Consumer Reports has really good advice.

I also heard that piece on This American Life. It was pretty impressive how hard they worked to meet their quota at the end of the month.

For the last car I bought, I emailed with five different local dealerships and kept telling them the lowest numbers I received. I got a $24k car for $20 this way. I brought the email in to the "winning" dealer and they tried to back out, claiming the price was a mistake and offered me a car for more $ ( still a decent deal, but around $1k higher). I just told them to forget it and was leaving because I was willing to do more email negotiations with others and they stopped me and gave me the deal I was there for. I think the saying is true that whoever cares the least wins in this situation - i.e., who cares the least about the sale going through.

Also, I heard an episode of This American Life that talked about how you can get a huge deal if you go to a dealer at the end of their fiscal month because they will sometimes sell at a loss to meet their quotas, which may be necessary for bonuses. I don't know how you know when the end of their fiscal month is though - during the episode the dealership featured had the month end on the calendar month.

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a dealer to meat or beat the offer of another dealer and he keeps asking if I have a written offer from that dealer and can he see it. Do people actually get written offers other than and email with a price? Never heard of such a thing.

He wants to know if you really have that offer from someone else for that price. He is calling your bluff. He doesn't want to negotiate against himself.

You can probably request a written offer from a dealer, but I would expect an email would be just as effective.

If you know the car and options you want it's pretty easy. Go to Carmax, get your trade valued. Use truecar or Costco (with the exact options you want) for an initial price starting point, then use that via email to get your local dealers to negotiate against each other. Find dealers with your car on the lot. Make sure you are explicit regarding price - "out the door" price - including tax, title, destination, processing, everything.

Once you have your best price over email, go in, get your trade valued, and sign.

We did this over the summer. Knew what we wanted, dealt with probably 6-7 dealers. Got two dealers down to about 4% below invoice, visited both with our trade after a price was reached and went with the one that gave the better trade value (same as carmax).

If you are a member of certain organizations your truecar price will be lower than the regular truecar price (for instance USAA). The truecar prices will also vary by dealer, but they will honor each other's prices. We negotiated down about 1k below the best truecar price.

Be willing to say no. They want to sell you the car, they will call you back. Don't buy the extra crap - they will discount that stuff later if you decide you want warranties, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a dealer to meat or beat the offer of another dealer and he keeps asking if I have a written offer from that dealer and can he see it. Do people actually get written offers other than and email with a price? Never heard of such a thing.

I did on Saturday. I got an offer on an Enclave with too many miles for my comfort level.

The sticker was $22,995 I asked for $20. He countered with $21,400, then without my even pushing dropped it down to $21,000. I have each of those three numbers in writing.

Surprisingly, as I was walking the closer was the weakest link of them all, he basically just let me walk.

I hate shopping for cars. I had my kids with me and this is the one time they behaved, I kept going into the room to tell my DW to come out in one minute and give me the "it's time to go" order. Smack the kids if need be!

Interestingly they also gave me a printout of every Enclave in the area for the same year as the one I was looking at, so we're now going to look for the other ones that had slightly better miles and weren't much more.

I am trying to get a dealer to meat or beat the offer of another dealer and he keeps asking if I have a written offer from that dealer and can he see it. Do people actually get written offers other than and email with a price? Never heard of such a thing.

Honestly most car dealerships aren't really ripping you off on the price of a new car these days. Everyone can find out online exactly what the price of a new car should be and what other people in your area are paying for cars new.

Where you can get ripped off is:

1) Buying used cars
2) On your trade in
3) With extras like extended warranties, gap insurance, undercoating, lease / loan terms.

You go in knowing exactly what the car costs the dealer. Be willing to let the dealership make a couple of hundred dollars. Give them your price. And walk if they won't meet it. They will call you back. They always do.

If you have a trade, do NOT tell the dealer that until after you have an agreement on the price of the new car.

Anonymous wrote:Will Carmax buy a 10 year old car with nearly 120k miles?
I don't want to sell on ebay or craigslist and deal with people coming to my house.

Yeah, probably. They've give you a cut rate like any other dealer. That's the price you pay for the convenience of not having to deal with those people you want to avoid.

Will Carmax buy a 10 year old car with nearly 120k miles?
I don't want to sell on ebay or craigslist and deal with people coming to my house.

I've heard people do most quickly researching exactly what they want and then emailing several dealerships in advance.

1. Get a quote on your car from Carmax.

2. Investigate the cost of a extended warranty aftermarket (I knew the car I wanted to purchase had some problems and wnated this - since I had an online quote I was able to negotiate this)

3. Go to USAA or some other place that has a buyers program and get a quote.

I found that the buyers program wasa really good rate - I haggled back and forth and got it a little lower - but for me not worth the headache.

4. Be prepared to walk at ANY time. After I signed for my car they "found something" on my trade in and reduced what they quoted me. I should have walked but I did not have the flexability . It cost me a few hundred dollars.

Be prepared to sit all day at the dealer to get your car - their strategy is they will stall as long as possible.

read the book don't get taken every time. it saved me thousands. you have to be in charge when you go, many people are not comfy doing that and that is why they get away with it.

the basic rule base don this book is pay 12% lower, yes lower than the base model on the car not the bottom of the sticker but the top # before all the add ons.

Start by investigating a buyer program, and negotiate from there. Have your financing in place already from a bank or credit union unless you're paying cash. Know the actual value of your trade-in and decide whether you will take that or hold out for about $1,000 more selling it on your own on Craigslist or something.

Or, go to Carmax and just pay the 14% margin.

Planning to purchase a new car before the end of the year and want to make it as painless as possible. I'm trying to avoid spending hours in the dealership haggling over a couple hundred dollars and some random fees.

Share your bet methods for getting the best deal - are you able to make a deal solely through emails. What about trade-in value - best way to maximize this amount.

Thanks