Ask MM: Buying a New Car

[NTIman]

I know that Scions have a no haggle pricing, as well as Saturn.

I don't know of any manufacturers that won't honor a warranty, although I do believe that different dealers have different policies regarding warranty work. I know that where I work, we frequently roll back mileage slightly if a regular customer has a problem after the warranty is up (only if they haven't been in for service after the car was out of warranty).

[Mike]

Oh jyeah, try to work things out online. If they have web sales, try to get everything to your liking before ever stepping foot in the dealership... They can't work any of their bullshit without you there in person.

[Scott]

When I bought my wife's '07 Accord, I emailed most Honda dealers on the east coast and had them send me their best offer. After going back and forth with a few, I got the car down to $150 over invoice, them walked into another Honda dealership in person, put down my price and waited to see what happened. Rule Honda wouldn't touch it, but Woodson in Roanoke would.



One more thing, in all this I learned that the dealerships internet department is able to be more aggressive with their pricing.

[G.Irish]

I don't know of any manufacturers that won't honor a warranty, although I do believe that different dealers have different policies regarding warranty work. I know that where I work, we frequently roll back mileage slightly if a regular customer has a problem after the warranty is up (only if they haven't been in for service after the car was out of warranty).

Mitsubishi was trying to weasel out of warranty work back when the Evo came out but that's the only time I can think of that the actual manufacturer was balking on doing warranty work.

Dealerships will sometimes try to avoid doing warranty work by claiming all kinds of stuff but at the end of the day you just have to get a hold of the manufacturer and complain. Depending on the manufacturer they dealers can get significantly dinged if there are too many customer complaints against them.

One more thing, in all this I learned that the dealerships internet department is able to be more aggressive with their pricing.

Exactamundo. If there is a dedicated Internet Sales man or department they're almost always going to be more aggressive on price because they know (or should know) they can't get a customer in the door without giving them the right price up front.

[John]

She'll be financing through a credit union... probably through my tag with NFCU. I don't think it will net the best rate, but I know that there's no chance of getting screwed on that court. So that's one less thing to think about at the dealerships.

Several folks here have new Mazda 3's - those would definitely satisfy her (current) short list) - what do you all think of them? Has anybody owned one long enough to talk about long term reliability?

This is great advice, keep it coming.

I finance my other vehicles through NFCU at 4.25% (best used/refi rate) - best you'll do with them is 3.5%. Mention it while you're bargaining... However, you're going to be hard to beat incentive financing offers, but again, use NFCU as a bargaining chip.

We had the option of 0% financing on the Mazda, however, that was using my credit. Since my financee is a credit ghost, we put her on a secondary to build her credit and we're at 1.0% - definitely worth it for us.

I initially wanted to get a used car (ie RWD BMW), but after having a Mazda3 rental for awhile, I was amazed at how well the car handled for a FWD car. We shopped with Honda and Scion, and neither were as flexible and cost $2K+ more. Out of the bunch, I think the Mazda is the best handling option, and even the slushbox is pretty decent.

[Scott]

oh yeah, one more thing, sometimes they will offer a good interest rate, then after you work the price down some more, all of a sudden the rate goes away and you get the "we can't do that price and rate" (if you finance through the company). But it's total BS, they just don't want to

[John]

oh yeah, one more thing, sometimes they will offer a good interest rate, then after you work the price down some more, all of a sudden the rate goes away and you get the "we can't do that price and rate" (if you finance through the company). But it's total BS, they just don't want to

It doesn't cost you anything to walk out...

[Scott]

oh yeah, one more thing, sometimes they will offer a good interest rate, then after you work the price down some more, all of a sudden the rate goes away and you get the "we can't do that price and rate" (if you finance through the company). But it's total BS, they just don't want to

It doesn't cost you anything to walk out...

all it can do is help

[Ginger]

Call my bluff, but I'm not considering final interest rate as the bottom dollar on financing. I know you can get incredible financing rates through dealer vendors but I've also heard nasty stories about poor treatment and hidden financing changes (like late payment interest hikes, etc).

I'vee been an NFCU member my whole life, like father like son, and I've recently joined them as an employee (before anybody makes the smart ass comment a'la .net asshole, no, I'm not a teller). I know that there's nothing hidden and service is top notch... furhther, I know I've got an inside line if there are any problems. Call me crazy, but I think a known quantity has a lot of value.

[John]

Call my bluff, but I'm not considering final interest rate as the bottom dollar on financing. I know you can get incredible financing rates through dealer vendors but I've also heard nasty stories about poor treatment and hidden financing changes (like late payment interest hikes, etc).

You're being paranoid - if you can get better financing through a dealership do so. Oh, and I will say that many credit institutions don't scan credit unions when you're doing your credit check, so your perfect payments at NFCU will be unbeknownst to many credit institutions. As an examply, my loans with NFCU and Chase didn't show up on my latest report with Hyperion (or whatever it's called). However, my loans through USAA and Nissan did...

Do some math and you'll see where the best offers lie... NFCU is hard to beat, but if you can find an awesome deal through the dealership and are responsible about payments, then in no way should you hestitate.

[.RJ]

You're being paranoid - if you can get better financing through a dealership do so

Its not so much paranoid, its a matter of convenience. All my banking is done with NFCU - I log in, I pay my car payment, check visa purchases, done. They've got fantastic customer service, good rates - there's really nothing bad to say about them. A little piece of mind and good service for the life of the loan is worth not haggling to get an extra .5% of interest on the loan - at least IMO.

[Ginger]

I don't want to get into a match off of financiers. That's a bit beyond where this needs to go.

To get back on topic - this may seem like an ignorant question - should these quotes include tax, tags, and title [TT&T]? I assume they don't. If they don't (or do) is TT&T something that dealers usually mark up to gain some money back, or do they generally play that as fair game?

[Scott]

To get back on topic - this may seem like an ignorant question - should these quotes include tax, tags, and title [TT&T]? I assume they don't. If they don't (or do) is TT&T something that dealers usually mark up to gain some money back, or do they generally play that as fair game?

When I talk to dealers I talk in my out the door price, which includes TT&T

[Ginger]

So it's not unreasonable for TT&T to only be a few hundred over invoice?

[G.Irish]

Well TTT is not something they can F with anyway. The title and tags are both costs set by DMV and of course the dealer can't change the tax rate. What dealers will hit you with sometimes is a 'processing fee'. Some don't charge it at all, some charge as much $200 for it. Make sure you find out what that is first.

[Scott]

So it's not unreasonable for TT&T to only be a few hundred over invoice?

right, don't talk to them about the bottom line price of the car, talk to them in the out the door price, TT&T included. They can then adjust the price of the car as needed to meet the out the door price and the processing fee won't matter to you

[Evan]

most charge a "processing fee" around $300 now too in addition to taxes and tags. you can try refusing to pay it.

about the dealer financing thing, they are just regular banks that are partnered with the dealership. in fact, my truck loan is bank of america and it automatically showed up on my account online.

[Ginger]

I don't really do any business with banks.. on purpose I'm not saying I'm writing off dealer financing, I'm just evaluating it on different levels.

This is all really good information, I appreciate all the input. We're going to actually go look at cars tomorrow evening but we're not going to talk to any sales people. She's preliminarily settled on a new Civic but has promised me she'll consider the Mazda 3. I also put in an online quote request on a Civic for her - I'll see what that pans out to. I'll post here whatever progress we make and any quotes we get to see if anybody has any pricing input further in the process.

[Apoc]

Its not so much paranoid, its a matter of convenience. All my banking is done with NFCU - I log in, I pay my car payment, check visa purchases, done. They've got fantastic customer service, good rates - there's really nothing bad to say about them. A little piece of mind and good service for the life of the loan is worth not haggling to get an extra .5% of interest on the loan - at least IMO.

You're probably the best person for argument against paying for convienence. You're Mr Instant Gratification At Any Cost so if you're in support is something it's gotta be the wrong idea.

FYI - You can do all that with most any banking institution.

I'm with John. There's no reason not to go with the dealer if you can get 0-3% financing. You can also use it as a bargaining chip too... after they say "no we can't go any lower" for the third time you say, well I'm considering financing through you so surely you can help me out. Of course that only works if you don't get whored on the interest rate but still.

[.RJ]

You're probably the best person for argument against paying for convienence. You're Mr Instant Gratification At Any Cost so if you're in support is something it's gotta be the wrong idea.

You pay for more 'convenience' than most people I know - nothing wrong with that.