site loading...

Be Prepared When Shopping for a New Car

Buying a new car can be a rewarding experience or an exasperating one. Many dealers focus on long-term relationships through quality customer service. Some dealers do not. The following tips will prepare you to deal with the latter category:

Check with your library, bank or credit union to reference their automobile pricing guide. This guide will disclose the dealer invoice amount of the car and the available options. The invoice price does not reflect the actual dealer cost, but it does give shoppers a reference point on price.

Contact your bank or credit union about a pre-approved auto loan. By being pre-approved, you can inform the salesperson that you are paying cash. If you do not obtain financing in advance, be careful. The finance office is where the dealership makes a considerable profit.

When trading in a car, make sure it is very clean. Take the vehicle to three different dealerships you do not intend to buy from for bids. This will give you a good idea of your car’s trade-in value.

If you are strictly interested in the lowest price, find similar cars at competing dealerships and have them bid for your business.

If service is the most important factor to you, ask your friends and relatives which dealers have the best reputation for customer satisfaction.

Do not yield to high-pressure sales techniques. If someone is "about to buy the car" you’re looking at, then you can go to another dealer for a similar one (particularly in a market the size of the Houston metropolitan area).

Do not become emotionally involved when shopping. A salesperson counts on building an emotional bond between you and the car.

Do not ever agree to leave your trade-in at the dealership and take the new car home for the weekend to "try it out." You may come a victim of "bailment" or "dehorsing." In a case of bailment, you return on Monday to learn that the finance rate on your new car has been significantly increased. You request your old car back but you’re told it has already been sold. Now your old car is gone and you can’t afford the payments on the new one.

The Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend, or disapprove any product, service or organization.