Quote:
Originally Posted by milt
I bet kaisen can fill in the rest.
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I'd be happy to, if you'd like the advice.
First, are you sure you need/want a NEW car? Some cars are best purchased new (i.e. Honda Civic), some are way better overall 'deals' as used cars. Tell us which ones you're looking at (Fit size? Civic size? Accord size? 4 cyl or V6? Loaded or appliance?) an I can tell you what the market is doing.
IF you are looking at a NEW car, the captives (Ford Credit, Toyota Credit, etc) are offering 0% on many models. Sometimes that's the best, other times taking the rebate and going to a local credit union makes more sense. Often it depends on how long you are keeping the car, or how long you will truly take to pay it off.
Either way, it pays to get pre-approved through a local credit union. Shop around. There are great deals on auto finance right now, like mid 3 to mid 4% range for 60 months for new or same-year-used cars.
A common 'trick' of the slimy sales guy is to get you to talk about payments rather than the price of the car. Having a rate locked-in helps you do the math in your head, so you can look at a car that's in your budget but not let the sales guy show you what he wants to sell (high profit). If 0% for 60 months, it's $16.67 per thousand total borrowed (ex, $20K loan = $330/mo), or 72 mos it's $13.89/thou. For a 60 month loan at 4%, it's about $18.50 so that same $20K loan is $370/mo.
However, worrying about getting screwed if one lender is 3.89% but the other is 4.29% is kinda meaningless....it's only $3.50 per month on $20K. I lose more each week in various seat cushions.
New cars are easy as they are commodities. The internet is a great tool for avoiding the 'showfloor circus'. Email the internet manager, develop a personal relationship, and put them to work for you. Being humble and genuine pays off. They're not out to get you, just earn your business. So if you expect honesty, be honest. If you expect no games, don't play them. If you expect friendly, be friendly. You get the point.
Used cars are much harder, but I'll supply the market data on cars you'd like, and maybe suggest the deals out there.
We're car guys (that's why we're Pelicans) so the process should be enjoyable. Have fun!