New Car Buying Tips and Tricks

I hope this isn't a thread already.... What advice would you give to a first time buyer? What should I expect from the salesguy?

The best advice is to arm yourself with information: [url]http://www.edmunds.com/advice/?tid=edmunds.e.townhall.globalheader..4.*[/url] Ken

Arm yourself with information is THE best suggestion. Mzke part of that info about your dealership and their reputation post sales and you should be set!

Yeah definately find a place that just isn't the cheapest but one that doesn't do shady stuff. I just had a customer from the Forester forums who purchased a car from another dealer where they signed him up with a lease company that doesn't even report to the credit bureau, VERY BAD. Decide on what you consider fair profit or what not for current market conditions (like 04, 05 and if it's some freakish rare color, combo or soemthing they have 20 of on the lot). Every dealership is totally different Xtreme. Some love to have salesman trolling the lots jumping you when you get out of the car, forcing you to leave a deposit just to get out of the dealership in some cases, etc etc. A lot of them mistreat younger customers sadly but not all are bad. You can find places that are low pressure, show you invoices that aren't fake (my buddy worked at a place with fake invoices), etc. Edmunds is ok but I never find those to be 100% correct online. Carsdirect.com is pretty close cause if you scroll to the bottom it corrects for regional adjustments. Good luck to you and enjoy your new car!!!

And never fall for that "Oh, you're killing me! We're [i]barely[/i] making anything on the car as it is!" drama.

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[url]http://howtobuyacar.com/[/url] never fall for the "how much a month do you want to spend" ploy

And if you're possibly trading a car in on the replacement, never talk price for the replacement until you've decided on what is a fair price for your trade in. If you're not getting what you know the trade is worth, walk out. Don't fall for the, "let's not worry about the trade right now, let's just focus on what we can do to get you into this car, it'll all work out in the end." line of thinking. You'll end up "losing" the value of your car in the deal and the sales person will walk away with money in his or her pocket from your trade and from the hole they tore in your pocket on the new car. And, as others have said, research, research, research both your trade and the car you're looking to buy as well as the dealership itself (sales and after sales). It's the name of the game ;) Good luck and keep us updated on your progress and your questions. SBT

Rainly days (bad weather) + weekend + end of the month + research + bargain at 8pm (which dealers close at 9pm) = amazing deal. Trust me. :D To have all these factors occured within 1 day is rare. But if it happens, I have no doubt you can have great deal!