Tips for buying a car 101

One thing to know before buying your next vehicle is what do you need? Why are you replacing it? What is it for today? And what will it be for tomorrow?

Look at the vehicle you are driving today and ask yourself these questions. What do I love about my current vehicle? Is it style, safety, performance? And what is it that I don’t like about the car I’m driving?

Between your likes and dislikes you’ll find what’s important to you in your next vehicle. By doing this, you can eliminate a lot of time with a vendor while you are trying to do your “Needs Analysis”.

Look at vehicle prices for an example. I will be using a new 2007 Toyota 4 Runner Sport. This vehicle would come with a base MSRP of $29975 and after adding destination charges and equipment brings the total MSRP to $32754.00

The dealer invoice for this vehicle is $29,510.00. So by purchasing the vehicle at MSRP, the dealer will make a profit of $3,244 for you, correct? Wrong. The dealer also takes a hold, which on this vehicle could be another $500 to $600 in profit.

I went and searched for dealers in my area and was able to browse a lot of their inventory without having to speak to any salespeople or set foot in the dealerships. I went online and emailed the contact internet admins. The first offer I received on the vehicle I was considering was a purchase price of $29,357.00 plus TT &L (tax, title and license).

Yes the first offer was under bill but don’t forget the dealer was also holding the offer which as I said could be $500 to $600. That was also the only offer that low.

One of the biggest time consuming things at a dealership is choosing the vehicle you want. You have the ability to view most dealership inventory from your home. Now you know they have it and you have the ability to negotiate the price without stepping on the lot.

By doing this at home, you can save hours of time instead of doing it on the weekend when everyone else is doing the same thing.