Dumb questions about buying a car

[Anonymous]

So our car pooped out on us and as the cost to repair would be about half its value, we're thinking of getting a new one. We don't drive much - like once a week and we've never actually bought a new car before (our current one is my folk's old car which I bought from them). So I have zero idea how to go about buying one. We're totally going to get fleeced by the dealers, right? I think we've narrowed down our search to a Honda CR-V. The msrp for the model I'm thinking of looks ok price-wise but is it usually the case that you end up paying less than msrp or over it at a dealer? I know that will depend somewhat on options but if we decide to forego any options then is the msrp what we should expect to pay? Also, anyone has had a good experience at a Honda dealer around the area, would welcome any feedback..... Thanks.

[Anonymous]

For buyers like you, i would recommend places like CarMax or Costco or some other buying services. If u want to haggle, try sending emails to dealers and say "best offer wins."

[Anonymous]

You should end up paying around invoice, which is not MSRP, but several thousand under.

Assuming you will finance the car, 1) get prior approval, 2) go to a car site (e.g., edmunds, cars.com, etc), and find out what the fair value is for the car and the invoice for the car. 3) go to the dealer, test drive the car. If you like it, they will say something like "what will it take you to buy a car today". Offer something like 1-2K under invoice. They will come back with a higher number. You will settle around invoice.

Then, you go into the finance department. Make sure they know you are pre-approved; tell them the interest rate. Let them see if they can beat it. They will try to sell you on things like fabric protection, rust proofing, extended warranty. Just say no -- those are huge profit centers.

Sign the paperwork, and drive home.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO WALK OUT OF THE DEALER.

[Anonymous]

If you know the car you want with the features, email all the dealers in the area. I usually get a better price that way. Agree you should pay under. Then, go in person to 1-2-3 dealers and try your hand at negotiating. I'm willing to spend hours negotiating. My husband sits back and wishes the person good luck.

[Anonymous]

Why buy a new car if you only drive once a week? Use zip car or taxi. Save up in the mean time and buy next car with cash.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. On the question as to why buy a new car, it's because we often drive out to the exurbs to visit family - like an hour each way - so arranging that via zip car or taxi would be a hassle (and not that cheap). Plus, just doing groceries, Costco, the better ethnic restaurants, yard supplies, etc etc is just way easier with a car. we've had our current car for over 10 years and would be paying cash for the next one.

But it turns out we can get our car fixed for less than I thought we could. We'll just do that and then buy a new one in a few more years. Maybe in the meantime we'll try to educate ourselves a bit more on cars generally

[Anonymous]

Just a tip for when you do decide to buy...do it all by email. It's great. I did everything that way last time and just went to the dealer to test drive and sign the paperwork. I was there an hour tops.

[Anonymous]

Costco! Great price, no haggling.

[Anonymous]

We just bought a Honda under invoice and entirely by email with the dealership. Took a couple of days but we just went and signed and drove home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. On the question as to why buy a new car, it's because we often drive out to the exurbs to visit family - like an hour each way - so arranging that via zip car or taxi would be a hassle (and not that cheap). Plus, just doing groceries, Costco, the better ethnic restaurants, yard supplies, etc etc is just way easier with a car. we've had our current car for over 10 years and would be paying cash for the next one.

But it turns out we can get our car fixed for less than I thought we could. We'll just do that and then buy a new one in a few more years. Maybe in the meantime we'll try to educate ourselves a bit more on cars generally

It is called suburbs, not exurbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. On the question as to why buy a new car, it's because we often drive out to the exurbs to visit family - like an hour each way - so arranging that via zip car or taxi would be a hassle (and not that cheap). Plus, just doing groceries, Costco, the better ethnic restaurants, yard supplies, etc etc is just way easier with a car. we've had our current car for over 10 years and would be paying cash for the next one.

But it turns out we can get our car fixed for less than I thought we could. We'll just do that and then buy a new one in a few more years. Maybe in the meantime we'll try to educate ourselves a bit more on cars generally

It is called suburbs, not exurbs.

Not pp.

Oh no, I wish I was in the suburbs, but I am definitely in the exurbs! So far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. On the question as to why buy a new car, it's because we often drive out to the exurbs to visit family - like an hour each way - so arranging that via zip car or taxi would be a hassle (and not that cheap). Plus, just doing groceries, Costco, the better ethnic restaurants, yard supplies, etc etc is just way easier with a car. we've had our current car for over 10 years and would be paying cash for the next one.

But it turns out we can get our car fixed for less than I thought we could. We'll just do that and then buy a new one in a few more years. Maybe in the meantime we'll try to educate ourselves a bit more on cars generally

It is called suburbs, not exurbs.

Both exist actually!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exurb

[Anonymous]

About a decade ago when I bought my car I read up on car buying on a website (I think this is the same one) https://www.carbuyingtips.com/. I also paid maybe $20 for a piece of paper from Consumer Reports which told me the exact price to try to get for the car I wanted. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/build-buy-car-buying-service/index.htm.