Car Shopping

Car shopping can be fun or it can be stressful and tempting in a way that can get you into trouble if you do not go about it the right way. This weekend Tom and I traveled around the tri-state (DC/MD/VA) bouncing from dealership to dealership searching for the perfect car. For the past 4 years I have been driving around my Honda Civic. I love this car, don't get me wrong. The gas mileage is awesome, I haven't had a single mechanical problem with the exception of replacing my tires (which is normal), the only problem I had was that I fell for the little trap called: A Lease.

You have to be prepared before the sharks attack! Now, know that I am not really a car person,so you can read this for pleasure or you can take my advice and run with it.

1) Budget.
 While we all want to keep our payments as low as possible, especially in these economic times. It is important to determine how much you are willing to spend because this will help you decide which car you can afford - new/used, SUV or Sedan, Lease or Purchase.

2) Your Dream Car
Now that you have determined how much you can afford, start to use your resources to find the cars you think will suit you best. Internet, the paper, kelly blue book, window shop the cars in your area, I even walked the parking lot of my apartment complex and picked out cars I did and didn't like. Whatever it may be, just get a good idea of what you can picture yourself driving. One important part to this for me was that I wanted a car I could grow into. Since Tom and I will be getting married soon we were looking for something more 'domestic'...ya know kiddies in the back...that kind of stuff. (Don't get any ideas- its not happening anytime soon. I'm just saying!) I was going for an SUV or a nice Sedan. SUV being priority.

3) Kelly Blue Book/Carmax
 I was trading in my car so it was important for me to know how much my car was worth. Kelly blue book your car before you walk in to a dealership. Luckily, Honda cars do not depreciate in value as much as other cars out there. I went to Carmax and got an honest appraisal on my car. It was better than the first dealership appraisal, so we knew they were being somewhat truthful. Of course I didn't sell my car to them, I was keeping this in my back pocket in the event a dealership I bought a car from did not give me an honest trade offer.

4) Special and Incentives
Ask about specials and incentives! If you do not ask, they will not tell. I knew about the special offers before I stepped foot in the door, but I wanted to make sure that the dealer did too! One dealer had no idea what I was talking about- After he found out the specials, he would not live up to what they actually were. Another dealership from the same company knew exactly what was going on and that is the girl I stuck with through the whole ride.


5) Never Except the first Offer
Even if the first offer is within your budget. Say No. We all know they can do better. Ask them what the invoice price is on the car NOT the MSRP. Once you know, low ball them and go about $500 to $1,000 lower than the invoice. You don't want to insult them, but you need to start somewhere. I got this great piece of advice from one of my co-workers!

6) Take Time to Consider
Okay, so you are 99% sure you are ready to commit. That's great, but just do yourself a favor and tell them you need to think about it for a few minutes because this is a big purchase!! Tom and I took the car for another stroll around the building and as we were pulling up the Salesman and her manager were walking toward us with their 'final offer'. Funny thing was that I was going to say yes to the last offer!
 
I am so happy with my purchase! I always wanted an SUV, maybe in another 4 years or so I will get the BMW or Lexus I always dreamed of ; )

FUNNY CAR BLOOPERS: 

I'm sorry I know this blog is already way to long, but I just have to tell you the funny things that happened a long the way.

#1. Car max. As we know, they only buy and sell used cars. As we are walking to the first car I said to the guy, I am not sure if I want a used car because I didn't want someone else problem. He said, Carmax guarantee's that we only sell cars that are in great condition and have never been in any type of accident, etc. Hop in to the first car and it wouldn't even start! Needless to say the guy was a little embarrassed after that.

#2. We went in to Toyota and the first thing out of my mouth to the dealer is that I want a domestic car. All Toyota's are foreign cars. According to Tom the guy made a funny face, which I missed. I probably should have been more specific about what I meant, but whatever!

#3 I gave away fake numbers and email addresses to the dealers I knew I wasn't buying from. No need to waste my time in screening phone calls if it ain't gonna happen!