Any advice on how to make buying a new car not a terrible experience?

[Anonymous]

Thanks!!! Awesome advice!!

[Anonymous]

OP, this 2013 article and the 2000 article referenced (Confessions of a Car Salesman) help give an idea of what's going on behind the scenes at a dealership. The author got a job as a car salesman so that he could write about it for Edmunds. The author also suggests doing the deal with the dealer over email, and the article explains why that works better than the other ways to buy. The 2000 article is really interesting.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/confessions-of-a-car-salesman-updated-for-2009.html

[Anonymous]

^^You're welcome.

There is a technique to buying new cars stress free and something like a Honda has enough competition among dealers in the DMV area.

Deal with the internet sales department. I usually give a made up phone number because they require a phone number when you first ask for a quote. Something like 703-406-0000.

You will get a response to this to your real email address.

Specify the MSRP of the car you want and the color you want.

Send this request to half a dozen dealers in VA and MD ...... maybe more. You will end up with one or two who are motivated because they need to meet sales targets etc. Again the end of the month is the best time.

After you have everything wrapped up by email then contact them by phone and make arrangements to pick up the car.

BTW, one thing I do is if a salesperson helped me with a test drive, etc. I do contact that person and tell them they can have my business if they can match the target price. It is fair to them to do this.

[Anonymous]

Use a buying service like USAA or Costco. This means no negotiating. You may not get the best deal ever but you will definitely get a good, fair deal you don't have to be upset about.

It's free if you are a member of USAA or Costco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Use a buying service like USAA or Costco. This means no negotiating. You may not get the best deal ever but you will definitely get a good, fair deal you don't have to be upset about.

It's free if you are a member of USAA or Costco.

USAA and Costco are a baseline but hardly the best deal.

[Anonymous]

I Only pay under msrp.

[Anonymous]

Aside from the great advice above - DO YOUR RESEARCH and go car shopping on a weekday!!!!

We got a FANTASTIC deal on an Odyssey because we literally looked for EVERY Odyssey in the DMV area via Edmonds, KBB, whatever. We found one that was listed at a PG dealership for a very low price (we're in MoCo).

We kept that place as our last stop, the took a vacation day on a random Tuesday, and just went from dealer to dealer (that had an Odyssey in stock) starting to the closest to our house.

We walked in to each place with the printout in hand saying "hey - we know *this* car exists. We only have today to buy a car, so if you can meet the offer, great! Otherwise we're just going to take the long drive to this place".

At the third place we went to (Darcars at Cherry Hill) the sales person just said "You know what? We'll meet that deal if you commit to signing right now."

We did, and honestly paid about $7k less than what we would have been willing to do.

Don't know if it will work for you, but from now on, that's absolutely how I'm buying any car from now on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from the great advice above - DO YOUR RESEARCH and go car shopping on a weekday!!!!

We got a FANTASTIC deal on an Odyssey because we literally looked for EVERY Odyssey in the DMV area via Edmonds, KBB, whatever. We found one that was listed at a PG dealership for a very low price (we're in MoCo).

We kept that place as our last stop, the took a vacation day on a random Tuesday, and just went from dealer to dealer (that had an Odyssey in stock) starting to the closest to our house.

We walked in to each place with the printout in hand saying "hey - we know *this* car exists. We only have today to buy a car, so if you can meet the offer, great! Otherwise we're just going to take the long drive to this place".

At the third place we went to (Darcars at Cherry Hill) the sales person just said "You know what? We'll meet that deal if you commit to signing right now."

We did, and honestly paid about $7k less than what we would have been willing to do.

Don't know if it will work for you, but from now on, that's absolutely how I'm buying any car from now on.

PP here. I do want to say we "played the game" a bit (not much). We let the sales person take us on a test drive of a different similarly priced minivan. We did the whole "well, it was nice, but I really did want the Odyssey with X features... " It IS kind of a long way... Tell you what - thos other dealershop has one that's more expensive, but it's close, so we really should go check it out..." Then ACTUALLY waked away.

Third time we did that we got the deal.

[Anonymous]

The only advice I have (if you are financing) is to arrange for financing prior to even going to the dealer. I financed through my credit union and had the approval prior to looking. Kept me within my budget and saved a lot of time.

[Anonymous]

There is no way you should be sitting around negotiating with a dealer. Do you research and find a price that you are happy with. Go find that car you like (again this information is readily available) and go offer your price. Personally, I don't worry too much about small differences (less than $200 dollars) and be ready to leave if you offer is not accepted.

Note that you should negotiate your loan and trade in separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Negotiate by email. Have everything set up before you walk in.

This. Shop by email for the EXACT car and finishes you want. If you have access to a buying program (like through USAA), go that route to do it for you. Eventually you will find that one guy who is willing to search for exactly what you want and price it the best, just take your time and feel free to keep going back to them. Email makes that easy.

[Anonymous]

We had an awful experience at a dealer. Walked out and went to CARMAX, which sells new cars, no negotiating or drama. In and out with a much better deal.

[Anonymous]

I bought an Odyssey in 2011 with the same specs. I used the internet for all negotiating and even had the dealer deliver me the car to my house.

Research the Honda dealers within an hour of DC (I want to say there are 10-12 dealers). Email each dealer sales dept and tell them exactly what you want and that you don't want to test drive. Tell them you are ready to buy and that you are looking for the "out the door" price which includes everything (no hidden processing, title fees, etc.). That way you can truly compare apples to apples. You'll have about 1/2 of them try to get you to come in to discuss. I told them in the email that I was not coming in and that I was giving my business to the lowest price.

You'll get 4 or 5 quotes and then you can negotiate by phone. I ended up playing the lowest 2 off of each other and ended up with a tremendous deal. When one guy said he couldn't go any lower, I said that was too bad and thanked him and sure enough, he called back with a lower price and an offer to deliver. It's fun if you like to haggle! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Use truecar.com and then take it to a dealer that accepts truecar pricing (most do.) We were able to get it discounted even a little more (by showing a quote from another dealer) but even without the discount the truecar price is a really good price. Have bought 3 cars this way. Highly recommend.

Also, use carmax to get rid of your old car, they will be higher than dealer trade in. Sometimes the dealers will just honor the carmax trade in price, or sometimes you just sell to carmax and then pick up the new car.

[Anonymous]

i hate hate hate haggling. I honestly wish it were illegal. Pretty much nowhere else in the US do you have to submit to this horrible test of negotiating skills just to make a common purchase. Price the car at "market price" and make it available to all. ugh!