This is a horrible time to get a utilized automobile, so normally, I located myself buying for two of them in two months.
The historic Saturn station wagon whose demise I mourned in my July 11 column experienced to be replaced with a further station wagon (because I really like them). And I served as unofficial profits advisor for my daughter, who necessary a new aged motor vehicle simply because her old previous car or truck was totaled in an incident.
A person rationale I continue to keep a vehicle for good is that I dislike the car-procuring practical experience too a great deal to do it far more than as soon as a decade. Here’s what I figured out this time all-around
• Dealerships will say they will not negotiate, but they will negotiate. (I did not go to any of the Carmax-style locations that brag about their no-haggle plan it could be distinct there.)
I heard some version of the similar tale from each and every salesman (they have been all adult men): Used-auto rates are way up, really little bargaining place this is not 1985 any longer, etc.
But in the close, yes, they minimize the cost by a handful of hundred dollars the moment they realized we were significant about purchasing the vehicles and severe about not having to pay what they were inquiring.
Did we get a excellent offer? Who appreciates. Motor vehicle dealers usually have better information and facts than car or truck buyers.
• When throwing figures all-around, points can get perplexing. So when you and the product sales consultant get there at the “out-the-door” value — tax, title and all — publish it down for yourself.
When it came time for my daughter to sign the paperwork to acquire her motor vehicle, we discovered that the price tag was $400 a lot more than we’d agreed on simply because the finance officer at the dealership experienced been supplied the completely wrong figures. (I’m contacting it an truthful oversight.) Had we not asked him to doublecheck the numbers, she’d have compensated way too significantly.
• Demand from customers two keys. In equally conditions, we have been instructed that the cars and trucks only came with one particular just one. We made use of that as a negotiating level, mainly because important fobs price tag a fortune nowadays. On my vehicle (a 2012 Prius V station wagon — certainly, I received my wagon), the price tag of acquiring and programming a next vital would have been $350 to $400 at a Toyota dealership. I observed a local locksmith who did it for $225.
• Make no assumptions. Does the car or truck come with ground mats? Some really do not. Does it have a spare tire? Manufacturers never consist of them in each model anymore. Does the “multi-position inspection” necessarily mean each individual trouble was really mounted? My daughter walked absent from a 2010 Toyota Camry since the steering wheel shook when she braked. She went to yet another dealership providing the very same model, very same year, identical value, in better issue, with marginally bigger mileage. She purchased that one particular.
And now I hope I don’t have to shop yet again right until 2031.
Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.
@joeblundo
