Car buying and lessons learned

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We are purchasing a 2018 VW Tiguan. The dealer mentioned early in process special was 1.9% finance and sonethingabout$750. Anyway for first time ever we used dealer to finance a car instead of credit union. We go to pickup and rate was 4.68%!! We stopped the pickup and mentioned credit union and come to find out they will work with our credit union directly and we will get the rate 2.5%.

So this is off part, they stated the low finance rate from VW means less money to dealer so they could not make “deal”. It left my wife fuming but us $1200 richer if the lower rate works out. A bit painful but at least dealer very close. Hopefully Monday goes better on pickup 2!
 
My tip, never, ever negotiate based on a monthly payment. This way the dealer is already calculating his profit based on the financing they will arrange for you.

Negotiate on the final, out the door price, including all taxes, fees, discounts etc. and make sure the salesperson fully acknowledges this before you start talking any numbers. After you have your final price agreed upon, you can start on the financing and at that point, the salesman will have little to say about whether you go with them or not.

I did that with my minivan purchase and the process was quite smooth and painless.
 
We negotiated a price paid and they stuck to it but attempted to tack on an admin fee but we got that pulled however tried a high interest rate.
 
They have the same right to walk away from a deal they don't like just like the customer. Why not get your own Credit Union loan ready just in case the dealer financing doesn't work out? You already know what one dealer pre-approved you for, there is no reason to think others will do much better. Unless this one was a real sleazeball.
 
This seems to be a big thing recently, finance through the dealer's bank or they charge you. The lenders must have increased the commission on the back end or really making an incentive for them to hit a certain number of loans.
 
If they are this grossly unprofessional in the beginning, they aren't going to get any better.
Walk away and don't look back.
Find another dealer.
It is their job to please you, not your job to please them.
 
Keep in mind that new cars are a commodity. They make millions of that "one and only" car.

Also one dealership can pull a car from any other dealership. You can play them against each other. Negotiate the best price at one the go to the other negotiate your best price with them. If they dont beat the first one, tell them they must beat the best price by $500 or 1000 or you're buying it from the first guy.

Never buy a car when you absolutely need one so you have time to walk away from deals.

Pre-arrange your own financing. cash is an option as well but don't tell them until the end. let them think they are financing then pull out the checkbook.
I have worked the deal where you agree to financing and finance then pay it off the next day. Only if the deal is worth the hassle.

They have seen every negotiation trick in the book. Dont try to beat them at the negotiating game. Just have a firm top line price and stick to it weather they tell you it is ridiculous or not. Come crunch time (end of the week, month, quarter) they will make that deal.

Real the entire contract and anything verbally agreed to make them point that section out on the contract.

If financing through them make sure the %APR and the monthly bill line up with the principal. You are agreeing to the monthly payment the APR is just information.

Ask to order a vehicle from the port without any extras. Negotiate the price then when they can go no lower, Tell them you'll do the deal of the throw in floor mats, bed mats, tinted windows, etc as a cherry on top. Those are way overpriced anyway so it doesnt cost the dealership much to add.
 
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Originally Posted By: Donald
I always bring my attorney with me to read the fine print.

I can see why, subaru uses toyota financing now and the agreement was many pages of fine print. Basically I assumed toyota corporate's agreement would be reasonable and I just had to watch anything the dealership filled in.
 
Find out the doc fee it varies from state to state but is a [censored] fee for basically filing paper work. they have to show the charge but get them to take it off from the sticker price.

With the internet these days get several quotes from dealerships to pit one another against each other. That’s all I got for what it’s worth
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
We are purchasing a 2018 VW Tiguan. The dealer mentioned early in process special was 1.9% finance and sonethingabout$750. Anyway for first time ever we used dealer to finance a car instead of credit union. We go to pickup and rate was 4.68%!! We stopped the pickup and mentioned credit union and come to find out they will work with our credit union directly and we will get the rate 2.5%.

So this is off part, they stated the low finance rate from VW means less money to dealer so they could not make “deal”. It left my wife fuming but us $1200 richer if the lower rate works out. A bit painful but at least dealer very close. Hopefully Monday goes better on pickup 2!



The interest rate wasn’t put in writing before you signed the papers ?
 
If you are even 1% uncomfortably, walk. There are tons of vehicles for sale all the time. No need to be hasty. You can always go somewhere else that will be fair with you on price. I hate the “I paid too much” feeling
 
Usually when there's a choice between financing and a rebate, it's always better to take the rebate and get your own financing. Penfed right now is at 2.5% for financing so that's a good rate from your credit unit. I think there are a few other credit unions that beat Penfed once in a while but not by much.
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: Donald
I always bring my attorney with me to read the fine print.

A.K.A. D.A. Wife?


Yes, low hourly fee. Actually not a district attorney, that would be on the county level in NY, she is a Asst. Attorney General for NY, so at state level.
 
It just seems to be another tactic and opportunity for a dealer to make money off a loan.

We found out after They work with a few credit unions to fastrack the loan through. Our credit union is one of them and credit union basically is transparent about the dealings with dealer. So it should go better with I hope if they stick to agreed selling price and APR credit union offers and loan terms.

Wife is aware she can walk at any moment and dealer knows this. She is kicking herself for not so what she did previously going to her tiny branch of credit union at her work hospital and same employee there she dealt with for 20 years.
 
I’m buying a new car soon, I’ve gotten online ‘out the door’ quotes from a few dealerships.

I tell them straight out that I’m shopping on OTD pricing, not lifetime warranty or some other gimmick. I’ve been sent a few quotes and I just email the sales person back it’s not low enough...

I’m in no rush to buy.
 
Originally Posted By: plf
Find out the doc fee it varies from state to state but is a [censored] fee for basically filing paper work. they have to show the charge but get them to take it off from the sticker price.

With the internet these days get several quotes from dealerships to pit one another against each other. That’s all I got for what it’s worth

I think the doc fee is just somebody's extra profit.

When I buy a new car, which is increasingly rare, I will only talk about the final out the door price. They can arrange the numbers however they want, but the bottom line number has to be the one we agreed on.

The other thing I now insist on is a statement on the bill of sale that there has been no repaired body damage. A brand new Toyota Solara (as I found out several years later) that I bought had a repainted rear quarter panel. It was a very good job and the repair never mattered while my family owned it, but it doesn't seem right that a brand new car should have body repairs.
 
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