Easy and Fast Method to buy a car for the cheapest price ever!

[coolfez]

This is about buying any car in general. Many people spend hours on end at the dealership negotiating the price which in this day and age is not necessary at all!

I helped my older brother buy a car recently, a 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat model, which is one of the better classes (loaded with v6, leather seats, LED lights etc etc)

Prelude: I had him go and test drive all the cars he has in mind and narrow it down to two. He mad eup his mind and narrowed it down to one. the Avenger.

1. , I found all the dealerships within the range I am willing to drive to, about 60 miles. This can be found on the car website or through google map by just typing in " Dodge Dealership near (zip code or town and state you are in)"

2. Email them all and tell them exactly the model u are looking for and the features that should come with it. Some models have crazy amounts of choices and some have very little choice ( like the Honda Fit has the regular or sport model and thats it.) So make sur eyou do ALL YOUR HOMEWORK. Ask for OUT OF THE DOOR PRICE and make sure you state that out of door means the amount you pay to get it including all taxes, etc.

3. Here is the important part: go to www. truecar.com and type in where you live and the car model you are looking for. Another great method is sign up for a free account from USAA, you do not need to have any military or government affiliation to have a membership! USAA has a car purchasing program that is very similar to Truecar and the price is about $100 cheaper usually. So why is this important? These places have a GUARANTEED pricing meaning that when you search the car you want, it will give you a price and the dealership that will sell it to you at that price.

Many times, simply doing that gives a price that is the invoice price of the car! And this Guarantee isn't some fluff guarantee either! When you select the dealership u want to buy it from and the price quoted, you can print out the price page with a barcode that you bring the the dealership. They are under CONTRACT with USAA or Truecar to give you that car for that price. Also you are not obligated to buy the car! You can print out that paper and bring it into the dealership and you can back out at the last second if for some reason you changed your mind.

4. Optional: You can stop after step 3, but if you don't mind the hassle, you can use the price that the Truecar or USAA gave you and send another batch of emails to the top 2-3 dealerships that seems honest in the first email communication and say " Hey, I got this guarantee in writing for this car at $xxxx, if you give it to me for cheaper, say $150, then i'll buy it straight from you guys today."

So the 2011 Avenger HEAT had msrp of 26K, there was a cash rebate of 3,500 so that made it 22,500. Truecar had it for ~21k.I emailed around and was able to get it for 20k from two dealers, the one I end up buying it from gave me lifetime power-train warranty. so with tax and tag, it was $21,500.

Best part was, my brother did not step into the dealership once until he went to sign the papers!

It took about 2 weeks to get everything done, to be honest, would have been only one week but had to get loans from credit union approved and my brother had a out of state job interview to go to

When my brother went down there, he was there for 30 minutes, signed the paper, refused all the extra crap and drove off!



I have the email exchanged below:


On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 9:22 AM,

Good Morning J*****,


Thank you for your interest in the 2011 Dodge Avenger. What questions can I answer for you about the Avenger? When can you come down to the dealership? Let me know what a fair price is to you and I will see what I can come up with.



Respectfully,
A*******

~~~~~~~~~~~~
09/17/2011

Hi,

So I have it narrowed down to a 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat. Black exterior and the red striped inside interior. This also has the 27W HEAT CUSTOMER PREFERRED ORDER SELECTION PACKAGE.

The price I have already secured at a nearby dealer is $20,000. There is no use in haggling, I have already in writing that they will sell this to me for that price. If you can do better, I am happy to work with your dealership.

Thanks
J***********
~~~~~~~~~
9/17/11
Is that $20,000 plus tax and fees?


A*******
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


9/17/11

Good Afternoon J*******,


Not only can we match the $20,000 plus tax and fees, you get our FREE Lifetime Powertrain Warranty. This will cover the powertrain components for as long as you own the vehicle. When can you come back down to the dealership?


Respectfully,

A***********
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi A*******,

Can you tell me the entire price, how much will the out of the door price be? Thanks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
09/17/11

Good Afternoon J******,

What county do you live in?

Respectfully,

A***************

~~~~~~~~~~~

9/17/11
Good Evening J*****,



The price does include the 27W Heat Customer Preferred Order Selection Package. Listed below is the price of everything. Do you have any other questions I can answer for you?


$26,000

-$3,500 Rebate

=$22,500
-2,500 internet discount and price match
=2000

+$1,946 Tax and Fees

=$21,946 OTD


Respectfully,


A*******

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good Evening Wei,



$21,946 is the out the door price. There are no other fees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

( I had to leave town for an interview all of a sudden)

09/29/11
Hi A*******,

I just got back from NYC tonight and am looking to buy the Avenger. While I was away, a few dealerships sent me some offers.

"
J*****,


Different dealerships advertise differently. In the end, as long as both dealerships are discounting the same amount for the same car, the prices will be the same. I hope the following makes some sense. When I looked for a Dodge Avenger for you, I had to select Dodge Avenger Mainstreet, and then add customer package 27W, making it technically a Avenger Heat. Therefore, the invoice shows a price for the 3.6L engine because a Mainstreet does not come with the standard option of a V6 engine. On the invoice, it was considered an add-on. You are right though, the 3.6L engine comes standard with the Dodge Avenger Heat, so there should be no charge for the engine. It was just the way the invoice was billed out that I was looking at. I did make one mistake, and I missed an extra rebate this vehicle qualifies for. Due to this I can give you a price that would be better. With this particular Avenger I found, which has all the options you are looking for, you could buy it for $21,500.42 out the door. Let me know what you think about the price, even though it was a little unorthodox in the way it was eventually figured. I hope to hear back from you and if the above doesn’t make any sense to you, I can explain it better to you over the phone. Thanks again. "




If your dealership can match that price, I will buy the Avenger by Wednesday of next week. Normally, I would have just gone with that dealership but since we have communicated back and forth so much, I wanted to let you know what is going on instead of just not replying back. Thanks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

09/30/11
Good Morning J******,



My sales manager said he can do $21,500 out the door if you come in today. That includes the FREE Lifetime Powertrain Warranty. We would have to find you a Dodge Avenger and we would have to pay a driver to go pick it up. Let me know if this works for you.





Respectfully,



A**********
Internet Sales

 

[ChipTam]

Coolfez,

You've got a lot of useful information here. Since I'm also in the market for a new vehicle I was especially interested in your experience. I haven't e-mailed local dealers but have gone to their web sites to check inventory. By the way, there are a lot of dealers in the metro-Detroit area. In my case, I'm looking for a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado work truck without a lot of options. In the past, I've found identical vehicles at different dealerships and have followed your plan to ask for each dealer's bottom line price. However, this time around, I've discovered there are very few striped down pickups out there (none in the metro area that are exactly what I'm looking for). Most seem to come with $3,000 to $5,000 worth of options. As a result, I've been working through one salesman who is checking out dealerships further afield. Since this salesman and the local dealership will have to retrieve my truck from god knows where I probably won't get the best deal around. I'm going to give this salesman a bit more time but I may eventually have to settle on a truck with more options than I want.

Let me add two other other points which may be of interest. Besides the USAA discount, a buyer may also qualify for a manufacturer or supplier discount. I don't qualify for the manufacturer discount (since our closest relative who works for GM is a cousin) but because we're members of a credit union we qualify for the supplier discount. Second, Consumer Reports provides a price guide for whatever vehicle you're looking for (1-800-944-4484). I paid for the guide on my particular Silverado model and received a 30-page report ($14). When I crunched the numbers Consumer Reports says that the bottom line price on my truck was $937 lower than a quoted price I received from the dealer. We're not that far apart but it may be possible to eventually get a bit better price as a result of the report.

ChipTam

 

[begreen]

Good tips. I can't stand most car showrooms. They make you feel like a mark at a carnival. The last 2 new cars I bought were done over the phone. Get the invoice price first, then call and ask for the sales manager. Tell him/her what you want and what you'll pay and see what they have. I didn't spend more than 15 minutes buying either car. One I got for invoice (Camry wagon) and the other for $250 over invoice (Prius).

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It was funny the last time we bought a car. I gave the list of what I wanted. They found the car at the right price. The day we went to pick up the car, as we were filling out papers I notice a little additional charge. Whoops. That was not part of the deal. Salesman said it had to have it. Bye! Next day the manager called. Deal done plus a bit extra for us making the extra trip. Never let them get the upper hand.

Also, most problems happen with extras and especially with financing. That is where the dealers really make their dollars along with trade-ins. It pays to do your homework and I just hate these adds that try to sell you a vehicle for x dollars per month. That is bull. I also remember walking out on more than one guy when he only wanted to talk payment. I simply asked how much the car sold for but never got an answer. No tell price of car?! Bye.

 

[jeff_t]

The last new vehicle I bought was a pickup, about ten years ago. I knew what I wanted, and tried to get a price from three different dealers. I got the same response from all three, 'What kinda payment you lookin for?' They didn't seem to understand that I didn't want a payment, I wanted a price. Nobody had the truck I wanted, it would have to be ordered. None of them were interested in sitting down with me and building a truck. I don't think any believed I was serious. Sucks to be them. I ended up at my local dealer, who I've known all my life, even before. My dad used to pull wrenches for him before I was born. I wouldn't have considered going anywhere else, but he's not really supposed to sell anything more than a half ton. Something to do with their facility, lifts, door openings, etc., to be able to service a heavy duty pickup/medium duty truck. He was able to order what I wanted, it came in about six weeks later, I wrote him a check, and away I went.

I hate buying cars. I think that's why I drive them till they don't go anymore.

 

[coolfez]

Hi ChipTam- I looked into the Silverado for you but there is so many options so I can't really pinpoint a price. Also I don't know the exact location u were in so I just entered Ann Harbor MI. If I were you, I would hop ove to www.truecar.com and enter all the info and all the options u want. Then, you should sign up for the USAA account and check there. Also I believe Sam's Club has a program that is the same thing, they will negotiate a car for you if you are a member.


Also, the good thing about those programs is that if you choose a car on there and it says it is available at these dealerships and you print out the sheet with the car info and the price and barcode and bring it into the said dealership and they don't have it in stock. Most of them will get it shipped from another dealership in the area and if they try to charge you a fee or add onto the price of the car, just say that this website claimed you have it in stock so that's false advertising. Most places will ship the car free of charge once you bring that up.

Everyone else- Im the kind of person who likes to find out how something works, and I was actually very fascinated by the whole car buying system. I like buying cars so much that I have even offered to help my friends buy their cars haha I love the look on the sales person's face after our test drive and I tell them, "No thanks, we will try Truecar and the USAA car buying program first before coming in"

 

[firefighterjake]

I did something similar when I purchased my Nissan Titan.

I had already looked up on various auto websites (Edmunds, NADA, KBB, etc.) what the vehicle I wanted would invoice for . . . and what rebates were being offered.

I then set out e-mails to the dealers stating what I was looking for . . . and soon the offers came back in. Some could be tossed out immediately as they were not what I had asked for . . . or were no where close to where the price should have been.

I then narrowed it down to a couple of dealers and made sure we were talking about the out the door price.

I had already checked with AAA's car buying program . . . and discovered that there really wasn't any savings for me there as the dealers I had checked in with were right on the mark with what I expected to pay for the truck.

At this point I went to the dealer and did a test drive just to be sure there was nothing strange with the vehicle. There really wasn't much involved as the negotiating was already done and I just had to confirm the numbers. I had previously secured financing at a favorable on-line rate (better than the credit union), but the dealership was willing to give me an even better rate through their bank so I took them up on their offer. I carefully scrutinized all the finances and documents, but honestly everything was on the up and up and I wasn't even pressured to buy extra warrantees or anything.

In the end I got the truck for the price I was willing to pay and with the rebate it was less than the invoice and represented in my mind a fair deal for me and the dealer. In addition I got better financing options and there was a free two-year maintenance package with free oil changes, tire rotations, etc. On top of this I got a decent trade in on my SUV . . . which I really truly figured I would get low-balled on.

I know I got a good deal, but there are some reasons for this.

1) I had a good chunk of cash (well a combination of credit card and a bank check) I was paying up front.

2) I had my ducks in a row -- I knew the invoice, rebates, dealer incentives, etc. and what my trade was worth (usually I don't do the trade in and just do a private sale, but the price they offered was fair.)

3. I bought this vehicle on December 31st . . . end of the month, end of the year . . . right after Christmas and before taxes come due.

4. I bought a truck . . . with gas prices climbing. A truck I should add that is not one of the top sellers.

I should mention that I am not a financial genius and know the dealership made some money off me . . . which is fair . . . but I also know that by spending a bunch of time up front researching the figures you can save a lot of time, grief and money in the long run.

Incidentally, with the trade in and down payment and final price I am paying $268 and change a month for five years on this truck . . . but by paying $31 extra each month and paying double payments every month I figure I should have this truck paid off much quicker and pay even less.

 

[muncybob]

Timing on this thread is great for us. If I can't get the 97 Cavalier to pass inspection at year's end we will be car shopping which has about as much appeal to me as going for a colonoscopy. At least now it may not feel like somebody just stuck something up there!

The ole girl is falling apart though, frame is in tough shape. If I can squeeze 1 more year out we should hit 300k miles this time next year. That would be a first for us.

 

[firebroad]

Good tips. I can't stand most car showrooms. They make you feel like a mark at a carnival.

BeGreen, that is the quote of the day!!

 

[rowerwet]

I found a no haggle dealership (not much good for the rest of you outside of the NH seacoast area) the price is listed on the big sticker, and then right next to it is the dealers cost, incentives, discounts, and the price you will pay all spelled out on the list. Both new cars I bought were thousands less than the window sticker. (Portsmouth Ford, and their used car division works the same way, no pressure)
I went into one of those write the price down in big numbers, cross it out, write a lower number in big numbers, never quite get to what you want, and the salesman can't really sell you the car or talk numbers without his boss there, and then they want to kill you on the financing rate.... walked out and will never go near one like that again.

 

[coolfez]

Timing on this thread is great for us. If I can't get the 97 Cavalier to pass inspection at year's end we will be car shopping which has about as much appeal to me as going for a colonoscopy. At least now it may not feel like somebody just stuck something up there!

The ole girl is falling apart though, frame is in tough shape. If I can squeeze 1 more year out we should hit 300k miles this time next year. That would be a first for us.

300K is awesome for a Cavalier!You could also try Craigslist, I recently helped a friend buy a 2001 Hyundai Elantra GLS for $2500.

What I did was go got Edmund.com and go to the overview of a model you want. It will tell you all the generations of that model and when important features were put in. For example, i choose to not go lower than 2001 elantra because the previous generation got worse crash ratings and was not as reliable. Also cars may be the same generation but in the middle of that generation, they might put anti lock brakes or side airbags as the standard.All of this is usually listed by Edmund.

Then just google "2001 elantra" Reliability issues and you will see how many ppl reported issues and what the most common ones are. Obviously the bad ones are engine and transmission related. The ones I can live with are the road noise or cosmetic issues.


Good luck!

ps. The elantra was bought from a graduate student at my college. So if you have a good college nearby that has a lot of international students, I would look at the end of the semesters (November and April for me) and you can find some very good deals because they may be moving back to their country and need to sell asap