Math on new car, did I do OK?

[EliteRetard]

Just spent the better part of a day haggling on a new(ish?) 2013 vehicle (w/ 44 miles), but towards the end I kinda lost track of what exactly I was paying. The deal is not 100% finished because I went so long they had to close. I gave them 3 grand as a "down payment/good faith" type thing.

I had a trade in and all total after the trade, taxes, fees etc I got it for $15,000 "out the door" (so $12,000 left to pay).

What I'm trying to figure out is what I actually paid for the car.
Again, total was $15,000.00 "out the door".
The trade in is listed as $1,821.50
There was $1,500 and $3,000 listed as discounts
Taxes were $1,437.29 at 9.8%
License/registration etc was $246.50
And the obligatory documentation fee at $150.

So I just subtract the taxes and fees then add the trade in value to figure out the price of the car right? So I get $14,987. But that can't be right can it, do I subtract the $4,500 discounts then? I'm so confused now. This is probably easy math, but my brain is a little fried right now.

First new car, first over ~$4,000 in fact...so a big deal to me.

Really the goal here is to figure out what I actually paid for the car so I can decide if I really did O.K. or if I should call the deal off before swapping cars tomorrow. I know these dealerships specialize in funny money games and they certainly got me at the end...even though I felt like I held my ground O.K. I did cave a fair bit on the trade at the end, and that's when they threw me with the numbers (I wanted no less than $2,500 for my trade...started at $3,000).

 

[BoomerD]

Did you already sign the contract? In MOST states, there is no "cooling off period" when buying a car. As soon as you sign the contract, you're the owner...presuming your credit holds up. (that's about the only way to kill a car sale contract...bad credit)

How did you do? Hard to tell...what did you buy?

 

[Meghan54]

How did you do and what did you pay? Like Boomer said, hard to say without more information, such as what you bought---incl. year and MSRP or sticker/asking price.

And like Boomer said, you've probably already bought the car. Bet you signed something, esp. giving a down payment like you did, which I'd also bet is a non-refundable deposit/down payment. Looks to me like you already "own" the car. Congrats!

But from what I can glean from your figures, you paid taxes on $14,666.24 or thereabouts...the change can vary by a few pennies depending upon rounding. (9.8% of $14,666.24 is $1,437.29152.)

Another interesting thing is that your trade-in fell short of covering your tax, tag/title, doc fees by $13.29. Your trade was $1,821.50 and the tax/fees total $1,833.79. So, from what I can see, you paid right at $15,000 or thereabouts for the car. The trade-in and taxes/fees essentially cancel themselves out.

 

[EliteRetard]

So my math wasn't wrong, I did pay around $15,000 for the car.

Its a 2013 Hyundai Accent GLS w/ premium package and 44 miles on the odometer.
Trade was a 1997 Mercury Cougar 4.6l V8 w/ 54,500 miles in very good condition.

Dealer said MSRP was like $18,000+ while the Hyundai website said $17,000 with the extra. There is a standard $1,500 discount for everyone though till then end of the month.

Still kinda feel I did O.K. on the car itself but got a bit jipped on my trade. KBB "fair condition" trade in value was $2,400 but I've tried to sell it myself (around $4,000) for nearly a year with not a single email, phone call, or any interest of any kind...so I can't decide if I actually did O.K. here or not.

I was trying to get down to $14,700, thought I had them down to $14,800 before the trade in. Apparently the price went back up and I got a lot less on my trade than I was hoping. No financing either, I'm paying cash.

 

[BoomerD]

The NADA guide says the MSRP for the car is $17,540 for my area code, based on what little info you provided. There could be other options on the car you didn't mention.

http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2013/Hyundai/Accent/4dr-Sdn-Auto-GLS/Pricing


Here's the AutoTrader list of local GLS cars available from the Seattle area dealers:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...rim1=ACCENT|GLS&vehicleStyleCodes=SEDAN&Log=0

There's a new 2013 GLS with the premium package for $14705...but that presumes the buyer qualifies for some discounts that many won't qualify to receive.

You didn't get screwed...but you didn't get a screaming good deal either.

 

[rcpratt]

You're always going to get screwed on a trade-in. Might get 2/3 value if you're lucky. But that should be obvious going in.

 

[NutBucket]

But as you know it's not easy to find a buyer for a 17 year old cougar either. KBB doesn't mean squat to a dealer. Condition doesn't make a whole lot of difference either unless it's something they'll keep for their lot.

 

[jaedaliu]

But as you know it's not easy to find a buyer for a 17 year old cougar either. KBB doesn't mean squat to a dealer. Condition doesn't make a whole lot of difference either unless it's something they'll keep for their lot.

That's what I thought, too. But in New England, they do a full check-out of the vehicle before they accept the trade. So where you are matters a lot.

To the OP: you just traded up from a 17 year old car. congrats! I hope your new one lasts a long time, too.

 

[EliteRetard]

Funny thing is it sounded an awful lot like he sold my car while he was printing up paperwork. I have a feeling he's gonna just hand it over to a budget dealer here for $3-4k.

I basically paid the regular retail rate for the car, and they made instant cash on my trade...so they made off way better than me. Oh well, I'm still rather reluctant about the deal, but I don't thinks it's at buyers remorse level. I think the thing that gets me is I could not find a decent vehicle anywhere under $10,000. At which point I decided a new car wouldn't be much more and ended up in this deal.

All my other vehicles were really nice and under $5,000 and lasted 10+ years (except 1 lemon I got). I was expecting to find a great deal like that again, but I just couldn't seem to find anything. I wanted a highly reliable, fuel efficient, and fairly safe vehicle. Sure I could have gotten a 10 year old Toyota or Honda with 100k miles on it for around 6-8k...but I wasn't feeling it for that.

I'm really really hoping this thing will last me like 20-30 years or have a really good resell value at like 10 years (with probably under 50k miles).

It's not even really a car I wanted, just the cheapest option that was rated fairly reliable and fuel efficient. There was only like 1 or 2 other possible choices but the Hyundai warranty swayed me to choose them. I actually haven't even looked at the cars...like not even the one I'm buying. Probably really stupid to trust a new car to be O.K.

 

[OCGuy]

I think it is easier than you realize just because it is a stressful situation that can make anyone brain-fart.

Forget any "discounts" or that nonsense. All you need to know are the base price of the car (before taxes and fees), and what they gave you for your trade in.

 

[jaedaliu]

I think it is easier than you realize just because it is a stressful situation that can make anyone brain-fart.

Forget any "discounts" or that nonsense. All you need to know are the base price of the car (before taxes and fees), and what they gave you for your trade in.

This is probably the biggest thing. And to make sure we're all 100% on the same page, by "base price" he means the final price before tax/title/license fees. Discount here, monthly payment adjustment there, other bonuses are all there to confuse you.

 

[OCGuy]

In the future, and I know this is something that you hear a lot but there is a reason for it: Negotiate the price of the car before you ever let the dealer know you are trading in a vehicle.

 

[Vdubchaos]

You put down $3000 on a deal that wasn't even on paper/signed yet?

Chances are, $15k out the door = price of your trade in included

Look at the paperwork, what is the selling price of the car exactly?

In the future, and I know this is something that you hear a lot but there is a reason for it: Negotiate the price of the car before you ever let the dealer know you are trading in a vehicle.

Agreed

Also don't put down money on a car that you haven't even agreed upon a deal on yet.

And have your financing/budget figured out PRIOR to walking in and DO NOT let sales person talk to you about any of it until you agree on a price.

When/if they ask you "how much a month can you afford" = trick question, DO NOT ANSWER IT. You should already know how much you can afford and how much you will pay based on a) price of the car, b) price of the trade in and c) APR of your loan

If you answer that question and forget the important stuff dealer will just do whatever they want with prices/APR etc (read: you will be screwed).

NOTHING by word, everything ON PAPER.

 

[OCGuy]

One thing I used for my last purchase was truecar.com. They not only show you the MSRP and factory invoice of the (new) car, but if there is enough data in your area, they will show you what people are actually paying.

 

[EliteRetard]

I think it is easier than you realize just because it is a stressful situation that can make anyone brain-fart.

Forget any "discounts" or that nonsense. All you need to know are the base price of the car (before taxes and fees), and what they gave you for your trade in.

I was trying to figure out what the base price was...

 

[EliteRetard]

This is probably the biggest thing. And to make sure we're all 100% on the same page, by "base price" he means the final price before tax/title/license fees. Discount here, monthly payment adjustment there, other bonuses are all there to confuse you.

In the future, and I know this is something that you hear a lot but there is a reason for it: Negotiate the price of the car before you ever let the dealer know you are trading in a vehicle.

Well thats just it, I had the price to $14,800 before doing the trade in, but as soon as I did that they stopped telling me the price of the car and gave me the total out the door price. I lost track of what I was actually paying for the car at that point, and that is what I was trying to figure out last night.

I even asked them how they were ended up at the final price, I wanted to see all the numbers but they refused to show me, just shrugged and were like "you know, numbers".

We basically agreed to $15,000 out the door with my trade that night and I gave them $3,00 to put the car on the back lot so we could finish the deal today.

Ended up just agreeing to the $15,000 today and I have the car now. I'm still not sure what I actually paid for the car though. I have the paperwork and the numbers don't look right at all.

 

[EliteRetard]

You put down $3000 on a deal that wasn't even on paper/signed yet?

Chances are, $15k out the door = price of your trade in included

Look at the paperwork, what is the selling price of the car exactly?



Agreed

Also don't put down money on a car that you haven't even agreed upon a deal on yet.

And have your financing/budget figured out PRIOR to walking in and DO NOT let sales person talk to you about any of it until you agree on a price.

When/if they ask you "how much a month can you afford" = trick question, DO NOT ANSWER IT. You should already know how much you can afford and how much you will pay based on a) price of the car, b) price of the trade in and c) APR of your loan

If you answer that question and forget the important stuff dealer will just do whatever they want with prices/APR etc (read: you will be screwed).

NOTHING by word, everything ON PAPER.

I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to pay, I wanted the car for under $15,000 and no less than $2,500 for my trade. With 10% tax I figured I'd end up around $13,500 and fees to make it around $14,000. It looks like I ended up paying about $15,000 for the car (a little more than I wanted) and got about $1,800 for my trade (good amount less than I wanted). But the total out the door wasn't hugely higher than I was thinking which is why I just went with it.

 

[EliteRetard]

One thing I used for my last purchase was truecar.com. They not only show you the MSRP and factory invoice of the (new) car, but if there is enough data in your area, they will show you what people are actually paying.

According to truecar I got the best price on record for a new Accent GLS with the Premium package add on. They say lowest was $15,800, with the MSRP at around $18,000 (like the dealer said).

I see lots of them around $14,000-16,000 but they usually have 15,000-30,000 miles on them.
Looking at the used market on the site they say the average price for the car is $15,000 though. So it's a little weird.

Basically it looks like I got it for at least an average deal, considering I got a little low on the trade.

Looks like I could have saved 50% getting slightly used from other areas though. Entering 2010-15 with under 30k miles gives quite a few options at $10,000-12,000 before haggling/trades. That's actually kinda what I was looking at originally, the $10,00 range for nearly new. I dunno if it was smart to go full new.

Oh well, to late now.

 

[OCGuy]

I was trying to figure out what the base price was...

It is the top figure on any contract. "Price of vehicle". Under that it will list the deduction for your trade in as well as all applicable taxes and fees. They should not be lumped together.

 

[Chrono]

Looks like a good deal to me. 15k OTD when MSRP is 17k+? Your OTD price includes all taxes/fees... good job op. Yes trade in you're always going to get shafted but the price you get is the trade in price and not the selling private price.

 

[OCGuy]

Anytime I buy toys (cars, UTVs), I try to get OTD for MSRP (before any trade in is taken into account, OTD = actual price). In California it is almost a 10% tax, so if you can do that, you are doing OK.

On a side note, seeing someone talk about buying a brand new car for 15k makes me nauseous when my glorified golf-cart was more. Oh well.

 

[dbk]

I think you did just fine. I'm sure you wanted to get rid of your Cougar and you got a pretty sensible vehicle in the Hyundai. I'm sure at this point, $1000 here and there wont' really make big of a dent on your monthly payment (assuming you got a great rate). Just enjoy your vehicle!

 

[BurnItDwn]

You did good on the new car and got screwed a bit on the trade in. If they would have given you $1000 more on the trade in they would have likely not gone under 16K on the car ... It is true that they try to confuse you with bombardment of various add on costs/fees and taxes. Also, they will try to screw you on extended warranty if you got one of those...
In any case, enjoy the car

 

[EliteRetard]

Well hey thanks for all the input.

Oddly, not a single mention of any extra warranties or add on stuff.

Hell they even threw in a full tank of gas and the proprietary $30 iPod cable (Which I don't need right now but took anyway).

It's interesting the differences, this car is much smaller in every dimension, and over half a ton lighter...but it has way more room inside. Noise seems to be a bit higher and so far I haven't been able to get the stereo to sound right, though I couldn't get it just right in my Cougar either.

I'm going to have to plan a break in trip for it and make sure everything is working top shape on the way. 1,000 miles back road should do it yeah? Then I can test out the "sport mode". I wanna see what this auto manual thing can do, and a blazing 138hp! lol

 

[SearchMaster]

I'm really really hoping this thing will last me like 20-30 years or have a really good resell value at like 10 years (with probably under 50k miles).

I tend to keep my cars a long time, but 20+ years on a Hyundai? Highly unlikely unless you just REALLY fall in love with the car. And in 10 years even with low mileage, it'll be worth about $5K max.

However, for the now, you did fine. Don't sweat the details and whether the dealer made some money on you - that's their job, and how capitalism works. Enjoy the new ride, I hope it treats you well.