How To Buy A Car The Easy Way

Everyone knows that you need to negotiate to get the best deal on a new car. But most of us don't even like doing research on the dealer invoice and holdback, let alone all the haggling, bait and switch, "I'll have to go ask the sales manager," turning up the temperature, good cop/bad cop, etc. I'm going to share a very simple, non-threatening way to handle the buying process for those who don't like negotiating. It's specifically written for buying a new car, although much of it would apply to used cars as well.

1. Decide exactly what car you want. This means knowing the make, model, trim, color, and all options. This is easy to research online. You don't want to walk into a dealership not knowing what you want, and having a salesperson push the convertible when the coupe might be better for you, or sell you a package you don't understand. If you want to get information from the dealer, fine, but separate your research from the sales process. Visit the dealership months before you're ready to buy, pick up a brochure, and take a test drive. This can actually be quite fun when you know you're not ready to buy yet.
   
   
2. Line up financing ahead of time with a bank or credit union, which will almost certainly offer a better rate than the dealer. Dealers can charge a higher interest rate because of the one-stop convenience and the fact that you'll be eager to get out of there in your new car. It pays to look for the best rate.
   
   
3. Go to CarMax and get a written offer for them to buy your car. You probably won't end up selling to CarMax, but having the offer will help you negotiate with dealers. CarMax mainly sells used cars, but they do have a limited selection of new cars, so get a quote on the car you want if it's available.
   
   
4. Decide where you'd like to buy your car. Don't actually go there, just decide where you'd like to buy. This might be the dealership that's closest to home or work so you can easily drop it off for maintenance. Wherever you decide you'd ideally like to buy your car, you're going to give them the advantage of being the last to compete for your business (someone gets to go last, and it might as well be your favorite).
   
   
5. Go to any other dealership. It doesn't matter where, just not the place you actually want to buy your car. All you want to do is get an offer for others to beat. It will take them a while to inspect your trade-in, so have them get started right away. (I know people say you can get a better deal by not revealing that you have a trade-in until the very end, but this doesn't make sense to me. It wastes time and limits the number of competitive offers you can get. Plus, the dealers aren't stupid. They know you're probably not going to drive away with two cars.) Tell them to make their best offer, and that you'll come back if they win. You want to get three numbers and only three numbers: the price of the new car with absolutely all taxes and fees included, the amount they'll pay for your trade-in, and the difference (the amount you'll actually have to pay).
   
   
6. Repeat the previous step with as many dealers as desired. (You really don't need many, and in fact you can skip this step. The more expensive the car is, the more it pays to shop around.) If someone makes an offer that doesn't beat what you have so far, tell them that someone else has offered a lower purchase price, or more for your trade-in. If they know you have a better offer, they should make a counter offer as long as it remains profitable for them.
   
   
7. Finally, go to your favorite dealer. This is the end—all they have to do is beat your best offer, and you're ready to buy! Since they have the advantage of being last, they're likely to do what they have to do to close the deal. However, they might not be able to beat your best offer, in which case you'll have to decide if buying from this dealer is worth paying a little more. No matter what happens though, you'll end up with a good deal with relatively little hassle and no mind games.