A Penny saved is $2,000 earned – Money Saving Tip #23 – Car Buying

 

If you’re in the market for another vehicle, let’s look at what not to do at the dealership:

• come to the dealership without researching the exact model you want and the going prices online at places like AutoTrader, Cars.com, Craigslist, Ebay Motors, and NADA Blue Book to name a few.  The ammo you’ll have from doing this type of legwork beforehand will really help with the negotiations since you know what the market is dictating for the price of the exact car you’re looking to purchase.  I would even take it a step further and print out the 3 or 4 closest comparable vehicles from your deep research with their specs just in case you need to show it to the salesperson.
• trade in your car at the dealership.  If you want to minimize your losses when it comes time to sell your car, try selling it yourself before car buying so you have cash in hand and usually will sell for 20-100% more than what a dealer will offer you.  For example, a friend of mine was going to trade in his 1999 BMW 3 series at a dealer fo $3,300. 00  I suggested that he let me help him sell it on Craigslist instead and we sold it for $5,500.00.  WHOA!  The dealer will offer you wholesale pricing since they have to make a profit when they resell your car on their lot.  Most of the time you will be able to sell you car through a private sale through AutoTrader or Craigslist for significantly more than what a dealer will buy if from you AND the person buying will get a great deal too.  Win-Win!
• buy an extended warranty.  Extended warranties are a good idea for the finance guy at the dealership and the warranty company.  Most new cars come with great manufacturer warranties and the extended warranty is not necessary.  The warranty companies have figured out the statistical probability of you actually being able to use the warranty, added in their overhead and profit to come to the cost of your extended warranty.  If you put that same money into a savings account, you have a better chance of not even needing it and then ultimately keeping your own money.  I bought one of these once for a $6,000.00 car.  The extended warranty for a used Saturn was $1,300.00.  Needless to say, I did some thinking overnight and canceled it to get my money back.  What are the odds that a repair would exceed $1,300.00 on a car with 30,000 miles within the next 2 years?  I was willing to take that chance and it paid off for me.

I don’t think we need to cover pinstriping and undercarriage protection…we all know that line.  When you’re changing cars, it’s a great time to give Ryan Everet Insurance a call at 972-505-3899 and let us cover you with the best insurance policy around.