Can you help me with car buying tips?

Can you help me with car buying tips?

I am going to buy a car, and this is the first time I really am going for a new car. I am female and I have already had the " don't you have a dad or boyfriend to bring with you darlin"? CRAP! Any suggestions on negotiating a price. I will be financing through my credit union at 5.75%. I just want to know how to go about haggeling price, or asking for add on's if they don't lower the price. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I am going to buy a car, and this is the first time I really am going for a new car. I am female and I have already had the " don't you have a dad or boyfriend to bring with you darlin"? CRAP! Any suggestions on negotiating a price. I will be financing through my credit union at 5.75%. I just want to know how to go about haggeling price, or asking for add on's if they don't lower the price. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

For a new car, I would recommend using edmunds.com "true market pricing" or Consumer Reports premium pricing service to get an estimate of what the vehicle you want actually sell for. Edmunds is free while CR is a paid service. In addition to market price, either will have info on any current dealer incentives in effect at the time you are ready to buy.

I am going to buy a car, and this is the first time I really am going for a new car. I am female and I have already had the " don't you have a dad or boyfriend to bring with you darlin"? CRAP! Any suggestions on negotiating a price. I will be financing through my credit union at 5.75%. I just want to know how to go about haggeling price, or asking for add on's if they don't lower the price. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance. So far you guys ROCK! This is all greatly valuable information!

The secrets to negotiating a good deal are knowledge and control. For a new car, I would recommend using edmunds.com "true market pricing" or Consumer Reports premium pricing service to get an estimate of what the vehicle you want actually sell for. Edmunds is free while CR is a paid service. In addition to market price, either will have info on any current dealer incentives in effect at the time you are ready to buy. Now that you know what the selling price is, set a target of a couple of hundred below and an absolute max price a couple of hundred above this price. Now find all the dealers of your make within 100 miles (or lesser distance if you are not willing to drive that far) of your location. This tells you how many options you have if you have already decided on a specific vehicle. If you have a number of dealers within a short driving distance you can scout the dealers first before you start negotiating. When you are ready to buy, don't go to the dealer more than 2 hours before their normal closing time. This puts the time factor on your side. End of month, quarter, or year may provide an additional factor in your favor if the dealer is behind on their sales but you have no way of knowing if this presents an actual advantage. Start with your closest dealer. Be observant. Do their vehicles have a secondary sticker with a bunch of dealer addons, seat protectant, paint protectant, dealer fees, etc.? This is an indication of how difficult it is going to be to negotiate a deal. The more they have inflated the price the harder it will be. Once you have done the test drive and are ready to start negotiating start by stating that all price offers you make is inclusive of all dealer monies. You know that sales tax, registration, and other government fees will be added. Request (demand) that all offers to sell be on the same basis. This should eliminate any surprises after you think you have negotiated a price. You will usually be required to start with an offer. Your opening offer should be about the same amount below your target price as their inflated sticker is above the target price. You will be asked for a check to validate the offer. Don't give them a check, give them $1. The check is leverage against you leaving, walking away from a $1 is not a big deal. This dance will continue through many stages, they will try to get you to discuss payments. Don't go there, retain a single focus - selling price. They will use a line that they have to make a profit. Don't bite, this is an attempt to negotiate based on their invoice. Never provide any info you don't want them to know. Never allow anything to distract the focus from selling price. A good response for the "we have to make a profit line" is a question, "If you sold me this car for $100 would you have to close the dealership tomorrow?" They won't answer but you have avoided another trap. The dance will go through the salesman and at least one closer and maybe two closers. This is why the closing time works in your favor. Stay focused on a single item - selling price. Don't provide any information you don't want them to know. Don't lie but be able to dodge questions or respond to a question with a question of your own. Walking away is your greatest leverage. They know once you walk out the door, they have lost a potential sale.

I am moivng to Edmonton and soon will be looking to buy a car. Can some one give me an idea of the car prices? I am not looking for brand new flashy cars. Some thing like an ecomony family cars, may be around 5 years old? Are there any companies...

Does anyone have any good tips, particularly for women, who are buying new/used cars? Yes, it's true I may not know a lot about cars, but I still want to get the best deal possible. Anyone have any tips to help me to work with car dealers ...

Here it is - our new car. Well, new second-hand car, but you know what I mean. It's a bit bigger than I'm used to, but we think it will do the job. Given how hilly the area around our new house is, we can use something like this.

Sorry that I'm still doing boring self-portraits where I just stand in front of, or behind, something. Once we get more organised (we move into our new place on Thursday all being well) I'll try and make my pictures more interesting.

Can you help me with car buying tips?

Last Wednesday, we were pleasantly surprised to hear a Toyota Prius was available for us! We had just placed the order, and were expecting to wait until at least December. Thank you to whomever turned down the car and moved us up on the list!

I have been wanting a hybrid for about 18 months now. I had to work hard to convince Brian that we actually needed a new car. (Both cars were paid off -- but were the same year and are getting old; we were running the risk of both of them crapping out at the same time!)

I never liked the body shape of the Prius, but I actually do love it in this color. And the inside ... well, let's just say my inner technophile is doing a jig! GPS, Bluetooth hands-free phone ... and lots of other geeky stuff. Too bad it's Brian's car. :-( He's pleased, though, because he can take the HOV lanes now, and has significantly cut down his morning commute. Hooray!