Posts
859
Joined
12/5/2007
Location
Lisle, IL, USA
Edited Date/Time
3/21/2012 4:57pm
I am going to be purchasing a new car. I think I know what I want. VW Jetta TDI.. Big, roomy, and get great gas milage Also the torque of the desiel will have no trouble pulling a single rail trailer. I am waiting till i am 25 to catch the insurance break (3 weeks away) and will have about 6500-6800 saved up.. I wanted to wait till i had more money saved.. Closer to 10k but with rising gas prices by truck and 13mpg is killing me. Anyone have any input? Or any different car ideas? Thanks
Maybe it'll be like my Ford truck was...awesome engine (made by International Harvester), but the rest of the thing was a POS.
Good luck...cool choice, from what I've heard.
I know it's not as cool...but KIA makes a nice looking sedan. Someone I work with bought one. Free tires for 5 years, lifetime drive train, 10 year warranty. Think he paid 26k? Beautiful looking car also that looks as nice as a Lexus or Acura.
He had those wheels swapped out. But it's a turbo and hauls ass, surprisingly.
http://www.kia.com/#/optima/explore
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Or... you can be a dealer's dream, walk in and tell them what car you want and what you can afford to pay per month.
A brand new car is the worst financial decision a person can make, or at least the most common "worst financial decision" most people make.
Let someone else be the retard who has to be cool, let them take the loss and you just drive the same car with a warranty and looking great but have 25% of the purchase price in your pocket. Buy 2-3 years old and enjoy.
- Negotiate interest rate
- Shop the dealer and make sure you are comparing the exact same model, trim level.. etc...
- Watch for added fees in the Finance Department
- New or used is up to you, there are ups and downs to both
- Good Luck
Pit Row
Standard is 20%
The lower the rate... the less I would put down.
Go to Bankrate.com to better understand how much it costs to borrow X amount of dollars for X amount of years at X rate.
So every every used car that is two years old is blown?
If you find the car of your dreams that you are going to keep for 10+ years then by all means buy new.
But for $5k-10k you can find awesome and low mileage cars that would be great for most people.
That being said I drive an 89 toyota pick up that I bought for $400 and rebuilt the engine myself and am restoring a 67 chevelle. At 20 years old I have no debt and $4k in the bank..............
I recently bought my wife a used Honda Civic from a dealership named Frank Kent Honda. I actually really liked the finance guy. He didn't pressure us into anything but we ended up getting a maintenance package (oil changes and a set of tires included). What he explained was this. Our credit score was just a couple of points away from being able to qualify for a significantly lower rate but if there is a maintenance package involved, then he could likely get Honda Finance to agree to the lower rate. So we agreed to it and it actually dropped the loan payment from what it was without the maintenance package. I felt like I got a good deal. Even if he was lying, the first rate he offered was lower than what I was quoted elsewhere.
Dealerships make some pretty good margin on "back end" products (extended warranties, Gap insurance, etc.). They also make money on the rate, so if you are paying 8% they are probably getting the loan bought for 6.5%. They get the difference.
Not saying that being a payment shopper is always a bad thing, I've been there at some points in my life. But overall, payment shoppers are what buy the F&I guys their toys and vacations.
Your original deal -
- He was making money on the rate he was charging you (we called it reserve).
Deal with maintenance package -
- By lowering your rate and adding another product to your deal he accomplishes a couple things. He still makes a little on reserve, makes some on the maintenance plan and adds to the count of his "products sold". Many finance guys get paid at tiered levels as they hit "X" amount of product sold. The higher the number of products sold the higher the percent of gross profit they get to keep. Reserve money often does not count as a product sold so he wants you to buy something cause it helps his image and his pocket.
If you got out of there at under 4% for 5 years on a used car you did fine. Assuming you negotiated a fair price, got a good vehicle and avoided BS fees.
... I was in the auto retail industry from 1996-2011.
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