I had been dreading the car negotiation because I heard so many horror stories about difficult/deceitful salespeople, and I was actually with my dad once as a kid when he negotiated for like 7 hours with a guy for a car. However, my car is about to die, and now is a pretty decent time to buy, with car sales down.
I did my research and went with a Honda Civic, for a variety of reasons. I was originally a little concerned that it may be hard to negotiate on this model, because the Civics are the best selling car in the country, but car sales are hurting in general so I was not too worried. Got the car report from Consumer reports that says MSRP price, Invoice price, and suggested negotiation points.
I'm extremely surprised to say, the process went VERY quick and smoothly! The model I was looking at had an MSRP + destination charge of 18,230. According to my report, dealer invoice was $16,836, and their negotiation start was $350 under that, taking into consideration payback the manufacturer gives the dealer. Consumer reports says that a reasonable proft margin is 4-8%, which means that it's reasonable to be somewhere between $17,144 to 17,803.
Anyway, I got him to $17,100! He agreed almost right away. First I said I had an offer for 17.3, and said I'd do it for 17.1 here. He came back with 17.2 and I held firm on my number, so he caved. It went so quickly that I almost think I could have gone lower, but I am happy with that price and they gave me a great deal for my trade-in because of it, I think. And the car is a beauty! [I did have an offer for 17.3 over the internet, but this dealer is 2 blocks from work and they give free car washes for life, so there is a perk to buying there]
Was it just the dealer that was good? I read so many reports regarding tactics they pull, and I didn't get any of them. They didn't offer any document fees, dealer packages, nothing. Just wanted a number and a signature! It was so easy I still think I'm missing something. I didn't even give them a dollar, or the title to my car, and they gave me the new car to drive off the lot. I am coming back this weekend to give title and pay, but we got everything worked out in about an hour.
The jump I made was crazy, I have been driving a manual transmission '95 Cavalier for 10 years. All those little things you don't have make a huge difference! It probably sounds funny to you, but it's great to have automatic (and keyless!) locks, working air condition, an MP3 player jack, a working CD player, digital tuning on the radio, automatic windows, automatic transmission, working turning signals, and an undamaged body.
Anyone else have good/bad car buying experiences? I'd love to hear how mine compare with yours!
I did my research and went with a Honda Civic, for a variety of reasons. I was originally a little concerned that it may be hard to negotiate on this model, because the Civics are the best selling car in the country, but car sales are hurting in general so I was not too worried. Got the car report from Consumer reports that says MSRP price, Invoice price, and suggested negotiation points.
I'm extremely surprised to say, the process went VERY quick and smoothly! The model I was looking at had an MSRP + destination charge of 18,230. According to my report, dealer invoice was $16,836, and their negotiation start was $350 under that, taking into consideration payback the manufacturer gives the dealer. Consumer reports says that a reasonable proft margin is 4-8%, which means that it's reasonable to be somewhere between $17,144 to 17,803.
Anyway, I got him to $17,100! He agreed almost right away. First I said I had an offer for 17.3, and said I'd do it for 17.1 here. He came back with 17.2 and I held firm on my number, so he caved. It went so quickly that I almost think I could have gone lower, but I am happy with that price and they gave me a great deal for my trade-in because of it, I think. And the car is a beauty! [I did have an offer for 17.3 over the internet, but this dealer is 2 blocks from work and they give free car washes for life, so there is a perk to buying there]
Was it just the dealer that was good? I read so many reports regarding tactics they pull, and I didn't get any of them. They didn't offer any document fees, dealer packages, nothing. Just wanted a number and a signature! It was so easy I still think I'm missing something. I didn't even give them a dollar, or the title to my car, and they gave me the new car to drive off the lot. I am coming back this weekend to give title and pay, but we got everything worked out in about an hour.
The jump I made was crazy, I have been driving a manual transmission '95 Cavalier for 10 years. All those little things you don't have make a huge difference! It probably sounds funny to you, but it's great to have automatic (and keyless!) locks, working air condition, an MP3 player jack, a working CD player, digital tuning on the radio, automatic windows, automatic transmission, working turning signals, and an undamaged body.
Anyone else have good/bad car buying experiences? I'd love to hear how mine compare with yours!
