Buying a New Car
Saturday, September 15th, 2007Buying a new car is exciting. Often a new vehicle is the first purchase made by young adults moving out on their own and establishing their own careers. Unfortunately, the heady smell of new car upholstery often clouds the mind of the buyer and leaves him with the car he wants and a payment he didn’t.
If you are considering buying a new car, take heed of the following to ensure you get the best deal possible and arrange a price you can live with.
Do Your Research
The average car buyer pays 11% or more less than the sticker price on a new vehicle. Of course the dealer is not going to simply offer a reduced price to every person who walks though the door. Only those who have done their homework and planned ahead can walk out of a dealership with the kind of deal that makes others envious.
Car prices shown by dealers are the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP.) MSRP is considerably higher than what the dealer paid for the car, or the invoice price. Even with the inflated fees for shipping and upgrades, car dealers stand to make a lot of money from those who are uneducated enough to pay MSRP.
Now, in certain situations, it is impossible to get a vehicle for less than MSRP. If you are ordering a specialty item or preordering a new model to try and be the first to have it, you’ll pay a pretty penny. To each his own, but if waiting a few months or a year can save you thousands, do you really have to be the first on your street with the new whatever in your driveway? (more…)
