First-Time Buyer’s Guide Posted on July 22nd
Q: My late husband handled all our car purchases. Now I need a new vehicle. I’d like to know what suggestions you have for making sure a salesperson doesn’t see me as an easy target and take advantage.
A: It’s so much easier to ensure that you get the car that you want at a fair price now that we have the Internet. You can do lots of homework before you hit the lot, get a price firmly in mind for both your new car and your trade-in if you have one, and be much more confident about your knowledge and your bargaining position than ever before.
Since you’re a first-time buyer, I’d suggest doing this first:
Drive the vehicles of every friend you have and see what you like, and/or scope out cars in shopping center parking lots. One of the biggest problems first-timers contend with when walking onto a dealer’s lot is overload: There’s too much stuff to process, you really can’t figure out what you truly want and what you don’t, your brain fogs and you sometimes make a bad choice in order to make a deal before you arrive at the mental place from which you can make a good deal.
Through driving or observing, settle on two or three makes and models. Plan to go to those dealerships with the full intention of driving the cars and getting a pretty clear sense of the deal a salesperson is going to be willing to execute. But keep this thought firmly in mind: you’re not buying a car your first day of shopping. It’s probably a good idea to take a buddy along to remind you of that fact.
So here’s what you do after you’ve settled on your three favorite models and before you step foot on a car lot: Go online and research pricing for each of those vehicles. Kelley Blue Book online (kbb.com) will give you the sticker price, the invoice price (which is what the car dealer pays for the vehicle, not considering the many possible incentives and rebates from the manufacturer for meeting quotas) and – best of all – the “what people are paying” price. This last one is an average of what buyers all over the country have paid for this vehicle.
If I were you, I wouldn’t pay one cent more, and I’d plan to get it for less, for this reason: The figures are updated somewhat regularly, but not instantly, so the information is at least a few weeks old. We’re now nearing the end of the model year for most manufacturers, the time when new cars begin to undergo more significant price cuts because new inventory is arriving. Also, since most dealerships aren’t moving many cars these days they’re more motivated to give buyers better deals.
As you check the pricing online (and KBB let’s you do side-by-side comparisons of a few vehicles, which is helpful) delve into the extra features each offers, and which ones you want (like a navigation system, leather seats, retractable sunroof or whatever). If you don’t want certain items, don’t choose a car that’s equipped with them.
I always call ahead and ask to speak with a salesperson. I tell him or her that I’m in the investigation phase, not the buying phase, and I’d like to drive one to either knock it off the list or let it stay. Then I make an appointment (never for a Saturday, their biggest day). That way I’m not descended upon the moment I arrive by too-eager salespeople. I can swat them away by saying I have an appointment, which can be a real stress reducer. Moreover, my salesperson’s expectation for selling me a car that day is reduced somewhat (although you can expect to hear “what will it take for you to ride away in this car today?” at some point during your time together, and your response can be “nothing can make that happen.”)
Please don’t tell the salesperson you’re buying your first car solo. Simply tell him or her that you’ve narrowed the field to three models (but don’t divulge what those vehicles are – it’s not their business or concern, and you shouldn’t spend all your time together hearing the salesperson criticize your other potential choices.)
Don’t be pressured into considering features or upgrades you don’t really want. You’ll hear that they’re practically giving them away, but if you’re paying $1,000 for a $4,000 something you can live without, that’s not really a good deal.
When you leave each dealership, you should have a pretty solid sense of how much you’ll pay for the car you’re interested in and how much you’ll be getting for your trade-in. Plan to try to negotiate the price down a bit more if you return in a few days to finalize a deal.
Since we’re in odd times right now, keep these additional things in mind:
At the end of a model year, which we are approaching right now, you can usually cut a better deal, but at a time when virtually all dealerships are struggling to move cars, you’re automatically in a better buying position now than in recent years.
Lots of dealerships offer “special deals” for lifetime oil changes or extended warranties for a few hundred dollars, and they’re pushing them hard right now to fill some of the profit gap created by sluggish car sales. I wouldn’t sign up for any of those.
There’s not a car out there that’s worth paying even $500 more than what you’ve got set in your mind. If you can’t get the salesperson to meet your demands, move on.