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Ugh...I'm in the market for a car again...

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Clair de Lune

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6 years ago I got Mazda6i at loss leader pricing below invoice. And as most of you can agree, that only came to fruition after 6 weeks of exhaustive research, putting up with dealers' blatant lies, brb-for-90min tactics and the whole nine yards.

Well my family's old ass van just died. They suddenly need a new one, relatively fast. My old method was:
1. Narrow down to the make & model you want for your budget & needs
2. Go to edmunds.com and put in said in model & trim for dealer's invoice price and average sale price in your zipcode.
3. Pull up all the dealers in your 20-30mi area and ask for a quote.
4. Find the cheapest one and go for it.

Now I know Step 3 & 4 are far more complicated since dealers won't give up their threshold price over internet. You just have to sit with them in person until they cough up a real deal they're willing to settle.

Well... it's been 6 years. Is my method still sound? Is edmunds.com still good for providing accurate avg & invoice price? Any other 3rd party sites I should utilize? FYI, they're looking at Toyota Sienna LE 09 for the moment.

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Now how about used cars? What's a reputable used car trading website? KBB price IS quite inflated right?

Thanks guys.
 
The best way to get a killer deal is to be willing to walk away if you have to. On my first vehicle, I loved the car as soon as I saw it and the salesmen probably knew it. On my 2nd vehicle, I didn't have anything particular in mind and there are about 200 dealerships within 50 miles of me. I saw something I liked and I haggled with the guy for 4 hours 🙂 - By that time he just finally gave up. The car was marked at like $26,499 when I showed up. He says "You are willing to walk out on a $20k vehicle over $400? I said, "I absolutely am. I said my limit was $20k when I came in and you showed me this for 26 and a half. I can't do $20,399.....I can do $20k"

He probably figured he wanted to get something for his time he spent with me rather than to have me walk away and him get nothing.
 
Get dealer invoice from Edmunds, MSN Auto, and whoever else, bring them in, and say "I want this car for $3,000 under invoice", and walk out if they're unwilling to deal at all. Settle for whatever price you're comfortable with.
 
If I were in the market for a minivan I would be seriously considering the Grand Caravan with the current fire sale prices.
 
OP,

You method is pretty much the same as I have used in the recent past to get great deals on vehicles. With access to the Internet the hard part of car buying has been eliminated ... i.e. having to negotiate with the dealer. All you have to do is ask for quotes and take the one you are most comfortable with.
 
LOL....you did not buy it as a loss leader price if you did it that way. dealers will not sell at a loss unless they know it will bring other people in (like Boch's new $10k Corolla last year). "Invoice" is not really the invoice anymore and it has been this way for a while.

Goodluck on the Toyotas....if it is not camry, corolla, or that big SUV, the price will not be that agressive. everyone is buying them now b/c of the special financing and big rebates and no one is buying that big SUV. They stopped production on all 09s, so all the dealers have to worry about is when they start getting the 10's in (2010 Camry and Corolla are already on the lot). Clearing out 09s on the other models is not that big of a concern yet.

As for the method, it's the same, but lots of dealers are just using the "we will not be beat by price method" or "We will match or beat any price". that does not really work to your favor, especially if the only dealers that are giving you quotes are dealers that really do not have buying power.
 
Are you looking to buy new or used? There are great deals out there if you don't mind buying from a bankrupted company such as Chrysler. I saw an article on money.cnn.com stating that the Chrysler Town&Country minivan having Sticker price: $26,340
Discounted price: $20,943

http://money.cnn.com/galleries....chrysler_deals/4.html


But my method of buying cars is this...and it works.

1. Find type of car you want (van, car, truck, suv)
2. Find what car is the top for that category via magazine reviews and at least 2 other comparable cars that it compete with.
3. Test drive all 3 of them and see what you like best since you may have a different opinion than the editor's reviewing the car.

4. Find "invoice" or KBB price of the car.
5. CALL (most dealer will not take e-mail offers seriously) and asked for internet sales rep. & tell them if he can give you that price, you'll be there within 15 minutes to buy it.

6. Most will give you the run-a-round saying that they don't discuss price over the phone/email and insisted you to come in. I don't deal with them. Some dealers will be straight up and tell you the price they're willing to sell at.

7. Done. That's how i bought my car (09 honda fit) over the phone for under invoice. All i have to do is go to the dealer & sign the paperwork...less than 1 hour later, i'm done & home with a new car.
 
Originally posted by: Kroze
Are you looking to buy new or used? There are great deals out there if you don't mind buying from a bankrupted company such as Chrysler. I saw an article on money.cnn.com stating that the Chrysler Town&Country minivan having Sticker price: $26,340
Discounted price: $20,943

http://money.cnn.com/galleries....chrysler_deals/4.html


But my method of buying cars is this...and it works.

1. Find type of car you want (van, car, truck, suv)
2. Find what car is the top for that category via magazine reviews and at least 2 other comparable cars that it compete with.
3. Test drive all 3 of them and see what you like best since you may have a different opinion than the editor's reviewing the car.

4. Find "invoice" or KBB price of the car.
5. CALL (most dealer will not take e-mail offers seriously) and asked for internet sales rep. & tell them if he can give you that price, you'll be there within 15 minutes to buy it.

6. Most will give you the run-a-round saying that they don't discuss price over the phone/email and insisted you to come in. I don't deal with them. Some dealers will be straight up and tell you the price they're willing to sell at.

7. Done. That's how i bought my car (09 honda fit) over the phone for under invoice. All i have to do is go to the dealer & sign the paperwork...less than 1 hour later, i'm done & home with a new car.
Click to expand...

you didn't even bother to bargain more? then you're missing out on the "chance" that you could've gotten a better deal by bargaining at the dealer
 
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