So I might be getting a new car...loans, haggling, etc?

[Jeff7]

Alright, so a few weeks ago, the cruise control in my car ('97 Elantra GLS with about 95k miles on it) went nuts and tried to kill me - it stuck in acceleration, requiring the car to be placed in neutral, and then turned off before it gave up.
That got fixed. So since the car wasn't able to kill me, it switched to trying to kill itself.
- Three days ago, some intake hose split open; that got fixed Saturday, following a tow to the garage.
- Today, one of the back wheels is making an unpleasant clunking sound at low speed, but only from about 5-10mph. 0-5, it's fine. 10+, it's fine. Don't know, maybe the towing damaged something? I just drove about 360 miles today, and it only started once I had the car parked for about an hour following that long drive.
- And the underside and everything in the engine compartment is rusted to hell - the body's fine though, oddly enough. Two of the power windows don't work anymore, as a nylon pulley tends to snap. A third is now bolted in place, leaving the driver's window as the only working one in the car. And the trunk leaks. And the alarm system stopped working. And two speakers stopped working.
(Yeah, it's in great shape.)


Soooo aaaaanyway, it's looking like it's time for a new car, a bit sooner than I'd expected. How's Toyota these days?
They've got some new stuff there for ~$10k.

Now, I'll need a bit of a loan on this - I can pay a few thousand up-front, but need a loan for the rest, which I can pay off completely within a year.

1) How do I get a loan? Is it as easy as saying, "I need a loan for a car." or what's there to it? I've already got about $26k in student loans against my name. 🙁
2) How does haggling work? (stupid question, likely) How low is too low? How far from or close to the asking price is a good target?
3) How does the loan tie in with haggling on the price?
4) Without inciting fanboyish behavior, is there a more reliable brand? Or perhaps something more efficient? Sadly, even after 12 years, my Elantra still gets better mileage (35mpg highway@70-75mph) than a lot of what's on the market, which is a pretty damned pathetic state of things. "Progress" - yeah, I guess.

I'd rather not keep sinking more money into the Elantra, as it seems like every time one problem gets fixed, something else decides to die.

 

[lastig21]

I'll answer what I can:

1) Depending on your credit score/income, it could be that easy . . but isn't likely. You can pay for your actual credit score at myfico, or enroll in a monitoring service that provides the score from the reporting agencies. I used this deal for $5 per month: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1203019

If you have a local bank/credit union, you can apply for a loan through them and they will probably show you your score. This will ding your score slightly, so make sure you would actually consider a loan through them at their currently offered rates.

2) Everyone haggles differently. I prefer emailing competing dealers for new cars, or printing out the kbb/edmunds values on used to have when I go to visit. Autotrader is a great place to search for used.

3) Loans should never affect the price of the car. For used cars, get approved for a loan by a credit union/bank before going to buy the car. You can then decide if you want to let the dealer try to beat the financing AFTER you have agreed on the sales price.

If buying new, you might lose some mfg rebates if you take their promotional pricing. Its a little trickier buying new cars.

Remember that buying new or used from a dealer, they ALWAYS try to get you into their finance department. Thats where they try to tack on warranties, maintenance, insurance, underbody protection, paint guarantees, etc. It can be stressful, but just continue to say no and you'll make it out alive. For this reason alone, its often a much smoother process to get outside financing and take a check to the dealer.

4) Find what you like, then read the consumer reports and buyer reviews. Its hit or miss, though I believe anything built recently should have great reliability.

 

[VinylxScratches]

Loans shouldn't affect price on a car but watch out. If they do reduce the price, check out the interest rate because it will most likely catch you.

I'd get a loan through a bank, for example, National City has a loan deal up to 20,000 dollars for a used car 2005 or higher and the interest rate was like 4.5% if you have good credit. This can be on any car as long as it's 2005 or higher. Maybe your bank has a similar thing.

 

[evident]

www.carbuyingtips.com is your best friend when buying a new car. it is def. a web 1.0 looking website, but chock full of great information.

 

[Gibson486]

26K in student loans is nothing.....

what they will look for is if you have sufficient income to make your monthly payment.

 

[Jeff7]

26K in student loans is nothing.....

what they will look for is if you have sufficient income to make your monthly payment.

Not a problem there. 🙂
I usually pay around 3x the minimum monthly payment on my student loan payments, and I'm still turning a tidy profit from this job.

I would really have preferred to pay for a new car with cash, but given my current car's increasingly strong desire to die, it seems like that won't be possible.

I also wanted to check my credit rating....apparently I checked the score instead. Oops.
Oh well, it's >700 (Experian score), so I guess that's good.

www.carbuyingtips.com is your best friend when buying a new car. it is def. a web 1.0 looking website, but chock full of great information.

Wow, it's 1990 all over again!
All it needs is a few animated GIFs. 🙂
Geez, looks like a lot to go over.

To give you an idea of my experience buying cars, here it is:
- My dad worked with a guy who quit from the common place of employment, and started his own car shop. He rebuilt insurance wrecks, and did a damn good job. His prices were pretty well fixed, and you had to pay cash.
I'd told the guy which car on the lot I wanted rebuilt; a few weeks/months/whatever later, my dad and I drove there, paid for the car, got the registration all taken care of, and I drove home in my new car. I think the whole thing took about 2 hours.

And that's it. This is still my first car, had it since 2000.

 

[bctbct]

Cars are a depreciating asset, the less you spend the better.

Try to get loan committment before looking.

Thoroughly research prices on the car you decide you want to try to buy.

Decide how much that car is worth.

Decide the amount you are willing pay, salesman are experts at getting people to increase their offers. Write in on a pc of paper and keep it in your hand when you are haggling.

Your first offer should be at least $1k below what you want to pay. I offered 3k below asking on my last used car(16k car, paid 14,200)

Salesman often try to talk payment amount rather than purchase price, tell him you are not interested in payment amount, only price.

Dont fall in love with a car, be prepared to walk away to the next deal. Believe me, if you walk out the door he will call you with the same offer he had when you left within 24hrs.

Near the end of negotiates offer out the door price including all tax and fees(you have prefigured this and know the number off the top of your head)

Shake or walk...

Dont feel embarrassed, nervous, or scared. I like the dead silence approach when they start with the whinning about how you are fucking the dealer at your price 🙂

 

[jpeyton]

Try this website: www.truecar.com

Look up the make/model car you want with the options you want. Find out what the true dealer cost for the car is, and see if there are any factory/dealer incentives on the car. Then go to Edmunds.com and check their forums; there are lots of "how much did you pay for your car" threads for each make/model. Find out what are the best deals people are getting.

I just bought a new Accord a month ago. When I negotiated, I called several dealers in the area and introduced myself to salesperson. I found out if they had the car I wanted in stock, their sticker price, etc.

If you want to make the dealers work hard for your business, pit them against each other. I simply told each salesperson the following by phone:

"Hey (salesperson), I've decided on the car I want to get, and I've decided I'm going to buy it today, but I haven't decided which dealer to get it from. I'm looking to pay $XX,XXX for the car. If you can meet that price, I'll come over and sign the papers this afternoon. If you can't, call me back with your best offer by 3PM, and the dealership that gives me the best price by that time will earn my business today."

But remember to do your research on the price before you give them an offer. For me, the sticker on my Accord was $27,115. The factory invoice was $24,909. I paid $22,900. Truecar.com reports the true cost as $22,881, so I was right on the edge there.

Other tips to keep in mind: dealers love to throw on ridiculous accessory packages at inflated prices ($200 floor mats, $150 mud guards, $80 wheel locks, etc.). Tell them to remove/uninstall all that garbage because you don't want to pay for it, or get them to throw them in for a significantly reduced cost (search online for more realistic prices for factory accessories).

Hit dealers on slow weekdays towards the end of a month; that's when they are most desperate for sales.

Find dealers with an abundance of 2009 cars on their lot, and they will be very desperate to move that inventory. 2010 cars just came in 4-8 weeks ago, so incentives on 2009 cars are very high right now.