Getting A Good Deal When Purchasing A New Vehicle
Jan/100
Ah, the excitement of a brand new car! Driving to every friend’s house you ever had to show it off. Spit shining it ever chance you get.
The only bad part about the deal is, well… the deal.
Fortunately, there’s a way get a great price on a new car and this insider info will save you both time and money.
How many hours have you wasted talking about a new car deal, only to find out that the dealer had other contract clauses in mind that exploded the cost? I have wasted entire days in the car buying process.
What does “factory invoice price” really mean? The price that you see on the car is the “manufacturer’s suggested retail price”. You don’t want to pay this over-inflated price. Supposedly, the “factory invoice price” is what the dealer paid the manufacturer for the car. The dealer will have an invoice with this price on it.
When you hear a dealer say that he’ll sell to you “below invoice”, you wonder how on earth he could make any money. You may think that you’re getting the bargain of the century.
Well, not so fast. See, the factory invoice price probably isn’t what the dealer had to pay for the car.
Dealers get all sorts of incentives on top of this base price. Carryover allowances and other special discounts added in make the actual cost of the vehicle less than the price on the invoice. This can add up to the tune of $500-$2000 dollars.
So you could buy a car at $100 below the factory invoice and still be fattening the salesman’s wallet more than enough.
Ask if the car manufacturer offers a factory-to-customer rebate. You have to get this straight from the manufacturer, but every little bit helps!
The more you know about factory-to-dealer incentive payments, “holdbacks,” and other allowances the dealer will receive, the better off you’ll be. Do your research so you’ll know the best prices cars like yours have recently been selling for.
Now, you don’t want to get a great price on a car, and then lose out by paying too much for financing, for an extended service contract, and for unnecessary add-ons.
Also, check to see what the market value is of your current car if you’re considering a trade in. Don’t talk about a trade in until you have agreed on a price.
Before going car shopping, check the annual percentage rate currently offered by banks in your area. Sometimes credit unions offer good rates.
Many new cars are very reliable and often carry long manufacturer warranties. An extended service contract may be a waste of your money. If you do want one, make sure you check over it with a fine-toothed comb to see what it covers and what it doesn’t. Nothing like being surprised by a repair bill.
If your car already has rust-proofing, paint sealant, or fabric protection, make sure you don’t end up paying more than $50 for it. Any more than that will be pure profit and mark up.
A good deal on your new car can be negated if you get a lousy price on your trade-in. Go ahead and take your car to a few dealerships beforehand and ask what they’d pay you for it straight out. Explain that you’re selling your car and getting offers from different dealers.
If the dealership where you’re buying offers you a ridiculously lower price, you may as well sell your car outright to one of the dealers you checked with.
You do want to get the true wholesale value for your trade-in. A dealer who offers some extraordinary trade-in allowance is likely making it up on the new car price.
It takes a little extra time to ensure a great deal on your new car, but your savings can be substantial. You just might find the whole process fun!
Buying A Car When Your Credit Isn’t Up to Snuff
Oct/090
If you are trying to buy a car and you have bad credit, you may find that you pay a little bit more. You will have to see what type of deals you can get if you are going through some bad credit times. You will not get the best interest rates that you could have received if you had great credit. You will want to try and keep your credit good for this reason.
If you have bad credit and you want to buy a car, you may be forced to pay higher interest. You will have to do this because you are more of a risk than someone that has good credit. This is not something that you want to deal with. You want to make sure that you are able to get good deals so that you are not putting yourself at risk for a higher interest rate.
When you have a higher interest rate, you will see that you will have a higher payment. You will have to pay the higher payment because you will need to make up for the higher interest that is added on to your balance. The interest rate is the amount of money that you will have to pay back on top of the money you borrow. If you do not have high interest, you will see that you will have lower payments and you will also be able to pay it off faster.
Getting a bad credit car purchase is something that you need to shop around for. You may have to go around from dealer to dealer to find something that fits what you need. You need to be sure that you are able to get what you want so that you do not have to settle for something that you do not want. You will also want to be sure that you are staying within your budget. You will need to do this so that you are not putting yourself at risk for a lot of trouble. You do not want to have higher payments that you cannot afford.
If you have bad credit, you should try and work on getting it fixed before you decide to purchase a car. You need to do what you need to in order to find something that you can feel good about. You do not need to settle for bad credit. You can get better deals with the best interest rates that you can deal with when you are buying with good credit. Bad credit car purchases can be scary and you have to be sure that you understand what you are getting into before you commit to any purchase.