CaliforniaBride

More please

SamuearlJackson

check out www.carbuyingtips.com for more info. an excellent read for anyone buying a car from anyone/any place in the US.

SamJ

Longy

A few people have mentioned Carmax and they have plenty of manual transmissions - but I do think they charge a bit extra due to them all being certified and its a no haggle price.

anotherlimey

I have a funny joke about that involving the Chinese and Mexicans. but anyway....

... go to CarMax, I can't fault them on anything even their aftersales service was good.

Bob

I see a fair few saturns with manuals, and also the land rovers tend to be manual...the defenders, not the range rovers discoverys...

Bob

that's a given though isn't it...

Bob

one thing about buying used, don't mention that your either paying with your own finance deal sorted, or with cash because that is often how they make most of there money, so if they know, there less inclined to knock money off the motor, once you have the price written down, then say sweet, here's the cash or whatever...

and don't know about where you live, but around here, on the dodge, if you do pay cash, they often write down a lower sale value price than paid on reciept, partly so they can pocket cash, and also so you end up not paying as much sales tax when you go to register your motor....apparantly

fatbrit

Hell! They're the same at this end, too! Bunch of totally slimy wankers. I've had a fun afternoon winding them on a couple of occasions, once when I was actually interested in the car (but not in their games), and once when we were bored on a Sunday afternoon. On the latter occasion, they suggested I did not return since they did not do business "my way". Spoilsports!

Big D

Its pretty much the same with car salemen being classed as the lowest of the low!!! There are quite a few car supermarkets that are now popular with the no haggle thing - like Carmax - and the prices are pretty good - high volume low margin business. The haggling over here though is a league ahead - i walked out on a couple of begging salesmen who wouldnt let me drive a car before i talked figures!!! Then there was the guy who listed the price as $2k above sticker so his discount looked good - that was embarrasing for him as i explained it to his boss!! Great sport though!!

Just remember that you are the boss - dont get pressured into sigining anything and do your homework - go round a few dealers until you decide!!

RoadWarriorFromLP

That's a good recommendation. The author is a bit shrill and his grammar isn't exactly reflective of the Queen's English (a bit more like our president's, actually), but he generally makes good points.

These links should help a bit, too, at least in respect to new cars:

http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/i...dealer&pgnum=1

http://www.consumerreports.org/conte...fees_fair.html

A trip to your bookstore would also be helpful. This author's book offers a very good primer on the business: http://www.dontgettakeneverytime.com/

This piece is lengthy, but it also makes for entertaining reading, offering some useful insights about how the dealership looks at you: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...2/article.html

And if you are buying a new car, be sure to use the invoice pricing, holdback data and information about customer and factory-to-dealer incentives from Edmunds.com. Kelley Blue Book will also provide the invoice pricing data. (The two sources should match, but it's good to confirm, anyway.)

anotherlimey

On the subject of buying a car... has anyone had any experience with CarsDirect.com?

I'm still looking around, taking in all my options etc..

Ray

For the OP the perfect vehicle is the Toyota Scion XB

Manul gearbox
good economy
very easy for older people to get in and out of ...

TRPardoe

We don't use KBB down here, we use Black Book. However I generally find that the KBB online "Trade" price is pretty close to a trade vehicles Actual Cash Value. The mistake most consumers make is in grading their vehicle - as you say, almost nothing is Excellent no matter what the owner thinks.

The difference between the consumer versions of any of these guides and the Business version is the frequency with which they are updated. Tha data accessible by a consumer using KBB may be several weeks old. The data in the Commercial book is only about a week old at most.

The most accurate guide to "wholesale" prices is the Mannheim auction guide which is not (I think) available to comsumers at all. Mannheim gives the current auction price of any make and model which has been auctioned very recently.

Bob

That square box gets good milage?

Ray

30+ mpg.... Its very trendy