9 Tips On Buying A New Car & Striking A Deal (For Women Only)

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In this post I am going to give you real and practical tips on buying a new car.  But before I do, I have to give you the reason why I am know what I am talking about and why you should listen to me.  No I do not work at a dealership nor have I ever been a car salesman.  But what I have done is bought 3 cars, 1 SUV, and never had a car payment over $210 a month.  All of the cars that I bought were BRAND new and the most mileage that I have ever bought a car with is 100 miles.  Not 100,000 but 100.  So I am pretty qualified to tell you ladies how to successfully buy a car and get a deal on it.

1. Tips On Buying a New Car ~ Play Up Your Pretty

A guide for buying a new car for a woman is that you can use your pretty. As a woman you are going to walk on the lot and you may seem like prey for some car salesman.  Expect it, deal with, and go with it.  They will assume that you are a girl and that you have no idea what you are talking about, what you are looking for, and that they can get over on you.

The fact of the matter is that many women who buy a car alone, walk into the car buying experience and allow the salesman to tell them anything.  But let them think that. The first of the tips on buying a new car means you are going to use this fact to your advantage.  Whenever I buy a car I often say little until the time is right. Instead I listen.

Observe what the salesmen is saying, allow them to talk, pay attention, because you are going to need that information later. The car salesman will mistake your silence for cluelessness.  It is better to be underestimated in the beginning and then come out with the “this is not my first rodeo” talk.  I have done it all the time; kept quiet, and then when it is time to make a deal I come out of my sweet woman, I don’t know how to buy a car shell, shocking them allowing me to have the advantage.

2. Tips On Buying A New Car ~ Know What You Want Before You Go

A guide for buying a new car is do your research.  Of the second of the tips on buying a new car, when you go on a car dealership the car salesman is going to try to talk you into all types of cars and the prices that they show you on the lot are not going to be the same as the ones online. The only exception this is Car Max.  That is why it is important to go online to the dealership you plan to visit, know exactly what car you are looking at, the price, how much it is selling for online, and how much the rebates are online.

True story, when I bought my last car and it was time to talk price the salesman tried to tell me my SUV was about 5k more than the price that was listed online.  I listened, let him try to talk me into thinking that this was a good deal.  Even when we went to see the car, the sticker prices said the car was about 9k more than I saw online. But lucky me he was going to give me 4k off that price that was on the window sticker.  It was not until I was able to quote the exact online price, the dealership rebates, the manufacture rebate that he knew I was not going to just let him talk me into over paying for this car.

Notice I let him talk, played my girly role, and then came out with my knowledge. The result was him stuttering a whole bunch. Pulling the car up online, seeing I was right, going back to talk to his manager and coming back and telling me they were going to give me the car for the price that was mentioned online.  That was 5k less than that he originally quoted me.  And in my eyes that was just a starting point.

3. Tips on Buying a New Car ~ Check For Rebates

Next on the guide for buying a new car is to check for rebetes. Remember how I talked about those rebates in the above paragraph.  After you do your research you will find that there are rebates that the dealership offers or even the maker of the car. And often time there are even more rebates on top of that.

My last two cars were a Ford.  This time I got an additional $500 off the car for being a recent graduate (getting my PhD), my last car was a Ford in 2012 where I got about $2k off for being a recent graduate for getting my Masters.  There are also rebates for being a loyal customer. Such as trading a Ford in for a Ford. Or a Honda in for a Honda.

The dealership is NOT going to tell you about these rebates.  So the third of the tips on buying a new car is that you have to do your research and you have to go digging.  And you have to have proof.  The first time I did this, I just had to bring in my degree. This most recent time I had to send my a copy of my degree to Ford, online, in which they gave me a rebate to print out for being a recent grad.  I had to bring this paper to the dealership.  I had to have this paper if I wanted to get the rebate.

When I mentioned the recent grad rebate to the the salesman, he was like oh you have to have proof of this, go through this, and then bring it in.  Do you really want to go back home and do that? My response was simple, “no need I have it right here.” Blank stare and girly smile.  And like that, additional money off the price I had just bargained.

4. Tips For Buying A New Car ~ Don’t Show All Your Cards

Your guide for buying a new car is to not show all of your cards. On the previous note, do not just walk in and tell the salesman about your trade in nor do you tell them about your rebates.  Not until the very end.  The reason being is because they are going to try to factor in these things before getting the final price. And you are going to cheat yourself out of the money.

Remember when the salesman tried to give me the car for 5k more than I saw online? If I had walked into the dealership and said here are my rebates AND I have a trade it, I can guarantee that after they factored in my rebates and trade in, they would have come back with the same price of 5k more.

That is why you negotiate first.  Get the lowest price that you think that you can get and then say “Oh yeah I have this trade in and this rebate” girly smile and blank stare. That way they have no choice but to give you additional money off because they already quoted you a price. In the beginning they will ask you about a trade in.  Just be evasive.  Tell them you are not sure if you want to trade it in or not and let’s talk price first.

This can also go for money down.  When I got to a car dealership I always have an amount of money that I am WILLING to put down.  Notice I did not say would put down.  Once again NEVER let them know that amount.  Let them assume that you are not going to put anything down.  Because if they think that, then will give you a lower price thinking that you are all tapped out once you have revealed your rebates and trade in.  It is very possible that once you reveal your trade in and rebate that you will be happy with the amount of the car and will not have to put any money down.

For my last car purchase, I was prepared to put about 3k down if need be.  The manager had to get pulled in by this point because they were not getting me the car around the price I needed it to be at. I had already told them I wanted me payments to be $200 a month for an SUV no exceptions.  They came back with $450, $350, $300 after my trade in and rebate.  Once I saw it was IMPOSSIBLE for them to come down anymore.  Then I said, well I guess I can put X amount of money down to get my payment lower. And it was not 3k.  BING there it was.  A car payment of $200.  That was only after I seen them work the numbers to get down to the lowest possible.

5. Tips For Buying A New Car ~ Get the Most For Your Trade In

Moving on to the 5th of the tips on buying a new car. After you have divulged that you are trading in a car there is a way that you can get the most for your trade in. The whole point of the trade it, is it is like money that can go toward your new vehicle.  So first make sure your trade in is paid off or close to being paid off.

It is not helpful to come into a dealership owing $10k on a car.  Even IF you get them to pay off the car 9 times out of 10 you are not going to have any money left to go toward your new car.  Not unless you have a really decked out trade it.  When I bought my cars all of my cars were paid off with the exception of one. In which I owed $1k on it.  This was a 2008 Hyundai Accent that had electrical problems.  I am telling you this because not only did the dealership pay off the car BUT they also gave me money to go toward the new car.  And I did not have a luxury car or anything. Even them giving me 2k for the car allowed me to pay off the car and have 1k to go toward the new car.

Never and I repeat NEVER get a car if the dealership is not willing to pay off the balance of your old car.  It is so counterproductive.  You will get rid of your trade in and still be paying on it while paying for a new car.

So know that dealership can be flexible for your trade in.  For my last Ford Focus I traded it, it was a 2012 that had been in an accident, still had a dent, AND it had needed the fuel system to be replaced ($1.5k worth of work).  The dealership went from valuing my trade in from 2k to 3k a big difference, because I kept negotiating. Even if something is wrong with your car, the dealership will fix it up and re-sell it. Even though 3k, does not seem like much, since my car was paid off the ENTIRE balance went to toward the new car.  It was like I had given them 3k in cash toward the new car and really all I gave them was my trade in that I did not want any more anyway.

6. Tips On Buying A New Car ~ Stick to Your Budget

For this guide for buying a new car is to stick to your budget. I knew what budget I had. Like I said before I wanted my car payments to be $200 a month. I made that known right up front.  This is not one of those things that you need to keep a secret.  Like the story above once they knew I was serious about my SUV they knew those payments needed to come down to the $200 mark.

A true story. When I bought my first car at the age of 18, my mother helped me out.  She told them that she wanted my payments to be under $200 because I only had a part time job after all. The salesman came back with a payment of $220. He told my mother, “are you going to let $20 keep your daughter from getting this new car?” and my mother’s response was “are you going to let $20 keep you from getting this commission?” And within 10 minutes he came back with a car payment of $186.

I tell you this story because salesman have a lot more wiggle room than you think.  There is nothing wrong with having a smaller budget and telling them about it. I recommend you do so that way they need to know what numbers they need to work for you to walk away with a vehicle.

7. Tips For Buying A New Car ~ Know When To Buy and what to Buy

The seventh of the tips on buying a new car is that you must remember that the art to getting deal is that you have to know when to buy and what to buy. The best time to buy a car is to start buying at the end of the year. I have a 2017 car that I bought in September/October time frame of 2017. There were already 2018s in the lot. Which means they needed to get rid of those 2017 models.  That is why the prime time is not to buy when the models first come in, but when they are going out.

Go for the basic model in an odd color to save even more money. When I got my SUV, my SUV was not even on the lot to be displayed.  Because they thought it would probably be the LAST 2017 to go if it went at all. They probably planned to turn it into a rent a car or something.  It is a blue color (my last Ford was also blue), a very light blue at that, and it is a basic model. Some people need leather seats, heated seats, sun roof, and all this other stuff that puts THOUSANDS of dollars on the total price of the vehicle.

For me it is not important. My basic model Ford Escape came with Bluetooth, automatic windows, backward camera, and all the stuff I needed and wanted in car. And as single mother buying a car that is something you have to think about. If you want a new car you can get one by going for that blue car, while everyone wants black, that is a basic model, while everyone else wants the model with a thousand features of it. That can be the key to walking away with the new car at a great price.

My SUV was an unlikely candidate to be bought. To the point that it was dirty (they cleaned if for me) from sitting in the back of the warehouse less it get in the way of the 2018 models and the really decked out 2017 models.  But it was fine enough for me and that is why I got a deal.

The last tip I can give you is please know something about cars.  I prefer a new car over a used car because I am always able to strike a deal. And sometimes these used cars are very pricey and I can get a new car for the same price. But even if you go for a used car, pay attention to the mileage and if it has been in accidents.  As a side note the car should have 15k miles for every year it is been alive.  If you get a 2014 and it is now 2018 that is four years.  The car should have no more than 60k miles on it.  If it has 100k or is high mileage ( being 4 years old) then you can strike a deal because of that. But I would recommend NOT getting it at all.  Higher miles on a car can mean the engine can go bad before its time or something else can go wrong with the car.

8. Tips On Buying A New Car ~ Never Be Afraid to Walk Away

This is an important point because there are times in which some dealerships will not play ball.  If that is the case you need to walk away PERIOD.  Do not let them play you that is not how the game goes.

My SUV that I bought was a work in progress. I went during the middle of the week and remember he tried to sell me the car for 5k MORE than the online price.  I got up and left that day because he was playing games, and that was AFTER he would give me the online price.  But it was too late I was already there for hours. I told him I would be back on Saturday which was three days later, and we will start again from that price.

I came in, we did start at that price but there was some other things price wise that was not working out. I was ready to leave.  REALLY I was. I got my stuff and was ready to go to the dodge dealership to look at an SUV that was priced around the same as this one. AND I let him know that. Showing him the car ONLINE at that ONLINE price.  I wanted a SUV, but I did not have to get this SUV.

It was not a threat but I true statement. I was not afraid to walk away.  I was going to get a SUV regardless on if I got it from Ford or Dodge. Made me no difference. And then he played ball and the rest is history.

In 2008 when I was looking at the Honda Fit I came in with my son as he was a few months at the time. The salesman was not willing to give me the car for what I wanted.  You see I had just came in when I was 9 months pregnant, to the same dealership, and spoke to a salesman that was not there anymore.  He had quoted me a price that was $4k less than what this guy tried to tell me.  I told the new guy that.  The guy haggled and played games and I walked off.  The man told me that my $200 a month payment was impossible.  Yet 3 hours later I drove off with a new car at a different dealership.  Paying $196 a month.

I did have my pretty woman moment.  The salesman from Honda called me the next day with a smug personality asking me did I find the deal I wanted. I told him yes, I bought my new car yesterday. In which he was surprised. He then sent me a post card two days later thanking me for my visit and to come back when I was ready to get a next car.

There are two points to this story.  The first is that dealerships should want to make you a loyalty customer so that you come back when you are ready to get another car.  The second is that you should NEVER be afraid to walk away because there are TOO many dealerships that can and will give you what you need. Never entertain the ones that won’t.  By the way, a few months later that Honda Dealership went out of business.

Which brings me to my next point.

9. Tips On Buying A New Car ~ Remember They NEED you

The last tip for this guide for buying a new car is that they need you. Going back to the last story. I am not saying that the dealership went out of business because of me per se, but they may have had a history of my story happening to other people time and time again.  The entire time at the dealership all the salesman were playing games. Not working with the customer. At the end of the day you need me (and all the customers) to buy these cars.  If we don’t then you do not have a job AND you do not have commission.

So remember your power, the dealerships are in the business of selling cars to people like you.  And if they cannot do that than they are going to be stuck with a whole bunch of cars that rotate on a YEARLY bases.  It does not benefit them to be stuck with a 2017 car at the end of 2018 when the 2019s cars are about to come out.  That means they have lost money by making these cars that no one wants to buy.

So at some point they have to sell the cars just to get a profit otherwise they have lost a profit. So never think for a second that YOU need that dealership.  Yeah you may need a car, but there are cars all over.  You do not have to buy at a specific place if they are not giving you what you need.

You can go to about a thousand other places and get what you need.  But they have to wonder if a thousand more people are going to walk through the door that day looking for a car. Not likely. So it is best that they work with the ones that DO walk through the door.  Out of all the tips on buying a new car remember you have the power.  Always remember that.

So here are the tips on buying a new car and if you know someone who could use this information then feel free to share this post with them.  And also don’t forget to check out my store to check out my products.