Advise me about buying a car

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m not car saavy.

Last summer, we needed a van, so we found a 2002 Chevy Astro at a smallish dealership. Listed price was just over $8000. We walked away with about $13,000 in auto loan after adding a warentee and lojack, plus the financing (see, cause I’m not car saavy).

So now I don’t need the van as much and the gas prices are killing me. I’d like to get a sedan.

Blue book is listing the van as worth about $6000 as a trade in. If I want to trade it for a comparably priced car, exactly what will happen? Will it esentially be a swap, with no significant change to my total loan, or will the dealers pick my carcass clean with their pointy pedipalps?

2

[QUOTE=Pullet]
I’m not car saavy.

Last summer, we needed a van, so we found a 2002 Chevy Astro at a smallish dealership. Listed price was just over $8000. We walked away with about $13,000 in auto loan after adding a warentee and lojack, plus the financing (see, cause I’m not car saavy).

So now I don’t need the van as much and the gas prices are killing me. I’d like to get a sedan.

Blue book is listing the van as worth about $6000 as a trade in. If I want to trade it for a comparably priced car, exactly what will happen? Will it esentially be a swap, with no significant change to my total loan, or will the dealers pick my carcass clean with their pointy pedipalps?
[/QUOTE]

Sounds like you got skooled by the Astro dealer. How did you rationalize spending $13000 when the sticker said $8000?

Anyway, do you own the Astro free and clear or do you still owe on it? If it was last summer I’m going to guess that you are upside-down in your loan.

In any event, find a car you like at the price you like and don’t budge from the price on the window. I would normally tell you to haggle but it sounds like walking out of the dealer paying the window price would be an acheivement :slight_smile:

The dealer is going to low ball you on the Astro. I would sell it privately unless you owe money on it. If you do owe, the balance will be rolled into the new car financing.

HAGGLE!

3

I know, I know. I’m so embarassed about it. I don’t know what happened.

Us: We’d like to buy that car
them: great! You want a warrenty and lojack?
Us: Sure, we’re going to be moving expensive stock around, so it would suck if the car got stolen or damaged.

<paperwork> <paperwork>

Them: Ok, that will be half again as much as you were expecting! Magic!

And now we owe more than it’s worth. :frowning:

I could swear blue book was giving me less for private sale than for trade in. I thought it was weird at the time. Now, it says I can aim for $7500 at private sale.

Sigh. Thanks for the info. Maybe I can get into a car that’s better suited without being reamed more.

4

[QUOTE=Pullet]
I know, I know. I’m so embarassed about it. I don’t know what happened.

Us: We’d like to buy that car
them: great! You want a warrenty and lojack?
Us: Sure, we’re going to be moving expensive stock around, so it would suck if the car got stolen or damaged.

<paperwork> <paperwork>

Them: Ok, that will be half again as much as you were expecting! Magic!

And now we owe more than it’s worth. :frowning:

I could swear blue book was giving me less for private sale than for trade in. I thought it was weird at the time. Now, it says I can aim for $7500 at private sale.

Sigh. Thanks for the info. Maybe I can get into a car that’s better suited without being reamed more.
[/QUOTE]

Simply alter your opening line.

“We’d like to buy that car. Only not for $8000. We’re going to give you $6000.”

“I’ll have to speak to my manager.”

“Please do.”

“He says the lowest we can go is $7500.”

“Alright, but I’ll be expecting a warranty and a Lojack thrown in.”

“I’m sorry, buddy, I couldn’t possibly throw those in and keep the price under $10,000.”

“Okay. We’re going to go to that place across the street there and see if they can.”

“Did I say 10 thousand? I meant $8500. But I won’t be able to buy pencils for my kid’s first day of school.”

“Here’s $8500, and a free pencil I got from a pharmaceutical rep.”

5

I have perfected a way to never get burned in any sales pitch, negotiation, or haggle. If you see something you like, it is OK to throw out a few aggressive terms on your own but say no to EVERYTHING that the salesperson says or at least softly reject it. The only object on the first visit is to see what they can offer you in terms of price, financing and extras. The key is that you make a note of them and say no to every last thing that day and then repeat at every place you go to. The only effective counter for this tactic is for them to say that the fine little ride in front of you has someone coming in to make a firm offer in an hour or something like that. That is almost always a lie and, even if it isn’t because of some weird coincidence, it doesn’t matter. There are other ones just like it or better out there.

After you have gone out and rejected everything, you will still have some valuable information in hand. That is when you start asking the people here about the specifics, use the internet, consumer reports, used car guides etc. to figure out what is a fair deal. Think things over for a day or so and then walk in and make a firm offer if there is a vehicle you want and you have done thorough research on.

Consistent with the theme above, just say no to everything if they won’t agree. Be prepared to walk out if the dealer won’t do it. Who do you trust more, a used car dealer or the totality of all information that you have at your fingertips?

The price of the car is only one factor and you know that from getting screwed before. IN ALL CASES, REJECT EXTENDED WARRATIES, SPECIAL TREATMENTS LIKE “RUSTPROOFING” AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT FOLLOWS THIS THEME. They are all for suckers every single time. If you want something like LOJACK, a stereo, or a DVD player, just drive over to Best Buy after you get it and have them put it in for a fraction of the price.

You generally want to line up your own financing in advance. Dealers usually offer crappy rates so reject that as well.

This is what I do with all salespeople including car salesmen. I have never heard it suggested quite the way I have but it makes you screw-proof as long as you make up your mind you are going to say no to almost everything and just use the initial shopping for information gathering. Knowledge of the back-end screw of adding expensive extras should help you avoid those as well.