How do I not get ripped off...

[rphan2]

My mom wants to buy a new Toyota Camry and we really don't know about how much we should pay OTD or how close to the sticker price. Just don't wana be taken for too much. Any tips or advice is much appreciated. We are going to a few dealerships this week to check them out. God, I hate this process.

[Vanity]

I would never pay full price on a Toyota.... Which is why I would never purchase one new. Jmho.

[Scotch M3]

Any Japanese car you can expect to pay MSRP as your out the door price after all tax, dealer fees, finance charges and interest.

for example, if you are planning to purchase Toyota Camry with window sticker for $30,000, your OTD price (including 3 to 5yr of interest assuming it at 1.9 to 2.9%) should cost you at $30,000

Hope this helps

[SebringS2k]

www.truecar.com

[rphan2]

Thanks guys, my mom is leaning towards the camry, but would you guys prefer camry or accord? Either model will be a 4 door 4cyl with leather seats. I am in the process of doing some research to see which brand would be a better deal. Any negotiation tips or tactics? My mom has perfect credit and plans to down about half and finance the other half.

[kevinbahnz]

why not get a BMW , with $15 k down and perfect credit , she can get 0.9% interest on a new bmw.

[Inspired]

Originally Posted by Vanity

I would never pay full price on a Toyota.... Which is why I would never purchase one new. Jmho.

Why not? Not everyone likes second hand things..

[JesusMChrist]

Originally Posted by rphan2

My mom wants to buy a new Toyota Camry and we really don't know about how much we should pay OTD or how close to the sticker price. Just don't wana be taken for too much. Any tips or advice is much appreciated. We are going to a few dealerships this week to check them out. God, I hate this process.

I am unsure of your location, or the trim level your mom is looking for,however there are several brand new examples available on eBay Motors for under $20k including dealer fees! Take a look here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BRAND...-/290706859299

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Brand...-/251052243320

[N 5 4]

My personal rule of thumb: customers shouldn't have to pay msrp, unless it's some sort of high end automobile that the offered price stands. Perhaps, like one mentioned above, OTD pricing at MSRP might come out better.

Go to edmunds.com. Get a feel of what options would cost, and then you obtain your invoice pricing there. Negotiate with invoice pricing and see what you can achieve. If all else fails, email/contact an online sales manager to workout the best, no haggle deal.

Prior to dealing with the dealership, check pricing through online simulators: sales price, cash down, trade ins, tax, license, etc to determine monthly payments. With invoice figures, you now you have a good idea what you're working with.

If the offer doesn't meet your price target, walk. There's plenty of camry and accord dealerships All over the city. There's nothing wrong searching for the best deal in town.

For the record, I like the new Camrys and would prefer that over the accord.

Good luck and take your time.

[rphan2]

Thanks so much for the advice guys. Reading all of this. I just hate when you walk into a dealership and those guys are all over trying to make a sale immediately. I know it's their job, lol. My mom wants a new car, not used, so its gonna be a 2012 accord or camry. I basically wana walk in with her and name an OTD price, take it or leave it. Just now sure how to approach it given the sticker price and what they go for on average.

[qba335i]

If you have Costco membership or Amex card you can try buying through them. Costco has some good discounts.

Also see if your employer offers discounts on cars. Some companies have agreements with manufacturers.


On lower priced Japanese cars you can target a few hundred dollars below MSRP as your final out the door price (incl taxes and all other fees). Also see if they run any rebates/promotions.

[silvergray545]

Last year when my mom went and bought a Toyota, they didn't budge on the price much. But she did buy a brand new, fully loaded Avalon. Not sure if they are as strict on the Camry or not.

[pwrdbynel]

Just shop around the smart way. Call up your local Toyota dealers and speak to Internet sales. They will quote a price over the phone, assuming credit is good. I bought all my cars this way. I usually always get invoice prices and sometimes below invoice. Bit of a tip to get better pricing, shop at months end as Internet sales guys have to meet numbers and will discount more to make them. The regular sales guys make the profit the Internet guys care about numbers. Always have a set number (realistic of course and don't budge) eventually they will cave in and give you what you want. I walked out the dealer over 10 dollars and guess what they followed me out and agreed my terms. Just walk in say this is what we agreed on the phone and if you can't commit I'm out.

[rphan2]

We have an 01 accord with low miles on it, but the transmission feels a bit jumpy when putting it into gear. Looking to sell, should I try to find a private buyer or just take it in to get some trade value at the dealership when purchasing a new car?

[SleepyWeasel]

Are you a member of USAA? They have a car buying service.

[Scotch M3]

I would take Honda over Toyota any day. In fact I would never buy any Toyota products.

I have Honda accord 2005 model. 4cyl. EX fully loaded (except navi) I drive 70 miles a day and may be same over the weekend due to my DJ gig. Accord is a solid car. I am at 135k miles with regular oil change, new breaks and new tires.

Car is running same as the time I took the delivery with 4 miles on it.

Honda makes solid cars.

As mentioned above do your research on different website and get the invoice price etc.

The way you should deal with the salesman is go take test drive let him do all the talking. When your mom is 100% ready go to his desk and ask him for out the door price.

He will ask you if you are trading anything, finance or lease. If you are trading a car DO NOT mention you have a trade. Say no trade, just planning to purchase this car. Tell him I will put down only $2500 (DO NOT MENTION you are ready to put down 50% of the price) just give $1500 or $2500 as your down payment.

He will come back with a print out or handwritten worksheet saying if you put down $2500 this is the price, for $5000 this much and if you put down $10,000 this much.

Tell him to give you the best deal possible and stop wasting your and his time. Make him call up his manager. If he is doing too much drama or back and forth just get up from his table and tell him sorry for wasting his time. Once manager come he will drop his pants to close the deal.

Once again make sure your OTD price is equals or less to the sticker price. After everything is final tell him I have a trade and also work on trade price or else he will hit u hard on the trade. Go to KBB and check the value of your vehicle. Get a fair price for trade and after that tell him I will put down XX,XXX or you can discuss that directly with the finance manager.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to PM me with any further questions.

EDIT: also be very humble to salesman and don't act as ahole. Just stay clam even tho this is very tedious process. If you stay clam and don't act like a jerk they will work with you.

[Scotch M3]

Originally Posted by rphan2

We have an 01 accord with low miles on it, but the transmission feels a bit jumpy when putting it into gear. Looking to sell, should I try to find a private buyer or just take it in to get some trade value at the dealership when purchasing a new car?

Private sale = more money but time consuming.

Deal trade = low price but fast process to get out of that vehicle.

[UncleWede]

You MUST be prepared to walk out of the dealership, even if they agree to your initial price. I learned this with my dad. We would go end of year and get ridiculous deals on vehicles. Walking in he always told me "We aren't getting anything today, be ready to walk out when I stand up" Soemtimes this amounted to 10,000 off by the time we made the final purchase.

Have mom be at home and call you after 45 minutes or so, to give you an excuse to walk out.

And don't give them your ID, they WILL run your credit even if you expressly tell them they may not.

[rphan2]

So much great advice guys, but the guy I've been talking to at a dealership knows I have a car we were looking to trade in. It's an 01 accord with 88k miles, but the tranny is messed up. My approach was just once we make up our mind about a car to tell them to give me the best otd price and I'll go see if another dealership will match it. I really want to limit the back and forth as much as possible, but understand this is part of the process. We are test driving the 2012 accord this weekend. So never go higher than sticker price right?

[kmarei]

Go to this site
Punch in the model you want, colour, options etc
When you get to the final price, take that to dealer and tell him I can get this price from the dealers on this list, if you match it, I'll buy from you

I had a similar deal when I bought my wife's X3
The dealer said the max I can give you off is $500 since its just been launched
Went back the next day with a print out of this site
I told him I can get the car for $3500 off can you match it?
He replies "done!"

So I owe his site $3000 of extra savings
Good luck
http://amexnetwork.zag.com/main.html

[kmarei]

Based on my zip code
I'd save about $2000 over msrp