New Car
There's nothing more satisfying than buying a new car-and perhaps nothing more stressful either. With the average cost of a new car approaching 20,000, and dealership salespeople trained to get you to pay as high a price as possible, it's important that you do your homework before walking into a dealership so as to ensure that you don't pay full-price when buying a new car in San Diego.
"You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need."
Mick Jagger would have made a great consumer advocate. One of the first things you should do before you begin shopping for your new car is to make a list of your needs in prioritized order. Will this new car be used for commuting or more of a luxury item? How many people will you be transporting? Is internal comfort or gas mileage the most important thing? By knowing what's most important to you, you'll be able to resist the temptation of `fancy extras' that always end up costing much more.
Sites such as Edmunds.com, Autos.com, and Kelley Blue Book can give you comprehensive information on all makes and models of vehicles and the extras they offer. And be flexible. It's a good idea to have two different vehicles at the top of your wish list-that way you have much more flexibility with price when it comes time to pull out your checkbook.
- Find out How Much You Can Spend
This might be the most important thing you can do when buying a new car in San Diego. Many people walk into a dealership, without financing, and find the dealership dictating the terms of the car loan. Terms that often change or end up with payments much too high for the customer to afford.
The way to combat this is to walk in already with a pre-approved loan. You can either go through a financial institution or a credit union (credit unions are great for car loans and should definitely be your first choice) or you can go with online financing options like Capital One Auto Finance, E-Loan, and Lending Tree. By going this route not only will you know exactly what car you can afford, but it also forces the dealership to beat the rates of your pre-approved new car loan--instead of trying to sell you on their own high rate terms.
Also it's a good idea to have a copy of your credit report so that you have more leverage in negotiations with the dealerships. If you haven't done so already you can pick up a copy of yours from one of the major reporting agencies like Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion.
- Find Out How Much You Should Spend
Just because you can afford 25 grand for a brand new Honda doesn't mean you have to. An important part of the new car purchase process is finding out just how much the dealer paid for the car. This is called the dealer invoice price and is the backbone of the entire automobile industry. It gives salespeople a benchmark for how high or low they can go with negotiations. But how do you find out this valuable information?
Two great sites are FightingChance.com and the Consumer Reports New Car Service. Both of these can give you detailed info on dealer invoice prices as well as great negotiation advice and current rebate information. Also by knowing this amount you can negotiate up from `your' price instead of negotiation down from `their' price. Using these sites alone can often save you thousands of dollars in your new car purchase.
- Buy Your Car From Home
Can it be done? Can you actually make your San Diego new car purchase from the comfort of your own home? Actually, you can.
One of the great advantages of the internet is the multitude of companies that offer not only financing but also vehicle selection. And oftentimes they know more about the special rebates automobile manufactures are planning to offer than the actual dealerships.
There are a ton of them but some of the best are CarsDirect, Car.com, AutoWeb, Invoice Dealers, and AutoBytel. Just go down the list, put in the vehicle and specs you want, and get competitive quotes. And even if you don't buy your new vehicle from these online sources you can walk into the dealership with a strong amount of leverage.
- Prepare for Your Battle.
So you've got your financing options set up and you've got price quotes from at least 5 different online new car dealers. Now it's time to hit the pavement (here's a list of San Diego Neighborhoods) for those San Diego car dealerships. But wait, does it matter when you go to a dealership?
According to consumer experts the best times to go shopping for that new car is at the end of the year, at the end of the month, and at the end of closing time or some combination of the three. This is because salespeople have quotas to meet and are more willing to come down in price the closer it is to the end of a purchasing period.
By being patient and prepared, it can take up to 2 months to buy a new car properly; you can find the ultimate new car of your dreams-without paying new car prices.