New Car and payments question

[one...two...tree 2,762]

My sister did exactly this. She had the loan offer from her credit union in hand when she went in, and she held her ground. When the salesman left "to talk to his manager," she could see him through a crack in the cubicle as he chilled out -- alone -- with a cup of coffee for a few minutes. When he returned and told her what his manager had said, she called him out for lying. Then she did meet the manager. She ended up with what she wanted.

Next time I go car shopping, I'm taking all of the above, plus my sis!

That's funny...and kind of sad because I think most people have figured out the sales schtick.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

pedroh, find out what apr you can get from other sources before going to the car lot. you'll have a good idea that way of what should be offered if you went with financing from them. if they go high (which i'd bet they would) you can counter with "i have 5.5% from so and so." and if they don't match, pizz on them.

the car nessa just got, the apr is 4.92% so shoot for 5% or under, and yes interest rates are dropping now. not sure what honda is offering nowadays but if you can nail a 0% for 4 years or less get it.

never discuss monthly payments with them. never discuss trade in either until you've nailed down the final price first. and as mentioned before, try other dealerships. nessa's car was obtained from a dealer 2 hours away because i got tired of the games the dealership here was playing. just because they are local does not mean they have a monopoly on your buying.

[eric&gen 0]

So many cars to choose from its confusing lol they change the models every other year now not how you had to wait 5 to 10 years for a new model to come out lol.

[Jamie76 0]

My APR is 7% through Toyota. That was actually pretty good a few months ago before the interest rates started to drop. I also got a 72 month loan. Now that I am set in my new job though, I'm going to be making double payments.

[~krakatoa~ 27]

I shopped around: went to different car dealers, credit unions, and banks (and also conferred with insurance agents-added safety features brought my premium down but without costing me extra $$, the car I like has to have them). They all based the financing and loan payments on my credit score and my gross pay. The lowest APR turned out to be the car dealer. After so many runarounds and finalizing what I want and can spend, they gave me an internet discount of $3750. I asked them to compute for me my monthly payments (to see if I can still ask for a lower rate and to know if I can put down a higher downpayment & lower the total cost of the car), and they computed the total. I asked another person to check out the same car, offer a lower DP, and see how these changes affect the MSRP. As for the extra costs/fees such as maintenance, I pre-calculated my mileage to and from work and added a few extra miles (since the main purpose of buying the car is to commute to work). So when the dealer tried to offer me this car care and maintenance deals, I know what type of car care I'll be needing. I can indulge on those but I have to let them know I know what I need and can't go beyond that need.

It is a tedious process for me, the immigrant, but as long as you do your homework diligently, you'll be driving the car of your dreams with no regrets!

Edited November 24, 2007 by krakatoa

[Donna A 4]

my husband just baught a new bmw and let me tell u they didnt budge on anything. they wanted sticker price for the car and not a penny less. he even said he was going to bring one of his friends the next day to try and get him to buy one and would they give him something for his referal and they gave him a "we will see".

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

What was the price of the car? I skimmed the thread but didn't see it.

[eric&gen 0]

I know a co worker is paying $500 a month on a pre owned BMW 2004 lol better them than me i don't care how nice the car is that kind of payment will take one of my paychecks every month lol.