You can use a car buying service like True Car, Usaa or Costco. Or you can do Internet research (try Edmunds) and then email/call dealers for quotes.

PP is right about negotiating everything separately. Good luck!

OP - are you asking about how to research which car to buy or how to deal with a saleman?

rear camera rocks; make sure you get it

if you are buying a new car you can do online quote then negotiate via emails

So married couples typically leave big family decisions like how to buy a car to the man? Interesting.

We need to replace our civic soon too. But with two kids, I get so claustrophobic! I'm hoping for something bigger, but will miss the gas mileage. Such a good car!

Anonymous wrote:Are you not married to a man?

What -- y chromosomes have the car-buying gene????

Are you not married to a man?

I also loved the 10+ year old civic we drove into the ground. When it came time for me to buy my first car, the hyunadai elentra was getting better reviews and it was a good deal. We've had it four years now and it's solid, going to last us for 10+ years (knock on wood).

Bluebook has helpful reviews. They also give you a price reference. We did negotiate a bit but there's not as much wiggle room if you're going for the top car of the year.

check out consumer reports and washington consumer checkbook. They have good advice.

THere have been several threads on this recently. Search for them.

But basically, there are mutliple transactions you have to negotiate all separately. They include the price of the car, the trade-in value of your old car, and financing, if you need it.

Best thing to do is secure financing beforehand, intensely negotiate the price of the car and THEN the trade-in value. Never try to negotiate a monthly payment with a salesman -- you'll get screwed.

I looooved my Civic. We replaced it with a RAV-4 because our kids were getting bigger and we occasionally carpool. But I still miss my Civic. If you can swing it with a growing family, get another one!

That said, the RAV-4 is super reliable and gets decent mileage. We live in DC too and it's easy to park.

Good recent thread here:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/442221.page

Heard good things about truecar.

Anonymous wrote:Subject line says it. First car my parents bought for me in high school. Drove it forever. Second car came with my husband into the marriage.

We currently have two 5-year-olds. Our Civic died. We loved it. We are thinking of another Civic or maybe a CRV. Live in the city and parallel park often.

How do we even begin the process? How do we negotiate? Any pointers? thanks!

OP again - last car lasted 14 years. So we plan to keep this a long time too.

Subject line says it. First car my parents bought for me in high school. Drove it forever. Second car came with my husband into the marriage.

We currently have two 5-year-olds. Our Civic died. We loved it. We are thinking of another Civic or maybe a CRV. Live in the city and parallel park often.

How do we even begin the process? How do we negotiate? Any pointers? thanks!