Pimpbot

I think we spent less than an hour in the dealership. We were fortunate that they they didn't have the color we wanted and it was too late for the them to do a computer check of the other dealers. So from that point on we did everything over the phone except signing the paperwork. It took a few calls from them and us, but we got the deal we wanted and I also thought that the dealership apart from the credit manager who was a slimeball, were great.

TouristTrap

Note to self. Always buy a car on the last day of the month

scrubbedexpat099

Once you have narrowed down your search, the best place to research actual deals is on the web.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...me.header..6.* is a good general start, many people posting actual deals done on new vehicles.

See if you can find a Board on the vehicle you are interested in, they usually have a lot of discussion about pricing and any issues. The press here is pretty much a waste of space, advertising is such a big issue. GM pulled their adverts from the LA Times because they had the cheek to suggest something negative on one of their vehicles.

Remember it is a big country so deals available in one area might not be in another.

You will see Invoice and MSRP quoted on new price stickers, Invoice is not net cost to the Dealer there can be all sorts of bonus's/kickbacks which you may or may not be able to find out about.

At the initial just looking stage, Invoice is a good starting point unless the vehicle is in particular demand, market is very soft at the moment.

I would favour doing the deal over the Internet, no need to go through all that palaver with the white shirts.

Unlike the UK, most people buy from Dealer stock, ordering a specific vehicle is much less common. You will usually get a better deal on a vehicle they have, especially if it has been on the lot some time.

Most manufacturers have facilities through their web sites where you can check stock in your area, however big you decide that is. And then you can play them off. Quite often the Internet dealer is not on the same commission remuneration.

If you want to avoid doing this, have a look at using sites such as http://www.carsdirect.com/home, I would check them out anyway as it gives you your maximum price in your ZIP to beat.

Sort out the finance before hand, if the Dealer can beat it, fair enough.

There is no such thing as a On The Road price, Tax and Title will always be extra and varies considerably depending where you are.

The other thing to watch out for is a 'Dealer prep' fee, usually added at the last minute. When I bought my car they tried this on me even though I had already negotiated the price including such fees. Tell them you will walk and it will go away.

Remember the Dealer does not care where they make their margin, Buy/Lease/Finance/Trade In/ Extended Warranty etc., you need to keep your eye on all aspects.

And finally this is the US, the land of Buyer Beware.

strim

When I bought my car last year I drove round to all the local dealers in the area. They all quoted me a price for the car that I wanted and when I asked if they could go lower they said no, so I walked off and that was it. They didn't make any lower offers or follow up.

When I contacted the "internet sales rep" by email , some at the same places i had visited in person by email and also phoned round places slightly farther a field. I had a lot more success. It was also easy for me as I just went back and forth between dealers beating them down on price until I got a deal I was satisfied with.

I don't know if when I went to the dealers in person they figured there weren't too many nearby I could drive to and i would eventually go back and pay there inflated prices.

franc111s

This has all been great advice. I've decided to ship my Skoda over from the UK so I don't have to worry about buying one. Problem is, all that salt on the trip over might just rust it a little bit more. If that's the case, they could probably deliver what's left of the car in an envelope

BritGuyTN

only problem is that you can't keep it in the country..... (thats if you weren't joking)

if you had a car that is broadly similir to a US-spec car and the manufacturer will testify to it then it will probably cost $4k to get it in the country.

since skodas are not sold here then you are either

1. facing an even bigger bill
or
2, up shit creek without a paddle or a boat

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

franc111s

A paddle in the skoda (since it's a covertiblle) will work fine

p.s. I was joking....

BritGuyTN

I had a suspicion you were , but since moving here my sense of humour has degraded

mrcusa

Terrence

Is your Ford dealership on US41 near the BMW and Mercedes dealerships?

If so, what do you think of the Riva Del Lago high rise blocks there on Lakes Park as a good place to live?

Hope you don't mind me asking as you seem to know a lot about Fort Myers.

Martin

Ray

www.autodealerscam.org

Duncs

Definitely needs lots of research. I spent ages thinking about what kind of car I wanted and how much it was worth then when I found a used one I liked then I made my offer based on what thought it was worth from looking at Edmunds.com etc and spent 4 hours with their ridiculous Mickey mouse negotiating tactics before we agreed it at the price I had offered 4 hours earlier! Probably should have walked out sooner and that might have speeded it up but that was the first time I had bought a car over here so I didn’t know better.

I also used Car fax http://www.carfax.com/cfm/general_ch...CMP=KNC-Google.

Its not perfect and it wont really give you blow by blow record as some states aren’t covered so the system has gaps but its only $24.99 for a month of unlimited checks. If nothing else it usually tells you where they got it and when. This helps you get sense of how keen they are to move it. Remember every vehicle is probably leveraged by the dealer, he doesn’t pay real money for all the stock its all rolled in debt so the longer he sits on a vehicle the more its costing him and the more he wants rid of it before it costs him more money. The other bit I would say I learnt is to is be willing to say no and walk if they start with the adds on fees, crap. I paid price agreed + sales tax(I already knew the exact amount) and not a cent more but god they tried!

Englishmum

Good for you!

When we were selling our Dodge Caravan we were offered a crap trade-in price from the Volvo dealer. The car was in mint condition, had all the dealer-maintained service records and receipts, had never been in an accident and still had a couple of months left on the warranty.

We decided to sell it privately and we paid to have CarFax info which we printed off to give to anyone who wanted to view and test drive the car.....we put it on a couple of autotrader type websites and had quite a few silly offers online from a few Indian expats who hadn't even been round to see the car! I was getting a bit concerned that no-one was ever going to buy it. A neighbour whom I was chatting with about gardening needed a van to transport plants for a fledgling gardening business she was setting up and bought it from us for $1k more than the dealer was willing to pay.... couldn't ask for what we really wanted as her brother in Co. is a car dealer and had obviously told her the max to pay.

She was astonished that we'd kept all the receipts for servicing and oil changes....I got the impression that most Americans don't do this?

We're not sure what to do when our current car comes up to the time or mileage when the warranty runs out (4 years or 48k whichever is first)....we were used to company cars back in the UK/Singapore so didn't have to consider warranties, but in the States you're up the creek without wheels and knowing our luck that's when everything starts to go wrong on the car.

What do most people on the forums do when their cars reach the end of their warranty period?

Elvira

Can't speak for most people - only us We keep ours, drive carefully, don't put any unncessary miles on it* and look after it really well - regular servicing, oil change, tyre rotation etc.

(*If my husband has to go somewhere on business, he rents a car for the day rather than clocking up miles on our car...)

Englishmum

Good idea. We are thinking of doing a long road trip sometime....would be nice to drive coast to coast then fly home again. (I got a bit carried away in Borders and bought the road trip guidebook.... also fancy driving on "The Loneliest Road" or "The Road to Nowhere"....)

We wouldn't want to drive our own car though....imagine if you got into an accident? As far as I know there isn't an AAA 'get you home' 5* scheme like there is in the UK if you take your car over to France or Spain etc. and I wouldn't want to be stranded with an immobile car in a State hundreds of miles from home.......

From what I can tell, there just doesn't seem to be anything like the RAC or AA as we Brits know it in the US with their own vehicles and livery...it all seems more low-key here methinks.

AdobePinon

Just keep driving. I don't change a thing, except that I pay more attention to fluid levels and colours, etc...