Go to Edmund's or a site like that and request an internet quote from a bunch of dealers. Bring a print out of the lowest quote to the dealer you want to buy it from. I got them to knock 10% of their initial price and close to 20% of of MSRP by doing this. Took 10 minutes.

I found the easiest way to buy a car is a little research. Figure out the value of the car. Check the dealers that give internet prices (e.g., fitzmall.com). I took that price for the car I wanted, went to the local dealer, and knew what I would pay, out the door...which was the out the door price at fitzmall. Guess what? they offered me a price lower than that....so I accepted it.

I knew the exact model/options I wanted for my truck and that it wasn't a common combination. I found out who the Director of Sales was at Ourisman Toyota in Fairfax. Went it, walk right up to the sales "deal" desk recognized him, asked if he had a minute. Told him that I was interested in specific vehicle model/option, I have the numbers down on the invoice pricing, didn't want to haggle about it, but wanted to make a fair deal for them too. We sat down went thru the numbers / options, etc. availability, which options were musts, which ones were OK and the NOs. That gave them flexibility for a reallocation. We made the deal if they could locate the truck, assigned a salesman to keep track and execute the transaction. This was May...end of production year...could not find it. They ended up getting the truck as part of the following year allocation in September. Had an option I didn't need, but they kept the prior year car price. Fair deal.

(funny part was the Sales GM apparently wasn't expecting that vehicle in their monthly allocation with that combination of options on the lot and was wonder how WTF they ended up with it, until he was told it was ordered)

So the advice,

1) look on-line for the sales staff
2) check the prices at Edmunds.com
3) double check for rebates
4) run the numbers using a calculation spreadsheet ( www.carbuyingtips.com/car4.htm midway down under "Calculating Your Offer" has downloadable spreadsheet... the whole site is good)
5) give the dealer a cut to make their costs (they don't do it for free..)
6) go in at the end of the month when they need to make their sales quota for the month
7) look at end of previous model year cars in inventory -- they need to clear their lot to get new cars

Can u drive up to carmax and do a trade in on the spot? Please explain that process. Thx.

Anonymous wrote:Why are folks suggesting trading a vehicle? You won't get much for it.

I sold mine on Craigslist. The dealer, who was promising me the moon if I traded, freely admitted they would have offered me less than half of what I got for it on CL.

Depends on the value. We sold our 10 year old Camry on Craigslist, had a a ton of interested. Tried to sell a 4 yo odyssey on Craigslist, way less interest and no serious buyers. People just don't want to spend 25k on Craigslist, which is what carmax gave me for it. Dealer offered 22k.

Why are folks suggesting trading a vehicle? You won't get much for it.

I sold mine on Craigslist. The dealer, who was promising me the moon if I traded, freely admitted they would have offered me less than half of what I got for it on CL.

I sell timeshares, so I have no problem going toe to toe will the sales guy and the finance guy. I have also gotten to the point of having a check in my hand and literally turning around and walking out. If you are easily flustered or are a people pleaser I would do the deal through email and make sure you give them a final price including taxes and tagging. They can work backwards and figure it all out. If you don't mind locking horns, go in and make them sweat. You'll probably get an even better deal that way. I'd also suggest getting a loan privately so all they know is you are ready to make the deal immediately and have no room to screw you with the F&I guy.

Anonymous wrote:i hate hate hate haggling. I honestly wish it were illegal. Pretty much nowhere else in the US do you have to submit to this horrible test of negotiating skills just to make a common purchase. Price the car at "market price" and make it available to all. ugh!

I'm the person right above you. Truecar basically does this. As long as you use a true car participating dealer, there is no haggling. My DH likes haggling, so he got us a little more off, but the truecar price was pretty darn good. If I ever had to do it without DH, I would buy the car with truecar pricing and use carmax pricing to sell the old one. No haggling.