Things to know when buying a car?

[Rush]

I've been driving around my Mitsubishi Diamante for the past several years but will finally be purchasing my first car. I am pretty much between a Ford F-150 or a Chevrolet Silverado at this point. I need the storage and generally want a "bigger" car and, after driving my brother's Tahoe, felt this was the way I'm going.

While I don't need advice on car, truck, financing, etc. I have never went through the car buying process. Being that this is my first true car, I am buying new. Any information, advice, tips, you guys can offer up would be appreciated

 

[1COBearsfan]

Don't buy the first 2 years of a new model, buy after that so some of the problems are ironed out

Don't buy new, buy a few model years old so you don't take a huge hit on depreciation. Unless you are dead set on driving a car with 15 miles on it

Buy an extended warranty and buy the best, most comprehensive one offered. Also, get an outside opinion about the warranty to make sure it definitely covers everything

 

[Globetrotter]

If you know what you want find a message board dedicated to that vehicle. A LOT of the time there will be a thread about what people have paid for the vehicle.

I bought a new car a few months ago and I got it for the low end of what people were paying. You may have to go to several dealers, but you'll eventually get a fair price.

Me personally, I think those extended warranties are BS.


Fords are pieces of shit..stay away.

 

[1COBearsfan]

Me personally, I think those extended warranties are BS.

Most of them are a humongous waste of money but there are some that are absolutely worth every penny. The trick is being able to figure out which ones are worth it.

Matt is also right about the owners forums. Before you pull the trigger on a vehicle, snoop around a bunch or join one and ask as many questions as you need.

 

[Run the ball]

I'm a V8 driver and feel compelled to tell you about gas prices and usage. You'll see a shocking difference in your wallet.

Also, if look around for a leftover model rather than brand new, it's a good way to save $$$'s and not pay the crazy prices they initially ask for.

 

[nvanprooyen]

I've been driving around my Mitsubishi Diamante for the past several years but will finally be purchasing my first car. I am pretty much between a Ford F-150 or a Chevrolet Silverado at this point. I need the storage and generally want a "bigger" car and, after driving my brother's Tahoe, felt this was the way I'm going.

While I don't need advice on car, truck, financing, etc. I have never went through the car buying process. Being that this is my first true car, I am buying new. Any information, advice, tips, you guys can offer up would be appreciated

I've had 3 Diamante LS' over the years. Honestly fucking love that car. Wish they still made them.

 

[FirstTimer]

Most of them are a humongous waste of money but there are some that are absolutely worth every penny. The trick is being able to figure out which ones are worth it.

Matt is also right about the owners forums. Before you pull the trigger on a vehicle, snoop around a bunch or join one and ask as many questions as you need.

Any that cover transmission issues are.

 

[bearmick]

Don't buy the first 2 years of a new model, buy after that so some of the problems are ironed out

Don't buy new, buy a few model years old so you don't take a huge hit on depreciation. Unless you are dead set on driving a car with 15 miles on it

Definitely agree with this. Vehicles depreciate the minute you drive it off the lot. Couple of years old and around 30k on the clock is what I would look for. Far better value.

Any that cover transmission issues are.

Especially if you're buying American.

 

[brett05]

Rush,

Make internet quiries. They give you the lowest no hassle price right off the bat. Then go to the dealership and either see the internet guy or a sales guy with that price in hand.

Extended warranty can be thousands of dollars. I'm leary on them as well as guys like warrantydirect

If the vehicle is worth it's salt you mind as well buy new. The cars with 30K and a couple of years old only save you about two grand. I'd rather have the 30,000 miles to use myself for the extra $2k

Check out kbb and edmunds and true price to get a feel on pricing.

Buy a year old but brand new car and save like $1500.

Skip undercoating and get that done independently. Saves you another $2k

 

[Sunbiz1]

Buy a Tundra, they downshift at 90 to pass and rarely have mechanical issues.

 

[Ares]

Bring my dad with you to the dealership so he can yell the price down 6,000$.... thats what I did lol, was great.... he would yell, car salesman would give a bit.... dad would look at me, I would give him a shake of my head like a pitcher in baseball who wants a different pitch and he would keep yelling at the guy to get the price to go down till I nodded like "Dats right..... I WANT DA HEATER SON".

Only other thing I will say is watch out for the internet pricing.... it says a number but you go in and they are like "Ohhh well that price is if you are a Human-Transgenderd-Animal_Lover-Navy_Seal-Airline_Pilot-Amputee who goes to both a certain church and got a colonoscopy on Tuesday.... oh but you only qualify for the 25$ human discount so the price is actually like 10k more.... sry"

 

[ShiftyDevil]

I've been driving around my Mitsubishi Diamante for the past several years but will finally be purchasing my first car. I am pretty much between a Ford F-150 or a Chevrolet Silverado at this point. I need the storage and generally want a "bigger" car and, after driving my brother's Tahoe, felt this was the way I'm going.

While I don't need advice on car, truck, financing, etc. I have never went through the car buying process. Being that this is my first true car, I am buying new. Any information, advice, tips, you guys can offer up would be appreciated

I bought a new car last year, best decision I made was going to my bank before I ever step foot on to a car lot. If you have a good bank they'll probably beat the interest rates the in house financing the dealership will do. Also, at least around here, it's relatively common for local banks to do financing specials. When I bought my car my bank was doing a week long new car buying thing where they were doing extra low interest rates. So definitely talk to your bank before heading down to the dealership.

My bank was extra awesome and basically did all the financial crap for me between them and the dealer. I walked in knowing exactly what the bank would finance, and at what rate which was a huge weight off.

The other thing I did was checked the websites of the dealers in my area, and found the specific cars I was interested in, wrote down the VINs, listed prices and the discounts/rebates that were listed on their site. The more you know going in, the more sure you are of what specific vehicle you want, or what specific options you want the better off you'll be.

I ended up finding a car I wanted listed on a dealer's site for a huge discount. when I got to the dealer the sales guy tried a bunch of times to get me to look at different vehicles, or changing options, but I ended up with that car, which had every option I wanted but one, and got it for about 8k less than that model was being sold at elsewhere.

 

[Crystallas]

Buy in winter. Car sales slump in January, and you can buy nearly anything for it's cheapest price. Especially model year closeouts. The other factor about winter, is if you like driving the car in the cold, you'll love it in the summer.

I DIY, so extended warranties are pure junk.

And #1 thing I tell people, don't be some brand fanboy. Learn your engine, your transmission, your suspension. Not from a mechanical perspective, but from consumer data on reliability. If you want a truck, and don't know which engine, don't go by performance specs, but reliability. That is a huge mistake most people make, is going by brand and not engine/transmission data.

 

[brett05]

Many dealers in Chicago are offering 0% for 36-84 months

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk

 

[brett05]

Buy in January.

I heard dec 31

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk

 

[Crystallas]

I heard dec 31

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk

Doesn't matter, unless a new tax law goes into effect, or you want to write off some part of the purchase. Things that deal with taxes. I once bought a car on January 2nd that was down $1,100 from the December 30th price. Someone ran into that 6 month old car at 50mph while I was parked. The car was totaled. Because prices go up in the summer, the value of the car went up in value to cover the 'gap', easily. Odd money maker. 2005 Pontiac GTO. That's okay, I didn't really like that car.

 

[Ares]

Many dealers in Chicago are offering 0% for 36-84 months

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk

I have a question about that... do the dealers actually finance it at 0%.... like they literally extend the loan? Or do they just offer the deal on the loan through one of their lenders?

Cause when I bought my Durango, they were advertising 0% for 72 months which I knew I wouldn't qualify for cause I was only a year out of school and my credit was not great yet, and then the financing people did my loan through Chase. So I was wondering, do they ever actually finance you or do they always just offer those 0% interest financing deals though a specific lender or set of lenders who have their own credit requirements for such a deal?

 

[Crystallas]

It's still balloon economics. Not balloon financing, that's very different.

They'll offer the promotion because the value of car sitting on a holding lot is an incurred cost. So the value of the car depreciates, and the automaker will offer the 0% promotion to move the cars faster than they can depreciate. That is, if the promotion is successful.

So yes, they are really 0% in many cases. But sometimes competitors will offer their own word-play on 0% to match, and theirs wont be the same 0% (ie: 0% APR, but x% cumulative. Only in the fine print).

 

[brett05]

Doesn't matter, unless a new tax law goes into effect, or you want to write off some part of the purchase. Things that deal with taxes. I once bought a car on January 2nd that was down $1,100 from the December 30th price. Someone ran into that 6 month old car at 50mph while I was parked. The car was totaled. Because prices go up in the summer, the value of the car went up in value to cover the 'gap', easily. Odd money maker. 2005 Pontiac GTO. That's okay, I didn't really like that car.

I was told that the tax burden shifts to the buyer once the car is off the lot instead of the dealer. :shrug:

Plus dealers give better deals because of year end incentives since cars sold in Jan go to the next fiscal year.

 

[brett05]

I have a question about that... do the dealers actually finance it at 0%.... like they literally extend the loan? Or do they just offer the deal on the loan through one of their lenders?

Cause when I bought my Durango, they were advertising 0% for 72 months which I knew I wouldn't qualify for cause I was only a year out of school and my credit was not great yet, and then the financing people did my loan through Chase. So I was wondering, do they ever actually finance you or do they always just offer those 0% interest financing deals though a specific lender or set of lenders who have their own credit requirements for such a deal?

The times we've gotten it which is our last two cars we've gotten the financing from the maker of the vehicle.