Do Not Pay Too Much For Your Next Car
Most folks find that a car purchase is among their largest financial investments, outside of homes and retirement. If you go into this and make a bad choice, it can haunt you for the coming years. You want to be mindful of some common points of advice before ever walking in the front door of a dealership. Read on to get the best deal you can on your new ride.
Get the top dollar you can for your trade-in. If you have to, take it to five or even six places to get different quotes to find the highest one. You might even get your best deal selling it at another place than you buy from. Check your car over for anything hurting the value and see if fixing it up is an investment that boosts the overall value enough to prove worth it.
Think about getting your financing through a bank instead of the car dealership. The terms, conditions and rate you get might be far better than what the dealership can offer you. It also might mean months and years of dealing with a financial institution that you trust.
Try and have a specific make and model you are looking for. This will give the car dealer a lot less sway over your decision. You can also know what the real market value of the car is and have some idea how far down they can come off the sticker price.
Read up about common car dealer tricks. An older family member might know the traditional tricks and offer to come along to protect you, but also make sure to know the more recent tricks rampant in the industry.
Car dealerships love offering zero percent deals and incentives. Read the fine print on these. The first year or so might seem like bliss, but when the interest rate and penalties kick in, you are going to be probably hating life.
Do whatever you can to avoid balloon payments. To make and stick to a realistic budget, you want your car payments to be the same every month, maybe even going down.
If you can, avoid financing your car altogether. Save up as much money as you can, and then use your combination of cash and a trade in to simply move up to a less older car with fewer miles. If you have ever enjoyed the freedom of transportation without a monthly car payment, then you know just how sweet that is. Why give it up if you can get yourself newer wheels without committing to five or six years of loan installments?
When you are prepared to haggle with the ideas in this article, you are going to find the process of new car ownership far simpler than you ever imagined. There is a reason why car dealers have an overall negative reputation, and you never know if the one you deal with will be straight up or sleazy. Arm yourself with all that you have read here so that you do not fall victim to anything underhanded.
