Need some advice-tips-tricks

[dislal]

On how to get a good deal on a new pick-up truck?

DH and I are looking at ford f-150 pick-ups and I am not sure how to go about dealing with the salesmen, DH is no help he talks about everything but what he should be

When do you ask about trading in a car? I was thinking about getting rid of our 1996 ford explorer! Should we trade it in? Would they give us anything for it, or would they laugh at us?

Do you know anything about an x plan? It is some kind of discount. Do they really give you a discount?

Anything else I should be thinking about or asking about!

When do you tell them how much of a down payment? I've heard you are supposed to wait until the very end

TIA for any help at all!

 

[FlyingDumbo]

Does your company qualify for x plan pricing? It is a discount, pretty good one. You can look those prices up before you go. The only thing that will change the price then will be the features you add.

Have you heard of the 4 square thing that dealers use to sell cars? Google it. The 4 areas they can use to make money off you 1. trade in 2. financing 3 monthly payment 4 overall price

When they ask you how much you want your monthly payment to be, just tell them you want to know the total price of the car. Don't play the monthly payment game.

Go to carmax and have your car appraised, they will buy it even if you don't buy a car from them. This way if you get a crappy trade in offer you have an incentive for them to try to beat it, or you can sell to car max. Also go to autotrader.com to get your trade in value, kelly blue book, and edmunds. Have all your info with you.

Go to Capital One and click on auto finance. Get a blank check car loan. This way you have your own finance and you can tell the dealer they have to beat your Cap One interest rate or you have no reason to use them. They make money on financing, so they will try to beat it.

As far as the overall price of the car, you have to know what other people are paying for this particular car now. You can look that up on Edmunds.

Best of luck to you! Don't give out your email to the dealerships unless you want spam forever. FYI

 

[ZehnJahren]

I agree completely with FlyingDumbo - and have been told you don't even mention you want to trade in until you have a final price on the car. THEN the trade-in talk begins. You don't want them lowering the cost of the trade-in simply because you got a good deal over on them!

 

[Sadie22]

The Xplan discount was not enough to convince me to buy the pickup DH thought he wanted.

Consumer Reports has a service that shows their rock bottom price -- the dealer cost of the vehicle and each option, less any incentives and holdbacks. This is lower than dealer invoice. Rather than negotiating down from the sticker price, I prefer to negotiate up from the actual dealer cost.

 

[Swimalie]

In addition to the above, you can also go through AAA, Costco or USAA for their pricing. We are looking at new cars now and found the lowest price through USAA. My mom used Costco to buy her Prius and she said it was great.

I would get financing ahead of time (if needed) so you don't have to depend on their rate.

Check our Kelly Blue Book and NADA for pricing on your current car and then you know what you can get it privately vs. the dealer. I know on my car (2000 CRV) the private sale is around $6000 vs $4000 through the dealer. It is usually not good to trade your car in. You can get more for the car through a private sale but you have to be willing to sell it on your own which can be a pain in the rear.

Until you have a final pricing on the car and are satisfied, don't talk about what financing you have (again, if needed. Some pay cash for a car) or about your current car's trade in.