Car buying Thrifty Style
December 29, 2007 by kellys
Filed under automotive
- Power locks
- Keyless entry
- 8 seats
- Blue exterior (my last 2 cars have been white)
Now maybe I won’t leave my vehicle unlocked because I have my hands full.
But my husband is a brilliant man. He negotiated the price down $1300 with the help of a friend. We wanted to pay less than $8000 for a van under 100k miles. We ended up paying $7700. I was happy. I was also a little uncomfortable since we saw the first salesman that helped us the first time. I opted to go with someone else.
Buying a new car is easy. Ask to see the invoice and then offer $500 more than that. Buying at the end of December is also helpful since they want to reduce their inventory for year end. But here are some facts to use when bargaining for a used car.
- Go to Kelly Blue Book, NADA, and Edmunds to get estimated values for trade in and retail prices. Make sure you account for mileage and condition.
- Take the averages and figure out what they would have probably given for that vehicle in trade.
- Don’t haggle with the sales person. Tell them where you are getting your numbers and show them the print offs.
- Make them give you ball park figures as to what they have invested in the car.
- Then offer them around $500 more than what they have invested. That way they are making a profit and you are still getting a good deal.
You should always check ebay to see what similar vehicles are going for. Ebay helps us get a good idea as to what a vehicle is worth.