car buying pointers

[houseelf]

Give me your best car buying pointers. I have only done this once and I can't say that I gleaned a lot of insight on the process.

I'm in the market for a minivan, probably a Town and Country or a Sienna. I was looking at used vans with low mileage and unless I'm totally crazy, I don't see that the pricing is that far from brand new pricing. My minimum criteria is folding down chairs, both passenger doors must slide open, and it must seat at least 7. I'd like a DVD player but it isn't a deal breaker. I don't want anything too fancy because I'm sure there will be some sort of bodily fluid or food product spilled before we leave the parking lot.

I hate car shopping. I feel like I'm getting screwed no matter what.

Help a girl out.

[v-girl]

We did Carmax and got a 2011 T&C for have the price of a new one. Look for the fleet cars -- former rentals so they have low mileage and were well maintained.

[Momo]

Just make sure there are AC/heat vents all the way in the back! Our Sienna blows air/heat on every passenger seat; the Mercedes(R350) left out this critical detail! I guess some dumb-ass engineer @ MB didn't think about 3rd row passenger comfort!

[diggitydot]

Research on Edmunds.com. They will tell you loads of info, including dealer marketing incentives that aren't usually published to consumers. You can negotiate for not only purchasing incentives that are advertised to buyers, but also those incentices given to dealers from manufacturers.

[SuzySunshine]

Are you a Costco member? Look into their buying program if you are, I don't know the details but its supposed to get a good price without all of the haggling.

[bokelley]

If you are going to trade, negotiate ur new car first before you even tell them your trading. After you get the price you want on the new purchase start the negotiation for the trade. Has worked very well for us.

[Michele]

We (R) used Edmunds to research what a "good" price would be. Then he emailed the dealerships nearby. He only dealt with the ones that would negotiate online via email. He wrote "this is what I want, I see you have the van, what's your best price?" Then he responded to the top three and clarified the details/got the best price/package. It was obvious all three dealers were selling us the same van (which is typical - the local dealers have access to all the new cars in the area). When he went to pick up the van, the other dealer had added stuff to the van that wasn't in the agreement and they tried to add that to the price. R was pissed, I dropped him off at the dealer while I was in labor and I drove back home. So he had no ride except for the new van. The dealer ended up waiving all the extras. And I got my Swagger Wagon the day before Phedre was born.

I love my 2011 Sienna SE.

[Thirteen]

Are you a Costco member? Look into their buying program if you are, I don't know the details but its supposed to get a good price without all of the haggling.

We did this.
No haggle required: lower than both MSRP and dealer price. By a couple hundred.
At first, they didn't want to give it to DH on his brand new 2012, but they relented.



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