New car advice?

Nic Ramirez

Nic Ramirez

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Messages
1,886
Hey guys-

As many of you know I've just been in a nasty wreck.

Well, this was my wife's car and she wants a 03”/04” Honda 4dr Accord DX.

I want a good deal and I live in the Pacific Northwest.

Any advice on places to shop or the best way to get an auto loan from a bank?

Any tips or tricks are most welcome.

Thanks- :)
 
I can't help you with the auto loan, but I can tell you an excellent way to shop for a new car when you already know what you want.

Find a few Honda dealerships near your home. Let's call them Larry, Curly, and Moe's Honda.

Call Larry's and ask to speak to a salesman. Tell him that you want his best price on (for example) an '04 Accord DX 4 door with a CD changer and manual tranny. Larry will tell you that he will give you the car for the low, low price of X dollars.

Now call Curly. Tell him "Larry accross town just quoted me a price of X dollars for an '04 Accord DX 4-door with these options. Can you do any better?" Since Curly wants your business, odds are that he will make you a better offer.

Now call Moe and do the exact same thing, and watch the price drop even further.

Now call Larry back and ask him to beat Moe's price. Whether he does or not you have just found what is likely the lowest possible price for an '04 Honda Accord DX 4-door, all without leaving the comfort of your home.

Just make sure to make it perfectly clear that you aren't willing to play games with the salesman. If he won't give you a straight answer just hang up and call the next guy on the list. If you are near a major West coast city like Seattle there has to be dozens of Honda dealerships within a couple hours drive.

Dealerships hate when you do that, because it forces them to compete directly with each other instead of competing with the customer's negotiating skills.
 
And don't buy all that stupid gap insurance, window etching, fabric treatement, paint sealer ttaht's all just a ripoff.
 
And before you do that, and get screwed by those three brothers....;)


Go to www.edmunds.com find the car your interested in and start doing the math. Find out what the dealer's cost would be for the car and make that your target, not MSRP. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to remember that there are manufacturer incentives. Dealers don't work strictly off of profit, they get paid for the number of cars they sell. They WANT to sell a high volume of cars EVERY MONTH, not just an average number at good profit. Which gives you another advantage. Its not the end of the month....yet, but its pretty much the end of the month for selling cars due to the time of year. Think about it, would yoube buying a car RIGHT AT CHRISTMAS IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE TOO?!? Didn't think so, and not too many others are either. Use that to your advantage, they want to make a sale no matter how much the dickweed whines and tells you otherwise. They're going to whine about commission and all that, but don't worry about that, its all sales talk. They aren't in the business to give good deals.

Getting them to bid against each other is a great idea, but you have to have some numbers of your own. And if you do the research you know the actual numbers they're working with too.
 
Nic, Honda Accords are GREAT cars; I've had 3.

Since the Accord just had a body change in '03; I would recommend getting a 2003 Accord LX.

The LX is a lot nicer for the money.
 
Originally posted by Matt Shade
Getting them to bid against each other is a great idea, but you have to have some numbers of your own. And if you do the research you know the actual numbers they're working with too.
Click to expand...

Of course it helps to do a considerable amount of research and find out the dealer's invoice and all that, but in my experience just making them compete with one another for your business drives the price down just as far as coming in armed with dealer's invoices and a poker face; and is considerably easier as well.

Competition between neighboring dealerships is ferocious as it is, and anything you can do to exploit that competition is a great way to save money.

Just like eBay, only different.
 
Another alternative is to request a quote from the dealers (or manufacturers') websites. I did this on my last purchase, and the dealer that got my business had the fleet manager contact me. I was able to negotiate the price without ever leaving my office.

I agree with the others - do your homework, stick with a price that YOU decide on prior to negotiating, and don't be afraid to walk out of the dealership or hang up if you're on the phone. Somebody will be willing to sell you a car on YOUR terms.

Good luck!
 
There is really no good reason to buy a brand new car. There is a lot of really good used stuff out there one or two years old. Buying used will save you THOUSANDS of depreciation(sp?) dollars.

Good luck and I am glad that you a both ok after that accident. Honda is prabably the best choice for you since the last one took good care of you.

Jon
 
Originally posted by Kimberholic
There is really no good reason to buy a brand new car. There is a lot of really good used stuff out there one or two years old. Buying used will save you THOUSANDS of depreciation(sp?) dollars.
Click to expand...

Ditto, especially since you'll be paying someone interest for the "privilege" of using their money. A wise consumer knows cash is king.
 
The one piece of advice I tell my sons is to......
"Find the money FIRST!"

By that I mean that you should always find the best
loan to know how much you can afford to pay each
month along with the maximum amount you can afford
to borrow. NEVER FINANCE A CAR AT A DEALERSHIP!!

Having a loan in hand before you walk into a dealer
makes you a cash customer and as such better able
to get YOUR price if you stick to the amount you
agreed on. Also when you get down to the paperwork
make damn sure that you're paying for the car + tax
and ......that's it. No packs or fees or other junk
Check the math to see that the dealer didn't get
creative with your money. Basicly buy a car the
way you buy any other appliance (which a car really
is.....an appliance to transport you).

What ever you do don't make the mistake that
anybody in a car dealership is you friend......
They are not:mad:
 
Find the money first is great advice. It keeps you from having them jack the monthly payment up on you. If you arrange your own financing ahead of time, you will have a pre-determined limit set and already know what your monthly payment will be. If you own your own home and have equity in it, a home equity line of credit is the way to go. With a home equity line of credit, the interest rate will likely be lower than on any auto only loan AND it will be a tax write off as it's techincally a second mortgage.

jmx
 
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