Buying a new car. Any input?

[98gstaherns]

So I'm looking to replace my wifes car seeing how we have a baby on the way and that her car is kinda a pain in the ass. Right now we are looking at the Ford escape and the Jeep patriot. Gonna hopefully point a decent amount of coin down for it and try to get a finace though my own bank and not the dealership.
But anyway what are some tip tricks that maybe you wish you would have used when you got a car or anything i should be on the look out for. For both of them we are looking at the 2010 models to save some coin also. My slef I'm kinda turned off of the jeep right now because of the dealership we went to was super pushy and wanted us to leave with a car that day when i made it quite clear that i only wanted test drive.. Needless to say that place lost my sale, and they werent a dealer that USAA recommands.

[mlomker]

Credit unions are always a good bet unless they're offering low rates for some reason. I'm personally a lousy negotiator so I plan to use a car buying service next time. It probably wouldn't cost you anything to get a quote from those kind of outfits. If a dealer is being stupid I always bring in the carsdirect.com price as a place to start from. You can also get better rates by not dealing with a conventional salesman...call up the dealer and ask for the fleet sales or Internet guy.

I'll be curious to hear what other people advise. I always seem to get fucked somehow when I buy a car.

[98gstaherns]

Yea thats why im using usaa cause it will be cheaper though them and the dealership works with them also so not to bad. looking at some that are about 23k come out to be 19-20k depending on what it has.

[Kracka]

Most manufacturers have 0% or other very low percentage financing offers going on right now so try and take advantage of that. I got 0% on my X. With 2011 models coming in you should be able to get a really nice deal on a leftover 2010.

[btleier]

There is nothing wrong with financing through the dealership. Just be educated. Know what rates your bank can offer, many times they will be able to beat it which is a win/win for everyone. Where people run into problems is when they wander into things blindly and don't do their research in advance.

[cudvig]

Why buy new when slightly used will do?

Make sure if you have USAA to check around with other insurance companys, I saved half off my bill every 6 months by switching to progressive!

I love USAA, but cheaper, is well, cheaper!

-Colin

[twack]

skip the patriot you will be bored of it in a month like a neon. Get a jeep liberty much much better

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by btleier

There is nothing wrong with financing through the dealership. Just be educated. Know what rates your bank can offer, many times they will be able to beat it which is a win/win for everyone. Where people run into problems is when they wander into things blindly and don't do their research in advance.

Very true! Dealerships have a lot of wiggle room with financing rates; its a huge profit driver for them. No matter what they offer you tell them you can get better and they'll drop it.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by cudvig

Why buy new when slightly used will do?

Sometimes after closeout pricing, rebates, and financing deals, new can actually be cheaper than used. Just gotta research all the options.

[98gstaherns]

Originally Posted by btleier

There is nothing wrong with financing through the dealership. Just be educated. Know what rates your bank can offer, many times they will be able to beat it which is a win/win for everyone. Where people run into problems is when they wander into things blindly and don't do their research in advance.

Cool i will keep this in mind also and bring what my bank say too. The jeep dealer ship has called me twice in 2 days and want me to come in and buy the car. As far as the jeep being boring its my wifes car.

@cudvig yea that is true, but what i mean with Usaa is the car buying service.

[scheides]

I vote 1 year old used, 20k miles and save $8-10k. Credit unions will finance as new and be pretty competitive if you shop around; otherwise 0% on a brand new car if the payment schedule is reasonable for your budget.

How about a Mitsu Endevor? I love those things. Is an SUV a must? Lots of actual cars have great safety ratings, will get better gas mileage and easier to deal with on a daily basis. My wife drives an 06 VW Jetta and I love that damn car. Or maybe a lancer ralliart sportback?

[98gstaherns]

Originally Posted by scheides

I vote 1 year old used, 20k miles and save $8-10k. Credit unions will finance as new and be pretty competitive if you shop around; otherwise 0% on a brand new car if the payment schedule is reasonable for your budget.

How about a Mitsu Endevor? I love those things. Is an SUV a must? Lots of actual cars have great safety ratings, will get better gas mileage and easier to deal with on a daily basis. My wife drives an 06 VW Jetta and I love that damn car. Or maybe a lancer ralliart sportback?

Ill keep that mitsu in mind. Yea my wife is looking at a Small suv cause my car is to small to haul anything.

[Kracka]

Mitsubishi actually has a pretty decent lineup of small SUV's right now; 0% for 60 months too.

[Goat Blower]

Originally Posted by Kracka

Sometimes after closeout pricing, rebates, and financing deals, new can actually be cheaper than used. Just gotta research all the options.

Not on American cars, especially Chrysler products. You're actually far better off buying a one-year old car on the models you're looking at.

And it's true that the dealers will match finance rates most of the time, and sometimes they can actually beat your credit union, we do it all the time.

[cudvig]

Ford FLEX with the SHO engine? saweeettttt

-Colin

[98gstaherns]

Well after going a ton or research with to the dealer with a game plan... That back fired they sold the car we wanted. Ha! But We did end up getting a 2010 dodge journey, Got a good deal and got a good amount for our POS trade in so im happy and the wife is happy about it too. Ill throw some pics up later.