Buying a car is a complicated and time consuming process, but taking your time and being prepared can make it easier and less stressful.
Before you begin the negotiation process, you need to decide what vehicle you are interested in purchasing. Find out technical specifications, reviews, and detailed pricing information.
Then you need to explore financing, are there rebates, special promotions and resale value; look at financing options and calculate payment amounts. Remember to keep insurance and DMV costs in mind when adjusting your budget to include you new vehicle payments.
Next you can begin the process of finding the vehicle you would like to buy. Depending on what your buying needs are, you can begin looking at used vehicle listings or visit your favorite dealer.
The negotiation process is two parts. One is negotiating the purchase price and the other is the trade-in value for your current vehicle. Make sure you have done your homework and found out information to help you negotiate both parts of the process.
For the new purchase, you want to research customer and factory to dealer incentives, invoice price, destination charges, taxes, license and title fees as well as insurance.
For the trade-in, keep in mind that you will make the most profit if you sell your car privately rather than use it as a trade-in to lower the purchase price of your new vehicle. Even though, many people prefer to use their current vehicle as a trade-in toward their purchase. If you go the trade-in route make sure you know the value of your vehicle by checking the Kelley Blue Book and the NADA guide will help give you more negotiating power. A third option is to try and sell directly to a deal, this will probably give you more profit than a trade, but less than a private sale. This may be a good option if you are trading in a Ford but are making your new purchase at a Chevy dealer. The Ford is more valuable to a Ford dealer than to a Chevy dealer.