in on a car for my parents after 3 years and owed absolutely nothing.