How do you buy a new car?

[Anonymous]

We haven't bought a new car in over 10 years. My feeling is that i would research like crazy on the internet, take a few test drives at some dealership, and probably end up just searching online for the best deal. However how is it going to a dealer when you have very little intention of buying directly from them? Are they pressuring you to buy like crazy? What the best way to have a good car buying experience and outcome? (fwiw we are checking out toyota, gmc, mazda, honda cars).

[Anonymous]

We had luck doing Internet pricing. Get quotes from three dealerships, and they will all try to beat the other offers. We actually called one dealership from another and had them in a bidding war. We ended up getting a great price on our Pilot this way. I would go and test drive cars first and decide what you want, then do the Internet pricing and go back to haggle.

[Anonymous]

Do a lot of research first on prices, etc., like PP said. And shop at the end of the month. They need to pay for the inventory on their lot, so they are extra anxious to make a sale.

I walked into a Honda dealership a few years ago just to look at the CR-V and to test drive it. No intention of buying it. But of course they were high-pressure. Fortunately I had done my research, didn't "need" the car, and said, "If you can sell it for this amount, "and" give me this amount for my trade-in, I'll buy it. If not, have a nice day." They met my price and I drove out with a new car. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have cared and would have left. They "can" smell excitement and/or desperation a mile away, so don't go in needing a new car.

[Anonymous]

I would go in with the intention of walking out without making a purchase. Be firm and just keep walking once you're ready to leave. As the PP said, if you know exactly what you want and know what a fair price is it's fine to buy on the spot, but I suspect you won't be in that place until you've visited a few dealers since you haven't bought a car in awhile. Use edmunds.com for research on cars and pricing. Once you know what you want, contact several dealers' internet departments to see who has it and what price, all charges included, they will give you. Be sure to include dealers who are in the outer suburbs - I found much, much better prices there. If a local dealer where you did a test drive treated you well, see if they will match. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

go to edmunds.com or kbb.com
research research research

[Anonymous]

When you are going to test drive some cars, go towards the end of the day. This way they can not hold your keys / hold you up for the rest of the day. They want to go home too.

[Anonymous]

It helps if you have a crazy husband who enjoys haggling with car salesmen. Mine loves it--he will go to dealerships when we're not even in the market for a car and deal with them. Drives me nuts.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my husband worked for a dealership for a few miserable weeks in college. Do not fall for the "free oil change". It's just a way to keep you on the lot, and increase the pressure. I can't imagine it works, but it's a known tactic. In fact, I'd be willing to walk away from any dealer who tried any of these shady tactics.

[Anonymous]

Go in the evening for a test drive, and make it clear that you're still shopping around. Go to edmunds and find the invoice price of your desired models. Finally, do the price haggling by email. It's so much easier to bargain with the dealers and play their quotes against each other by email. I got my new CRV for close to invoice price this way back in 2007.