Is is a good time to buy a car?
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For me, purchasing a vehicle is the most expensive thing I'll buy except for a house. So when I purchase a vehicle, I'm very careful in order to try to get a good deal.
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I take a slightly opposite approach. I have a 2016 Honda Accord...very happy with it. But with any purchase where I’m going to use the item many times (car, computer, tv, etc) I’m not too worried about getting a good deal. I’m much more focused on the comfort/utility/quality aspect.
When I bought the car, I negotiated a little but honestly didn’t really care if I could maximize how good of a deal it was! Took the stress out of the process, too. I’m not saying this approach is for everyone, but it works for me.
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@Kincaid said in Is is a good time to buy a car?:
We bought! We decided to quit throwing money into our 2001 Accord with 215k miles. Looked at Honda, Hyundai, and VW. Based on 180 days with no payments (one last daughter at university thru next March) and 0% financing we bought a left over 2019 VW Jetta SE with 147 miles.
I wanted the medium metallic blue or gray metallic but when we got there only the black one was left. However, it was an SE not an S so had more stuff, came with $1400+ of upgraded wheels/tires that were not even on the invoice, and we got it for $3500 under invoice (about $870 less than Edmunds.com indicated was the price to aim for).
Before we bought our last car, I was giving the Jettas a serious look. The SE is a nice sweet spot. It gets good reviews.
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I have normally decided what I was willing to pay for given vehicle based on research - a fair deal for me and for the dealer but low. Then I find the car and offer to write a check for this amount all in - no addition fees, taxes, license , anything. If yes, we have a deal. If anything else we walk. This last car the guy apparently sized me up right and offered me a very sweet deal. So far so good.
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Mik, I do something similar but here there are enough dealers of each brand that you can send the same email to multiple.
I tell them upfront that I will go straight with the best deal, and that I won't shop the best deal to others to match or beat. That encourages them to take the first bid seriously.
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I had the DPF (diesel particulate filter) changed on my Audi last week. Costs around $7k but paid for by Audi as part of their dieselgate penalty. Talking to the service manager, he told me they sold two cars the previous week. Not sure how they can stay in business unless something positive happens.
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We almost walked because I had been looking locally at 2020 Jettas advertised at $3250 or so under invoice but this place a 45 minute drive away was $5k under for the 2019.
We agreed and then when the paperwork was written up it was only $3k off. I was told that the missing $2k was in lieu of the 0% financing. My bad for not making sure before we left the house. I excused myself and got on the phone to the local dealer, learned it was a legit thing and was told they would get us $3500 off of a 2020.
Went back in and told the salesman we were going to think it over because now that we understood how the incentives worked we might want to go for a different car. He pointed out that the 2019 Jettas had a 6-year 72,000 mile warranty and with 2020 they reduced it to 4 years and 50,000 miles. I said we'd buy it if we could get $3500 below invoice with the 0% fianancing and they agreed. They also agreed to do a dentless paint repair on a small ding on the passenger door.
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@jon-nyc said in Is is a good time to buy a car?:
Mik, I do something similar but here there are enough dealers of each brand that you can send the same email to multiple.
I tell them upfront that I will go straight with the best deal, and that I won't shop the best deal to others to match or beat. That encourages them to take the first bid seriously.
That is what I find too. I am not going to fool around with negotiation crap. There's too much good information available today. I won't work for it, but I won't make them work for it either. You still have to give them a little room...but go at the end of the month.
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Sounds cool, Kincaid.
