CAR BUYING ADVICE

[mmarsden]

i just want to throw this out there.. i work for a large dealership group in nh and sell toyota honda nissan kia dodge jeep ford lincoln chrysler and used.. if anyone needs any advice on a car deal before they make a purchase please let me know i would be glad to help. this is not a sales pitch or anything jsut looking to give advice as many of you give me advice on things im not familiar with... i can at least save you guys alot of headaches and $$$$$$

[imkindafkedup]

want to PM me or post the name of the auto group so I can browse the inventory.

[BSR6]

I am not quite buying yet but probably will be in the next few months for my fiancee. Since you are offering, let me explain my approach. Any constructive feedback would be appreciated. I never have a trade in cause I drive my cars into the ground to the point where they are worth nothing (my current car is a 2001 Civic with 200K on it and it's been so good to me I have no intentions of gettin grid of it anytime soon), and I always buy used.

My tactic has always been to find the trade in value on what I am looking for, then add about $1000 to it. I have been told I should go down and only adding $500 but I am not looking to break anyone's balls. The next step is going to my bank and finding out what I can get for an interest rate. Once I know what I want to spend and my interest rate, I now know roughly where my monthly payment should be.

Now that I have my numbers, next I go around looking for the right car and the dealing starts. Of course the conversation always shifts to "Well...how much do you want to spend a month?". I typically avoid that, stick to the bottom line, and watch my interest rate. Either way I know what I should be paying a month so I am prepared regardless of where the conversation goes should I lose control.

The number one rule for me has always been to stick to my numbers and walk if I don't get them. As long as you have done your homework right and your numbers are accurate you should be able to score a car for at least only $1000 over trade in with an interest rate with in reasonable range of what your bank will give you. I don't expect the same rate, although I push for it.

I have bought many cars between myself and my girlfriends and done well with this tactic. I have never walked away from a deal paying more than what I had figured when I did my homework prior to shopping. Given the length of time the negotiations took, along with all the tricks the salesman and finance managers have tried to pull before eventually giving me my numbers, I assume I got the right idea.

With your experience does this sound like good practice to you? Should I go lower? I suppose I could drop to $500 above trade in but I was told in the past that this is a breaking point and a deal that might only happen if the car has been sitting too long etc.

***Another tip I learned is look at the oil change sticker on the window. Supposedly the first thing most dealers do on trade ins is change the oil so by looking at the sticker you know how long they have had the car.

[mmarsden]

berlincity autogroup-- www.berlincity.com

[mmarsden]

great idea to look at oil sticker. generally dealers will mark down their used vehicles as they sit longer(because the value drops) what you do works well. in your case a dealer may give youactual cash value of $1000-1500 on your car (they may show you more but thas just coming off the price of the car your looking at) always ask the amount they would write a check for-- in the case of a honda i would advertise it for quick sale privately for 1000 more than you are offered- that way it sell sreally quick and u make $1000 there.. buying a car doesnt have to be too brain damage in fact most of the negotiating can be done on the phone or internet-- always ask for a repair order showing what work has been done to the vehicle-- very important as to what future repairs you may need to do. - but in a nutshell you sound like a verysmart shopper and if you ever find a vehicle you are interested in i would be glad to tell you what i think its worth

[BSR6]

Thanks for the feedback.

I have heard great things about Berlin City. I know several people who have done business with you guys and have nothing but great things to say. It's gonna be a while but when the time comes I will throw a post up on NESR to see if your still kicking around.

[mmarsden]

awesome -thanks for the feedback--- if you go to loudon and see me say hello-- yellow ducati supersport- not many yellow ones there

[Awesome]

Got any mini coopers?

[mmarsden]

no minis but we usually get them from time to time--we sell em cheap we when have them

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" : Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Got any mini coopers?

You gonna put it in the back of your magnum?