Judge Smails
Footballguy
I remember when buying a used car was a grinding experience. Not only did you have to try to avoid getting fleeced by used car salesmen, you had to make sure it wasn't a lemon.
Bought a used car for my daughter yesterday. Total breeze. Process actually took a month or two for her to get realistic (no, you're not getting a 350 horsepower Infiniti Coupe) and then find a couple of models that worked for the both of us. After going through the models she liked, we settled on the Mazda3 s Grand Touring Sedan. Did a lot of research on the car, and reviews were raving in terms of value, performance, etc. Then I checked on safety, and it passed in spades with airbags all around.
Then I went shopping on all sites. Cars.com, Autotrader, even EBay (Craigslist was useless to me). I've always liked to buy 2 year old cars with low miles. I checked locally and nationally, pretty much every car advertised for that model in the U.S. Then checked blue book (though I don't go buy that too much - really doesn't matter as dealers will go lower than even wholesale if they got a great deal on the trade-in). Yesterday was buying day. Found 2 cars that matched our specs, down to color and trim package. One in our hometown, one an hour away. Both reasonably priced, and just lowered for Labor Day sales events. While parked outside my hometown dealer, I called the Internet/Fleet managers directly and told them I was buying a car today, and what my other option was (they could look it up online themselves to see the competition). I asked for their best price. I was amazed. Both dropped 3 grand on the phone. Test drove the car close to home and it was way too loud, the low profile tires looked cool but noise/ride suffered way too much. Daughter still wanted the car, though she admitted the road noise wasn't great.
So we went to dealer B, who had already called me back while I was at dealer A. He had the car pulled up and waiting for us. Opened it up, turned it on, test drove. Night and day - beautiful ride, like new, only 13K miles on it. Had Carfax printed out, single owner, 11 months old, perfect.
Went in to finalize the deal. I told him that I wanted to agree on the price, I would pay taxes/license/registration but I wouldn't pay $1 of BS fees (learned that from carbuyingtips.com). No dealer prep, doc fees, acquisition, etc. If $1 would be added I'd walk right now out of principle. Showed him the other car print out I had and we used that price I had and his offer on the phone as the negotiation point. Bottom line, I got the car for another $800 less than what he offered. Now - financing. I had already went online and was pre-approved for a loan (took 5 minutes) before I walked into the dealer. They beat it by another quarter point, and it was less than used car notes were going for on the market. 5 and change for a used car note - pretty damn good. While I signed he had it detailed again and I drove off with a very happy daughter, and actually I felt great about the whole experience. Can't say that often when car buying.
Lessons Learned:
1) Research a lot online before you buy. A lot. Edmunds is the most useful site, because you get ratings for the car and reviews alont with other info. Then compare like crazy on Cars.com;autotrader;ebay, etc. (newspaper ads aren't even relevant these days), to see availability and offer price for the model you want.
2) Get pre-approved for a loan before you go if you aren't writing a check. Gives you further negotiation with the dealers. If they want your loan business, they have to do better than what you already have approved.
3) Research car prices, kelly blue book, and average sales amounts.
4) Call the Internet/Fleet dealer directly (some advocate emails but they are more hooked if you speak with them in person). Don't talk to sales guys on the lot. Go right to the man. Tell them you are buying a car today, are comparing model X with 3 others, also talking with their internet/fleet managers. Ask for his best price to get your business in the next hour. That is your starting point, since they will always leave some room.
5) Test drive the car. Check CarFax. With the cars I buy (usually cars with 7-13K miles - 1-2 years old, still under warranty) I don't find the need to take them to a mechanic. But if you buy as is or an older car I would definitely do this.
6) Negotiate the final deal. Note, I like to know I'm getting a very good deal, but if I really believe I'm down near the bottom I don't feel the need to squeeze the last $30 out of a 15K purchase. I'm in sales too. In this case the guy turned around his computer monitor and told me had $7 in margin to play with before he took a serious hit on the deal from his comp perspective (showed me their program and margin calculation). Fair enough, if it was giving him that much heartburn when I asked for another $50 I know I'm at the bottom). So, I stopped grinding and we shook hands. Many people would say "get up and walk out, they'll come after you". I believe if you researched properly, know the true value of the car and know you are near the bottom there is no need to play games. Besides, $50 in this deal is nothing. This guy knew I did my homework, knew that I was in sales myself, let him know I would be fair but wouldn't be worked and he respected it. Didn't once give me the infamous "how much do you want to pay a month" line.
7) Finance guy - I decided to wait on extended warranty. I know I can get one all the way up until the 3 year/36 month expires, and there are better values online.
Was there less than 2 hours including the test drive. Not bad.
Bought a used car for my daughter yesterday. Total breeze. Process actually took a month or two for her to get realistic (no, you're not getting a 350 horsepower Infiniti Coupe) and then find a couple of models that worked for the both of us. After going through the models she liked, we settled on the Mazda3 s Grand Touring Sedan. Did a lot of research on the car, and reviews were raving in terms of value, performance, etc. Then I checked on safety, and it passed in spades with airbags all around.
Then I went shopping on all sites. Cars.com, Autotrader, even EBay (Craigslist was useless to me). I've always liked to buy 2 year old cars with low miles. I checked locally and nationally, pretty much every car advertised for that model in the U.S. Then checked blue book (though I don't go buy that too much - really doesn't matter as dealers will go lower than even wholesale if they got a great deal on the trade-in). Yesterday was buying day. Found 2 cars that matched our specs, down to color and trim package. One in our hometown, one an hour away. Both reasonably priced, and just lowered for Labor Day sales events. While parked outside my hometown dealer, I called the Internet/Fleet managers directly and told them I was buying a car today, and what my other option was (they could look it up online themselves to see the competition). I asked for their best price. I was amazed. Both dropped 3 grand on the phone. Test drove the car close to home and it was way too loud, the low profile tires looked cool but noise/ride suffered way too much. Daughter still wanted the car, though she admitted the road noise wasn't great.
So we went to dealer B, who had already called me back while I was at dealer A. He had the car pulled up and waiting for us. Opened it up, turned it on, test drove. Night and day - beautiful ride, like new, only 13K miles on it. Had Carfax printed out, single owner, 11 months old, perfect.
Went in to finalize the deal. I told him that I wanted to agree on the price, I would pay taxes/license/registration but I wouldn't pay $1 of BS fees (learned that from carbuyingtips.com). No dealer prep, doc fees, acquisition, etc. If $1 would be added I'd walk right now out of principle. Showed him the other car print out I had and we used that price I had and his offer on the phone as the negotiation point. Bottom line, I got the car for another $800 less than what he offered. Now - financing. I had already went online and was pre-approved for a loan (took 5 minutes) before I walked into the dealer. They beat it by another quarter point, and it was less than used car notes were going for on the market. 5 and change for a used car note - pretty damn good. While I signed he had it detailed again and I drove off with a very happy daughter, and actually I felt great about the whole experience. Can't say that often when car buying.
Lessons Learned:
1) Research a lot online before you buy. A lot. Edmunds is the most useful site, because you get ratings for the car and reviews alont with other info. Then compare like crazy on Cars.com;autotrader;ebay, etc. (newspaper ads aren't even relevant these days), to see availability and offer price for the model you want.
2) Get pre-approved for a loan before you go if you aren't writing a check. Gives you further negotiation with the dealers. If they want your loan business, they have to do better than what you already have approved.
3) Research car prices, kelly blue book, and average sales amounts.
4) Call the Internet/Fleet dealer directly (some advocate emails but they are more hooked if you speak with them in person). Don't talk to sales guys on the lot. Go right to the man. Tell them you are buying a car today, are comparing model X with 3 others, also talking with their internet/fleet managers. Ask for his best price to get your business in the next hour. That is your starting point, since they will always leave some room.
5) Test drive the car. Check CarFax. With the cars I buy (usually cars with 7-13K miles - 1-2 years old, still under warranty) I don't find the need to take them to a mechanic. But if you buy as is or an older car I would definitely do this.
6) Negotiate the final deal. Note, I like to know I'm getting a very good deal, but if I really believe I'm down near the bottom I don't feel the need to squeeze the last $30 out of a 15K purchase. I'm in sales too. In this case the guy turned around his computer monitor and told me had $7 in margin to play with before he took a serious hit on the deal from his comp perspective (showed me their program and margin calculation). Fair enough, if it was giving him that much heartburn when I asked for another $50 I know I'm at the bottom). So, I stopped grinding and we shook hands. Many people would say "get up and walk out, they'll come after you". I believe if you researched properly, know the true value of the car and know you are near the bottom there is no need to play games. Besides, $50 in this deal is nothing. This guy knew I did my homework, knew that I was in sales myself, let him know I would be fair but wouldn't be worked and he respected it. Didn't once give me the infamous "how much do you want to pay a month" line.
7) Finance guy - I decided to wait on extended warranty. I know I can get one all the way up until the 3 year/36 month expires, and there are better values online.
Was there less than 2 hours including the test drive. Not bad.