7 secrets to help you save thousands of dollars when buying a car in the US
'21.10.2018'
ForumDaily Woman
The process of buying a car in America is fundamentally different from what we are used to at home. Here's how: come to the salon, look after the car, like the price or not like it - pay. In the USA, when buying even a brand-new car that has just rolled off the assembly line, you can and should bargain. The price that you see in the showroom or on the website is not at all the price for which you can buy a car. It is quite possible to get a discount of several thousand dollars here, depending on the make of the car and its initial cost.
I must say right away - in the USA I bought only one car, but my husband worked in the automotive business for many years and knows him from A to Z, says ForumDaily editor Yulia Bunyak. Therefore, these are, rather, his secrets, not mine 🙂 I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we will only talk about buying a new car in the showroom and all the advice is based on how this process works in California. Perhaps other states have their own nuances.
1. Find out the price in advance
After you have decided which car you want, check the sites Truecar и Edmunds its cost. TruecarAs a rule, it shows the lowest price for which you can buy the car you are interested in. Online Edmunds you will be able to compare what prices for cars are offered by nearby salons. However, in order to view them, you need to leave your data on the site - name and surname, email and phone number. You watch and compare prices, and car dealerships get your contacts. And then the "hunt" begins for you - which is very beneficial for you, a potential buyer, because thanks to the competition of salons, you can bargain for the best conditions for yourself.
2. Go shopping online
Many car dealerships now have special departments that work with customers who come from the Internet. Sellers it is important to lure you to the salon, so they are ready to offer low prices. Here you can act like this. Send requests for the car you are interested in to all the more or less located salons (determine the distance you are ready to go for a good deal) and select the cheapest offer, even if it is far away and the car is not the color you want. Then voice this price to other salons and find out if they can kill it and sell the car even cheaper. Such a maneuver can be cranked several times.
3. Bargain
Bargaining is also worth it when you have already come to the store. The policy of car dealerships may differ: some are more willing to give discounts, some are less. But everyone drops the price.
When the cost of a car is about 30 thousand dollars and more, it is quite possible to get a discount in 10-15%.
But keep in mind - if this is a new car model and there are not many of them on the market yet, the salon may not lower the price.
4. See invoice
Ask the seller for an invoice for the car. Again - some salons may not give it, but usually they do show it. The real cost of the car can be determined by the invoice.
The price of the car on the invoice will be already less than the MSRP (Manufacturer's suggested retail price - manufacturer's recommended retail price). The seller may say that their final price is indicated on the invoice, but this is not entirely true, since it usually includes the costs of local advertising. Therefore, you may well bring down another 2-4% of the invoice price. If this is a luxury car, then even more.
5. Choose the right time
The best time to buy a car is the last days of the month or year. There is internal competition between the salons in terms of the number of cars sold. And if at the beginning of the month the salons look more at the profit they receive from the sale of cars, then at the end of the month they are chasing the numbers of cars sold. Then you can look forward to a really good deal.
In addition, for large holidays (Independence Day, Labor Day, Presidents Day, etc.), salons offer good discounts, so it makes sense to coincide with the purchase of a public holiday.
6. Decide on additional services
Some salons are ready to sell you the car itself, either with zero profit for themselves, or even go into negative territory. The secret is that they often receive their main income thanks to additional services, such as, for example, an extended warranty (extended warranty), prepaid service (prepaid maintenance) etc. Therefore, even if you fight for every dollar, bargaining for a car, but then buy all these additional services during registration, the salon will remain in good profit.
If you have decided for yourself in advance that you are planning to buy additional services, mention this to the seller - he will be more willing to lower the price of the car. In this case, it is worth calling the nearest salons in advance and find out how much they have for such services. You can also bargain when registering these services.
If you do not plan to buy additional services, do not say anything to the seller, otherwise it may be more difficult to get a bargain price.
7. Consider other financial factors.
Often car manufacturers offer special conditions to buyers with a good credit rating. For example, a refund of a certain amount (alarm) or super beneficial interest on the loan. When we bought the car, Toyota offered either a return of $ 1000 (in fact, this amount is deducted upon purchase), or an interest rate of 0,9%. We chose the latter - with such a rate, we will need to overpay less than $ 25 for a loan of $ 5 thousand in 600 years. As a rule, such a low rate is a more advantageous offer than a refund, but it all depends on your individual situation - for how long you take out a loan and whether you are going to repay it ahead of schedule.
Buyers of all-electric or hybrid vehicles (but only those that can drive a certain distance exclusively on electricity) can expect compensation from the state - up to $ 7,500. For example, we bought Prius Prime Plug-in Hybrid, which after a full charge can go 25 miles exclusively on electricity. This model was more expensive than usual. Prius, but bought it get bоmore compensation. We have already received a $ 500 PG&E check and still have a $ 4,500 tax credit to file our tax return. Compensation amounts for all electric and hybrid vehicles can be viewed here.
