Buying Your Brand New Car - Page 2 Doing your homework has never been more important By Mo2

If you haven't please read Buying Your First Brand New Car - Part 1 first.

Negotiating
The MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) is only a starting point and you should be able to take off some portion depending on the car. Car salespeople can rank high for being annoying and persistent. However, you should do your homework and turn the table on them. If you know what you are talking about, you leave little room for them to play around with weird deals that you have never heard about.

I had Mr. Z on my side so I had little to worry about. Now you have Mo2's advice so you have nothing to worry about. Have a figure in your head so that when you are negotiating you know what number to fight towards. Try not to give out a number too quickly, ask for a deal and see what they come back with.

Leasing vs. Financing
Leasing means you pay monthly amounts and at the end are given an option to pay a large amount to buy out the car, or just give the car back to the dealer. With a lease there are various restrictions given such as mileage limits and maintenance requirements among other things.

Financing your car means you are paying to actually “buy” the car. You can choose various payment plans up to several years and this is where you should decide how much you could afford to pay on a monthly basis. Sure if you choose a longer term, even with a higher APR (Annual Percentage Rate) this could lead to a lower monthly payment.

However, remember with a longer term that means you have to worry about paying money for that long! Always try to adjust your monthly payments to your needs. However, car companies often have low APRs to attract car buyers and although sometimes there are catches like vehicle type, in general you can get a decent deal with car companies. Now I’m talking about real car companies, not second hand car companies which are known for their scamming ways. Always do your homework!

Mo2 Thinks
Wow, a lot of work eh? Sure is, but all of it is worth going through and actually isn’t too bad if you do your homework. Mr. Z guided me through a lot of this and I was extremely grateful for that. You have to get what you like not what everyone else tells you what you should get. That’s why it’s important to go out there and drive anything that interests you in some sort of way. Make sure you do this so that you won’t regret it later on. I can tell you right now that I have absolutely no regrets with my Impreza, she’s the greatest car I’ve driven.

I was extremely lucky when I bought my car because I only had to go to 2 dealerships to get the deal I was looking for. The first Subaru dealership was extremely stingy and wasn’t willing to give me even a penny off the MSRP! Instead he tried to offer me some non-Subaru immobilizer. So I said I’d think about it went to another dealer and when I went there I didn’t even have to negotiate. The salesperson gave me a figure well below what I was expecting to pay, which was pretty high because this was the Special Edition after all, and he even told me that a sufficient immobilizer was already in place. This completely changed my idea of a pesky salesperson because this salesperson helped me so much even after my purchase; I was actually surprised by how far he would go to provide excellent customer service.

Car buying can be a pain and some people just go with what the most popular car is. Since this isn’t a purchase that you will make everyday, you should look into exactly what you want and need. Don’t let the salesperson take over the negotiation, know exactly what you expect from them and try to control the negotiation. And if you don’t get what you want, just walk away. Remember, you are the customer and even if they tack off that extra $500 they still make a sale, and that should matter more.

Always try to finance your car unless you have a really good reason not to. Once the payments are done, the car is yours to keep and you can do whatever you want with it even during the payments unlike a lease. Just so that you know, I financed my car through Subaru for 3 years at 3.9% APR much lower than any bank. Mind you, I did my calculations in advance and knew exactly how much I would be paying monthly. Always stay on top of your figures and you should be fine. Happy car buying!

Related Articles
The Will to Conserve Energy
Mowing the Lawn
Philanthropy


If you would like to comment on this article or anything on this website, please feel free to e-mail Mo2. He can be reached at Mo2@Mo2Thinks.com. Thank you for visiting!