More New Car Buying Tips
Last week we discussed dealer fees when buying your next new car, and although we think buying brand new cars isn’t always the best idea, we would still like to share with you some other advice on getting the best deal. Last week we briefly touched on Car Cost Canada. This website will tell you what the dealer pays for the car that you are buying, hence telling you what their mark up is. Now a dealer will never sell a car for their cost, but if you offer anywhere from a couple percent over the invoice, you should get a dealer to bite, especially if you already know what you want and you won’t take up too much of their time. In fact, it you know exactly what you want, email a bunch of dealers in the area and offer X% over the invoice price, and don’t forget to also ask for any manufacturers incentives. These can be found on the manufacturers website and regardless what you pay, you are entitled to these offers. They are often special interest rates, gas cards, cash back, free iPad’s etc.
If you follow these rules, you can be sure that you are getting the best price. And remember the dealer fee is completely optional, and unless you want the extras that it includes, it’s not necessary.
And regardless of whether you finance, lease or pay cash, all of the above applies. So what else do you need to know? Well, you may not know this but you can always buy a car or offer a price on a car with what is called “conditions”. These can be the mileage on the odometer (we suggest that you always get a car with less than 10km if you truly want NEW, any more than that and it’s bee driven around by someone else), colour, trade value, inspection by a third party, or even subject to your insurance rates not increasing. Buying a car with a condition allows you to back out of the deal if the condition isn’t met. Otherwise, a signed bill of sale makes you the new owner. Be as creative as you need to be with the conditions, the possibilities are endless.
Always negotiate the price of the car first. Then involve your trade. And no matter how you look at it, you will always get ripped off on a trade vs selling it privately. The only advantages to trading your old car are: easy and quick - no need to list it and put up with buyers. As well as you get the tax savings on your trade value. What this means is the trade value is subtracted from the new car price before the taxes are added. This means that you get an extra 13% on your trade value if it is done by the books. Some dealers don’t tell you this so that they make the extra 13%.
Last but not least, if you are getting a really good rate, ask the salesperson if you can throw in some of your other credit into the car loan so you can take advantage of the lower interest. Usually they can add things to the bill of sale such as accessories, or state that you still owed money on your old car, and get you some cash back at the end of the sale to pay off your other debt. This will roll everything into one easy payment.
Now that we have that out of the way, how do you decide if you lease or finance or pay cash? Let’s talk about this next week. In the meantime, stay warm out there and drive safe. Even expert drivers have a hard time out there on the ice. Go slow and take it easy. We hope to see you soon for your next service work and remember, Top Gear Imports has great prices on winter tire installations, all service work and parts.