Lesson One: Bringing together your Weapons

The first thing you should realize is that cars are a demand-type item. First in line will pay the most when new models come out. Generally, there is a gentleman's agreement among the dealerships. The higher-end marques anyway...ie Lexus/Bmw/Acura/etc. They have pretty much decided to "hold the line" when it comes to negotiating prices. That's why many of you shouldn't be upset with some dealers "not wanting to deal" on the new "current model" that is what the General Manager has dictated. Best plan: wait a little while...few months at least after a new car have been introduced. You will see some places faltering on holding the line...Early on, the most you can expect is getting a few freebies...wheel-locks, cargo net...the cheap stuff. But you will still pay MSRP (or thereabouts). Why? because they can get it from the next guy.

So you've realized the best time to go is after a few months at least. Now, to narrow down to a specific time of the month --->

Many of you have heard that the best time to buy a car is "the end of the month" right? Well, let me spell it out for you. It isn't the end of the month per se...it’s the 30th. Period. The 30th. Not the 29th. Not the 31st. Its the 30th. The selling cycle for ALL dealerships ends the 30th of the month. A salesman's/the finance guy's/the general manager's/the district manager's paycheck is cut based off volume between the end of the month and the 30th. Thus the 30th is a powerful day indeed.... (more on this later).

You must also remember that dealerships are competing with each other for incentives and bonuses from the Mother Manufacturer (a.k.a. Honda, Toyota, Ford etc). That's why some dealerships can afford to do things with prices that others won't touch. They're making money in doing volume (moving metal as i used to call it) not in the money made per vehicle. So, find the volume dealer in your area and go on the 30th. In Acura's in SoCal's case this would be Cerritos Acura. You get the idea.

Part II - Fine tuning your Weapons
Where we last left off, i suggested waiting till the end of the month as a good ploy. Well, here's another one....

Ok, so you've decided to buy NEW. First thing you can do beside going on the 30th of the month is scan the newspapers. I don't mean the sports section. I mean the classifieds. Go through the classifieds that list cars for sale. Now look for the dealers advertising a "set price" for a new car / cars. This can be the big page ads or they can be just a small column------ scan, pan & look for a set advertised price.

Now the thing with these ads is that most cars and most "set-prices" just about suck. But sometimes you can find what dealers call "the ad car". The "ad car" is draw car that dealers will use as a loss leader to draw people into the store(especially during the holidays). They want to push deals and are willing to take a much smaller profit (or even a loss) on this car to get people in the door. This is exactly why I say to go to the volume dealer in your area simply BECAUSE THE SMALLER DEALERS MAKIN' $$$ per car DON'T DO THESE THINGS! Think about it...which dealership can afford to do this?? The one with 500 or 50?

Anyway, you can USE the "ad car ad" by 1) buying the actual car or 2) use it as a counter at another dealership. Some might say "those ad cars don't exist" or "those aren't real cars" but...THEY ARE. I've known ppl who actually got "the ad car", my brother included (new j-vin 01 accord lx auto/
$16990 on december 30th 2000). [and as a side-note, cerritos acura was blowing out integras LS's for $15.9k at the time].

Anyway, this is something you'll want to pull out after discussing the terms of the deal...kinda like fishing for their best price then...BAM...show them the best price you found in the newspaper. This really works with honda/toyota/acura...always lots of advertising deals. You want to find the best price and then go to the place that says "we will beat any price". One caution. You must be sure the model numbers match up for the car your talking about. For example, when i was doing Acuras a "415" meant an Intergra with a stick and cloth and a "446" meant an integra with leather and an automatic (i might be wrong on the exact numbers....its been awhile). These numbers are almost always printed at the bottom of the ad...

In terms of actually bargaining with the dealers, many times people think that the dealership always want the customer to pay cash out-the-door today and not finance. That is not completely correct. The dealership actually wants you (w/ at least fair credit) to finance your car because this is another revenue stream to make money on. Not really a whole lot, but a good enough percent. I LOVED getting people to finance......always made my day. (well, the one's with good credit anyway - "comebacks" SUCK). To be continued....

First Blood Part III
Many times when you are financing a car, the dealer will try & put doubt in your head about your own credit-worthiness. Take for example my brother's experience the first time around looking for a new car:

Though my brother had a credit score of 806, after running my brother's credit, the CAR salesmen tried acting as if my brother had poor credit. Literally, he went on-and-on about how my brother's credit was "not so good" to put the idea of DOUBT in my brother's head. This (of course) was to make it acceptable...to get my brother to say "yes" to a higher APR/financing rate that would be presented later on...

How this applies to you: Many times special incentive APR's offered by Honda/Toyota/Lexus etc. will availible to people with a certain credit score of 700+ or 720+ (premo credit). So the moral of the story is get a copy of your FICO score & check what different incentives are being offered for cars in your bracket (ie. 3.9 APR for 36 months, 4.9 APR for 48, etc). By the dealer's feedback, you will get an idea of how honest they are (like saying you don't qualify for the special APR when in fact you do. -remember, they make money on financing)

With easy internet access and credit scores available, why not go into the dealership as prepared as you absolutely can be??? (though going in shirtless, pumped up & armed with a bow & explosive tipped arrows would probably get you somewhere too!)

Ebay will not let me link the website for credit check... and never mind those *free* credit report  because they don't give you an actual credit score... head to yahoo and search for for "credit report"

Be sure you are getting all three scores in numeric value and you're looking to pay about 20~30$ for this report.