Ran across this article recently and felt compelled to reply - pasting entire comment string here because I have no doubt that he will be removing my comments after my latest reply.
My question for you guys is - am I crazy for engaging with this guy? Do so called "financial advisors" like this drive you crazy like me???
8 Tips for Buying Your Next Car for Less
New car fever can make you do crazy things. These eight tips can inoculate you against paying too much for your next vehicle.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/10-tips-buying-your-next-car-for-less/
Amy Livingston • a month ago
"However, if you’re planning to get a car that’s only 1 year old, a new car may be cheaper in some cases after dealer and manufacturer incentives are factored in."
Mmmm, well, not *just* if you're getting a car that's only 1 year old. When we shopped for our Fit, the only one we could find secondhand was 2 years old, and it was only $2,000 less than the new one. Given that we expect to keep the car 15 years, the cost per year of useful life was the same, plus the new one had more features, including some pretty useful safety features. Don't just assume used is cheaper; check prices for both.
Edward Shaffer • 2 days ago
There is a legitimate reason for a salesperson to ask what you are hoping to pay monthly...probably more than one. Most people are not going to pay cash for the car, so the monthly payment is completely relevant. Many people have no idea what their payments will be based on a certain purchase price which means that you could spend much valuable time negotiating a deal on a particular vehicle only to find out that it is not in your budget.
Many factors influence each purchase and rarely are any two the same - find a reputable dealer with well trained consultants to assist you through the process...price is only one component of a very complicated transaction...don't get fixated on that element and cost yourself an opportunity at a good deal.
Also, I totally agree with Ms. Livingston - purchasing a recent model pre-owned car is rarely the smartest decision...especially if you plan to keep the vehicle for any length of time - your savings will be minimal versus buying new, and the new car financing rates should mitigate any significant difference in payment.
Please feel free to contact me via twitter @eddyshaf or by email - [email protected]
Stacy Johnson Edward Shaffer • 2 days ago
No offense, Edward, but you're talking like a car salesperson, which I assume is what you are.
Of course the monthly payment is relevant, but it's based on the price, which is by far the most important component of this or any transaction. Steering shoppers to payments over price has been a sales technique used by car "consultants" since the 1950s. And its use is far more often used to favor of the dealer, not the buyer.
It is also not generally true that the savings of used vs new is "minimal". With rare exceptions, a two year old car is 20 to 30 percent less than new. That's not minimal.
One last thing: I'll leave your comment up, but as it is clearly stated above, this website is not a place to advertise yourself or your services. If you put your email in comment again, the comment will be deleted.
My question for you guys is - am I crazy for engaging with this guy? Do so called "financial advisors" like this drive you crazy like me???
8 Tips for Buying Your Next Car for Less
New car fever can make you do crazy things. These eight tips can inoculate you against paying too much for your next vehicle.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/10-tips-buying-your-next-car-for-less/
Jason • a month ago
My advise is to negotiate every part of the sale separately. First the price of the car you are buying, total out the door, not monthly payments. Then negotiate the trade if you have one. Finally talk about financing. Dealers trying roll the whole deal together because it makes it easier to hide things, especially if all you are talking about is the monthly payment.
Lorilu Jason • a month ago
Exactly. I recall shopping for a car years ago, and the salesman kept asking me how much I'd like to pay per month. I kept telling him what I wanted to know was how much was he asking for the car? After going around in circles like this for a while, I got up and left, and bought a car elsewhere, where the dealer was willing to commit to a price, and I could bargain with him.
Jason Lorilu • a month ago
I won't waste my time with a dealer that plays games either. Two car purchases ago, I was looking at a 2 years old 2005 Toyota Prius at an independent dealer. This dealer only buys 2-3 year old cars coming off lease and does no-haggle pricing. The price on the window is the price. There was a Toyota dealership less than 2 miles up the road that had the exact same car on their used car lot. Same year, color, package, etc. The only difference was about a 5K mile difference in mileage. As soon as the salesman walked up I told him directly, we are looking at this exact car down the street and they will sell it for $$$. How much is your dealership's out the door price for this car." He said he would have to go ask his manager and I stopped him and said. "You get one chance. We aren't going to play the game where you pretend to go back and forth with the manager and fight to get us a good price for hours." The salesman said he understood and came back with with a price $4K more than the other dealership. I said, "no thanks, we will buy the other car" and turned to go. The salesman followed us to our car say "come inside, sit down, I'm sure we can work it out, that's not the real price" etc, etc. As I got in our car I reminded him I said no games, give me your best price. We went down the road to the original dealer and drove off the lot with our car 20 minutes later. Still driving it today.
Amy Livingston • a month ago
"However, if you’re planning to get a car that’s only 1 year old, a new car may be cheaper in some cases after dealer and manufacturer incentives are factored in."
Mmmm, well, not *just* if you're getting a car that's only 1 year old. When we shopped for our Fit, the only one we could find secondhand was 2 years old, and it was only $2,000 less than the new one. Given that we expect to keep the car 15 years, the cost per year of useful life was the same, plus the new one had more features, including some pretty useful safety features. Don't just assume used is cheaper; check prices for both.
Edward Shaffer • 2 days ago
There is a legitimate reason for a salesperson to ask what you are hoping to pay monthly...probably more than one. Most people are not going to pay cash for the car, so the monthly payment is completely relevant. Many people have no idea what their payments will be based on a certain purchase price which means that you could spend much valuable time negotiating a deal on a particular vehicle only to find out that it is not in your budget.
Many factors influence each purchase and rarely are any two the same - find a reputable dealer with well trained consultants to assist you through the process...price is only one component of a very complicated transaction...don't get fixated on that element and cost yourself an opportunity at a good deal.
Also, I totally agree with Ms. Livingston - purchasing a recent model pre-owned car is rarely the smartest decision...especially if you plan to keep the vehicle for any length of time - your savings will be minimal versus buying new, and the new car financing rates should mitigate any significant difference in payment.
Please feel free to contact me via twitter @eddyshaf or by email - [email protected]
Stacy Johnson Edward Shaffer • 2 days ago
No offense, Edward, but you're talking like a car salesperson, which I assume is what you are.
Of course the monthly payment is relevant, but it's based on the price, which is by far the most important component of this or any transaction. Steering shoppers to payments over price has been a sales technique used by car "consultants" since the 1950s. And its use is far more often used to favor of the dealer, not the buyer.
It is also not generally true that the savings of used vs new is "minimal". With rare exceptions, a two year old car is 20 to 30 percent less than new. That's not minimal.
One last thing: I'll leave your comment up, but as it is clearly stated above, this website is not a place to advertise yourself or your services. If you put your email in comment again, the comment will be deleted.
- Edward Shaffer Stacy Johnson • a few seconds ago
I love how people use "no offense" as a lead in when they obviously intend to offend
And if you took 5 seconds to search out my twitter or email, you would not have to "assume" that I am a Sales Consultant at a dealership.
It is "advice" like yours that pits consumers against dealers, creating unnecessary animosity and suspicion. I completely agree that unscrupulous practices in the past have given dealers a bad reputation, but in today's transparent marketplace, those dealers are fast learning that those "tactics" are no longer effective.
Let's just agree to disagree on the monthly payment issue and help to educate the public about the rule of thumb when financing a vehicle...$20 per $1,000 when financed for 60 months with good to average credit. In other words, for every $1,000 of purchase price, you can reasonably expect your payment to increase by roughly $20. So a car with a purchase price of $20,000 you can predict that the payment will be pretty close to the $400 range, a $30,000 car would be $600 per month and so on.
I will continue to debate the recent model year used car purchase with you. Of course if you can find a private individual to purchase from then you should be able to realize a 20% - 30% savings over new. However, when purchasing a dealer reconditioned vehicle you can reasonably expect the dealer to have costs associate with reconditioning as well as a certain markup for profit (gasp!) which quickly eats into those percentages, closing the gap when compared to a new car purchase.
As to the point of including my contact information...please feel free to remove my twitter handle and email - if people really want to get in touch with me, they can simply search my name online or check out my Disquss profile. I apologize if I failed to see where that restriction was "clearly stated above"...still not seeing it
Edward
