My husband and I are thinking of buying a new car soon. I’m good at negotiating prices in other things (like furniture and such), but I’ve never bought a car from a dealer before. Any advice on how to negotiate a good price? How much was the price tag is reasonable to ask? What percent discount is considered a good deal?
How do you get a good deal on a new car?
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Offer 20% below sticker.
It depends on the car, whether it’s a hot seller or not. It depends on the dealer. You should do a lot of research on prices before you visit a dealer. One of the best ways to get a good deal, often without any negotiations is to simply find cars that already have heavy incentives (rebates, low interest loans, marketing support) from manufacturers. Right now, during these times of slow sales and a bad economy, nearly every manufacturer has incentives. Some are better than others. Here’s a site that lists the current incentives:
http://best-car-deals.buyerreports.org
Even when a car has manufacturer incentives, you can still ask (negotiate) the dealer to contribute with his own discounts.
First, go with a car that is not in hot demand, there are some hidden gems out there. I was looking at a new Camry for a couple of years now, but when I found out I can get the Sonata 7k cheaper, read about how reliable they are, and drove it to confirm it was comparable, I was immediately sold.
How much room you have to work with really depends on all those factors mentioned, as well as what class of car you are looking for. These days they will go lower than they used to and lots of brands are offering nice incentives.
The best thing you can do is bring somebody who has bought from a dealer and knows how to work things. You kind of need to play their little game, making offers, being declined, “I’ll have to ask my manager”… but in the end your greatest strength is the ability to walk away. The bigger rush you are in, the less likely you will end up with a good deal.
Want the best deal? Make a low-ball offer, but somewhat realistic (for the most part 20% isn’t a bad suggestion) and see what happens. If it doesn’t fly, leave. If they don’t call you back within two or three days, it’s confirmed that it really was too low, and if you still want that car, try another dealer, or try another offer.
You have some good answers already but what I did was told them I went to another dealership and found the car cheaper, next thing you know i had 0% financing, 1,500 extra in rebates and my monthly payment went down by over 150 over their asking price. Just another thing you can use if all else fails.
Another important thing that anyone who wants to know how to get a good deal on a car must know is that timing is very important when it comes to buying cars. The trick is to catch dealers during times when they are very eager to make a sale.
These times are during weekdays and towards the end of the month. Why weekdays? Because of the simple reason that very few people shop during weekdays. Why the end of the month?
Because that is usually the time when these dealers are submitting sales reports and are, therefore, eager to meet their monthly quota. Catch dealers during these times and you will surely have a sweet deal on a car.