Most people are all too familiar with the experience of visiting a new or used car dealership and shopping around for a car. Many dealerships apply excessive pressure on shoppers to make a decision "today", or make it difficult to discover the "bottom line" price on a car.
As a consumer, you wonder, "how much haggling to I have to do before I really get the best deal possible?" If you don't stick to your guns and negotiate like Donald Trump, you wonder how much you're overpaying!
4 Steps
to Saving Money on a New or Used Car
So what can you do to get the best deals: Know before you go! Put the power of the Internet to work for you so that you are prepared with five valuable pieces of information BEFORE YOU GO to a dealership:
1. Shop for the make, model, and options for the car you want to buy. CreditLearningCenter.com is proud to connect you to www.carsdirect.com and www.autos.com. These companies have virtually perfected the process of using the latest information and online technology to make it easy for you to shop for the exact make, model, and options for the car you want to buy. In fact, www.carsdirect.com has been rated the #1 car-buying site or Top Internet Site by respected publications such as Forbes, Time, PC Magazine, Yahoo, Internet Life, and more!
2. Get the manufacturer's suggested price and the dealer's invoice price on your car. After you've researched online and determined the car you want to buy, then go to
www.carsdirect.com or www.autos.com to get the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), and more importantly, the dealer's invoice price. Notice that the invoice price is the dealer's bottom line cost.
The MSRP, or Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, is the price set by the manufacturer. The MSRP price shown for this vehicle includes destination charges and minimum required equipment. MSRP, destination charges and minimum required equipment appear as separate prices on the manufacturer's actual window sticker. A dealer, however, can choose to sell a vehicle above or below its listed MSRP.
Invoice price, or dealer invoice, is the price an auto manufacturer charges its franchise dealers for a new vehicle. The invoice price shown for this vehicle includes destination charges and minimum required equipment.
3) Save time and money by getting competing price quotes online. Once you know the car you want to buy, the manufacturer's suggested price, and the dealer's actual cost, you can use www.carsdirect.com or www.autos.com to get competing quotes from different dealers in your area on the exact same car (same make, model, and options).
Knowing the dealer's cost, and getting competitive online bids is the key to getting the best deal! It's also nice to save money by buying direct!
4) The next step, if you plan to finance your car, is to get your credit score and credit report so you know as much, or more, than the dealership about your credit BEFORE you begin to discuss interest rates and finance terms. You can get both your credit score and credit report for FREE when you sign up for a FREE Trial Membership in a Credit Monitoring Service.
Once you have your absolute best price quote from a dealer in your area, and know your credit information, you can enter a dealership forearmed with everything you need to put your best financing package together - if you're not paying cash that is!
It's even likely that you will avoid paying normal commissions, because you most likely will be connected to a dealership's fleet manager or Internet Sales Manager.
Knowing your credit score is an important part of the process because dealerships will typically offer you financing through their financing companies (Ford Credit, Toyota Credit, GMAC, etc.) Often you may be informed that your credit is not good enough to qualify you for the lowest available interest rate. That's why it is so important for you to be forearmed with all of your credit information by getting your credit score and credit report. Before agreeing to financing terms, ask for all available options from the dealership. Get specifics from the financing manager. Also, keep in mind that your best financing package may come from online auto financing companies like eloan.com or Capital One Auto Finance.
Learn the most important things you can do to help improve your credit standing. From paying your bills on time to paying down your level of debt, these are tried and true practices that can pay big dividends.
Learn how the information in your credit report is "weighted" to help determine your credit score. By looking at your credit the way a lender does, you can take steps to improve the "credit snapshot" you present to lenders.
Your credit report changes on an on-going basis. To make sure everything is accurate and to get the credit you deserve, it is recommended that you monitor key changes to your credit report. Monitoring your credit can also be your "first line of defense" against identity theft.
