Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Another reason I love the internet
As some of you might have read, Cora and I bought a car last night!!
Really we weren't in the market for one ... but we had a clunker and we wanted some free cash for it and we needed another car that could handle a car seat so ... it kind of seemed like the thing to do.
The actual reason for this post is to share how I used the internet to get the deal we got. I always read how to's so I thought I'd give back.
So for starters, go to Edmunds.com. It is WAY more powerful of a website than I would have thought. I don't know if you've checked it out, but basically you tell them what kind of car you're looking for and local dealers email you with their price. The nice part about it is that (going back to ECON 101) the dealers know you're getting quotes from other dealers so it tends to lower the price they give you. Knowing that price helped when I actually went to the lots to talk for real. What I did was go in with them out letting them know that they had already sent me a price. That way when we were negotiating if the salesperson said a price above the internet quote was as low as he or she could go you then 1) you know he/she is shady and 2) you can just keep asking for more from them. My philosophy is that if they're going to lie to you once it's your duty to stay firm on a low number because eventually they'll just come back and say that they can't go any lower than X. It kind of is an accelerated market force. So in this instance I got them to agree to a number that was below the internet price that they sent me. Plus who wants to give more money to a shady car dealer? I mean really.
Another nice part about the internet quotes is that it gives you contacts to verify any deal you get. We had worked out a deal at a dealership (with a semi-shady salesperson) late Tuesday night but didn't sign anything because the little guy got cranky. So yesterday morning I called the other places that I received quotes from and was able to confirm that the deal I worked out was pretty good. Luckily one dealership was even able to beat it so that's who we ended up going with. The other dealerships said that there was no way they could beat it. I figured if they could make even a little money out of beating a price from a competitor or no money by telling me no, they would make the deal and take the money. So that was nice that multiple said no for my own piece of mind. This whole process would have been way harder and more stressful with out the internet research so if anyone is looking for a car this general outline worked for me.
A last tid bit too is to request the quote for a competitor car. I had done most of this process for a Corolla as well, so that helped me to say well I could go get a Corolla for this much if you don't want our money. Using Edmunds I didn't have to go to those lots and do all that leg work to know about what to pay for that car.
Granted, this is just one car experience so it may not always work this smooth. But I thought maybe it might help others in their search.
Happy Hunting!
Really we weren't in the market for one ... but we had a clunker and we wanted some free cash for it and we needed another car that could handle a car seat so ... it kind of seemed like the thing to do.
The actual reason for this post is to share how I used the internet to get the deal we got. I always read how to's so I thought I'd give back.
So for starters, go to Edmunds.com. It is WAY more powerful of a website than I would have thought. I don't know if you've checked it out, but basically you tell them what kind of car you're looking for and local dealers email you with their price. The nice part about it is that (going back to ECON 101) the dealers know you're getting quotes from other dealers so it tends to lower the price they give you. Knowing that price helped when I actually went to the lots to talk for real. What I did was go in with them out letting them know that they had already sent me a price. That way when we were negotiating if the salesperson said a price above the internet quote was as low as he or she could go you then 1) you know he/she is shady and 2) you can just keep asking for more from them. My philosophy is that if they're going to lie to you once it's your duty to stay firm on a low number because eventually they'll just come back and say that they can't go any lower than X. It kind of is an accelerated market force. So in this instance I got them to agree to a number that was below the internet price that they sent me. Plus who wants to give more money to a shady car dealer? I mean really.
Another nice part about the internet quotes is that it gives you contacts to verify any deal you get. We had worked out a deal at a dealership (with a semi-shady salesperson) late Tuesday night but didn't sign anything because the little guy got cranky. So yesterday morning I called the other places that I received quotes from and was able to confirm that the deal I worked out was pretty good. Luckily one dealership was even able to beat it so that's who we ended up going with. The other dealerships said that there was no way they could beat it. I figured if they could make even a little money out of beating a price from a competitor or no money by telling me no, they would make the deal and take the money. So that was nice that multiple said no for my own piece of mind. This whole process would have been way harder and more stressful with out the internet research so if anyone is looking for a car this general outline worked for me.
A last tid bit too is to request the quote for a competitor car. I had done most of this process for a Corolla as well, so that helped me to say well I could go get a Corolla for this much if you don't want our money. Using Edmunds I didn't have to go to those lots and do all that leg work to know about what to pay for that car.
Granted, this is just one car experience so it may not always work this smooth. But I thought maybe it might help others in their search.
Happy Hunting!
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