 'Tis the season to win big at the car dealership.
The best time to shop for a car or SUV is when sales are slow, and it's hard to think of a less happening place during the holidays than an auto lot. "It's just a slow, rotten time -- those three weeks before Christmas and New Year's and into January," says Remar Sutton, president of the Consumer Task Force for Automotive Issues. "If you shop wisely, it's one of the best times to buy a car." Do your shopping at night. Car salespeople are feeling just as holiday-weary as the rest of us. They have tons to do and not enough time to do it. Stroll into a dealership some night this Yuletide season and you may find a car dealer who is too darn tired to unleash the usual sales spiel. "They're tired. They want to go home," Sutton says. "It's stunning how fast car prices fall when sales people and sales managers want to get out of the dealership at night. "It's a good time to bargain." Do your homework first
To bargain effectively, even against the weariest car salesman, you'll need to do some research first.
"Do your homework on invoice costs. Do your homework on incentives and rebates. Check out prices online," says Robert Ellis, director of
CarBargains.com, which is part of the Center for the Study of Services, a nonprofit consumer research group in Washington, D.C.
"The key thing most people need to have is some point of reference." The Internet is a great tool for getting just that.
CarWizard,
Edmund's Automobile Buyers Guide,
AutoSite,
Autopedia,
Kelley Blue Book and
CarPrice.com are among the sites offering timely pricing information.
Don't forget to cruise around the classified ads listed on sites such as
Microsoft Carpoint,
AutoTrader.com,
Autobytel.com,
Autoweb.com and
cars.com. These sites will give you a good sense of what cars are available in your area and at what price. The more you know the better off you'll be.
That goes for auto financing as well. Consumer experts urge people to shop around for financing just as much they shop around for a car. A good place to start looking for the best car loan is the
search engine of auto loans from institutions surveyed by Bankrate.com. Be sure to check your own bank or credit union as well because sometimes your own institution will offer a sweeter deal.
Pit dealers against one another
Another good car-buying strategy is to pit auto dealers against each other. This tactic is especially effective when shopping for a new car.
"You will always get a better price by making it competitive," says W. James Bragg, author of
The Car Buyer's and Leaser's Negotiating Bible. He also runs
Fighting Chance, a new-car pricing service.
e-mail or fax several auto dealers in your area. Keep it short and sweet. "Here's what I want. Here's what I know. And I'm going to go with the one that gives me the best price," Bragg says. "Tell them you're ready to buy by the end of the year." The more dealers you contact the better. Every major auto manufacturer has a dealer locator on its Web site. You may not get a response from everyone, but those who do will be serious about doing business and will probably get back to you within 24 hours. Now you can go to each dealer in person if you want but it will take a lot more time. Contacting dealers electronically also helps keep you focused on your goal of getting the car you want at the lowest price possible. It's easy to lose a bit of that cool, calm resolve when you step on a dealer's lot and a smooth-talking salesperson is doing everything to talk you into a deal you may not be ready to make. "Once on a dealer's lot, they have you on their turf, so to speak," Ellis says. "All the psychological factors are in their favor." Know what you want before visiting a dealer
That's why it's so important to know exactly what you want and what you're willing to pay before talking price with a dealer.
Also don't be surprised to hear talk about some kind of millennium sale or a sale of the century. Don't fall for it. "Any end-of-the-millennium sale is nothing more than hype," says Jack Gillis, author of
The Car Book.
Also pass on any Christmas club specials that will let you put off making car payments for a couple of months. Those "free" payments get lumped into your loan amount and you'll end up paying more in interest. You may want to save your serious car shopping for the last week of the year. Buying cars at the end of the month is a good strategy because dealers are more interested in meeting monthly sales goals than thickening up profits on individual transactions. At the end of December, dealers want to boost their sales numbers for the whole year as well. Don't think this year's record-breaking auto sales will change anything. Dealers will be just as hungry for sales between Christmas and New Year's. "They want to make it as big of a bang as they can," Bragg says. "If I were thinking about leasing or buying a car. I wouldn't think of doing anything until the last week of the year." |