Anonymous wrote:For negotiation purposes, you should at least get a Carvana quote on your trade-in before you go to the dealership. I bought a new car and wanted to trade in my car. They completely low-balled me on their offer. However, they were willing to meet the Carvana offer no questions asked. Still not a great price, and I regret giving it away since used cars were in demand but I didn't want the hassle. They sold it in less than 24 hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not trade your car to the dealer as part of the deal!!!!. It is one of the first and easiest ways dealers will rip you off. Would you give thousands of dollars to a stranger? As you are doing this transaction, keep in mind that they are not just selling you a car, they are trying to take as much of your money away from you as they can. It's very easy to get nonchalant about giving away a few thousand just to get the deal over with. You will get much more money selling your car to Carvana or one of those places. Do not willingly give away thousands of dollars to the car dealer. When I purchased my last 3 cars, I would always ask how much for my old car and would get quotes of $200 or so. These were older cars but with low mileage and in great shape. I got $2,500 for an ancient Honda Odyssey. These places are often awful for purchasing cars but great if you are selling.

Go visit several dealers and decide the options you want. Work on the price you want and go a little lower. Do this independently with on line tools.

Go visit several dealers, test drive and start talking price. Walk out of every one of those places. Call dealers further away. I often got amazing deals at dealers out of state or further away in low cost of living areas. This is how you negotiate. You will be collecting quotes from numerous places. Any sign of deception or rudeness - walk away. I would always let the dealer know I was headed out of town where I knew there were better deals so I was just checking their price. I found better deals in Pa and NC. Once you know what you want, purchasing out of state is a breeze. The dealer will deliver the car to you.

Make sure you are negotiating for the car with the options you want. This is a trick slimy dealerships pull. After you've visited, they will call with a great price and don't tell you until you come in to sign for that great deal that they are selling you a lesser model or a car without the options you want.

Do not be a people pleaser during this. You're objective is to not give away money to a stranger but to get the best deal you can. You are not there to get anyone to like you.

Unlike Mr. Split Infinitive above, you do negotiate unless you want to gift thousands of dollars to a stranger while you're trying to buy a car.

I've never found UBS or Costco car buying plans to be great prices. I always beat their prices by significant amounts.

Not sure I agree with this. I’m not going to sell my car privately (too much of a hassle) and I get a couple of offers through places like carmax ahead of time. I just bought a new car and negotiated a price before mentioning a trade in. They gave me 2k more than carmax would.

Anonymous wrote:Do not trade your car to the dealer as part of the deal!!!!. It is one of the first and easiest ways dealers will rip you off. Would you give thousands of dollars to a stranger? As you are doing this transaction, keep in mind that they are not just selling you a car, they are trying to take as much of your money away from you as they can. It's very easy to get nonchalant about giving away a few thousand just to get the deal over with. You will get much more money selling your car to Carvana or one of those places. Do not willingly give away thousands of dollars to the car dealer. When I purchased my last 3 cars, I would always ask how much for my old car and would get quotes of $200 or so. These were older cars but with low mileage and in great shape. I got $2,500 for an ancient Honda Odyssey. These places are often awful for purchasing cars but great if you are selling.

Go visit several dealers and decide the options you want. Work on the price you want and go a little lower. Do this independently with on line tools.

Go visit several dealers, test drive and start talking price. Walk out of every one of those places. Call dealers further away. I often got amazing deals at dealers out of state or further away in low cost of living areas. This is how you negotiate. You will be collecting quotes from numerous places. Any sign of deception or rudeness - walk away. I would always let the dealer know I was headed out of town where I knew there were better deals so I was just checking their price. I found better deals in Pa and NC. Once you know what you want, purchasing out of state is a breeze. The dealer will deliver the car to you.

Make sure you are negotiating for the car with the options you want. This is a trick slimy dealerships pull. After you've visited, they will call with a great price and don't tell you until you come in to sign for that great deal that they are selling you a lesser model or a car without the options you want.

Do not be a people pleaser during this. You're objective is to not give away money to a stranger but to get the best deal you can. You are not there to get anyone to like you.

Unlike Mr. Split Infinitive above, you do negotiate unless you want to gift thousands of dollars to a stranger while you're trying to buy a car.

I've never found UBS or Costco car buying plans to be great prices. I always beat their prices by significant amounts.