How to buy a Car - Buying Made Easier | Auto Buying Experience Guide

Here’s a few methods that will make your car shopping easier!

1. Do some research
Find local dealerships that can help you.
If you have good credit, find a place that has a good reputation and the type of vehicles that you want.
If you have bad credit, find a dealership that has the type of financing that you need, they will have the type of vehicles for your situation.
Find out what your debt to income is. That plus your down payment and/or trade will determine how much you can spend.

2. Read your credit report
Regardless of your credit situation, pull your free annual credit report and learn how to read it! Learn what your finance type is so that you don’t waste your time at the wrong dealership. (avoid the headaches)

3. Get your financing lined up
If you have good credit, visit your local banks and credit unions, you will get the best interest rates and avoid paying the dealer extra points.
If you have bad credit, there are many online auto lenders that can get your financing lined up.

4. Decide if you are trading in
Decide if you are trading in or not before you go to the dealership!
If you are not trading in, either sell the vehicle on your own first or make sure that you have the down payment that you will need for the type of vehicle you want!
If you are trading in, don’t be scared to tell the salesperson that you have a trade-in! Many sites tell you keep the trade a “secret” but again, not everyone has perfect credit plus many dealerships negotiate as if you have a trade-in whether you tell them you have one or not. They already know the “keep your trade a secret” line.
Plus if you need to get pre-approved, some lenders do not consider a trade-in the same as a cash down payment, so if you lie and tell them that you have $xxxx down, you could be wasting your time!

5. Know what you need
Do some research and find out what you need! Do you need an extended warranty, gap, 2-door, 4-door? This will help you keep your focused and not get sucked up buying things that you do not need!

6. Know what you want to pay
If you are buying new, find out what incentives are available and know what invoice is!
If you are buying used, book it out on different sites like Kelly Blue Book.

7. Find the right salesperson
A good way to find a good salesperson is to go through the Internet department and start building rapport with a salesperson at a few dealerships.
Plus if you go to a dealership and find that you are not clicking with a particular salesperson, tell the truth and ask for a manager and request a different salesperson. Not only will you fee better, that salesperson will more than likely get some credit anyways.

8. Vehicle inspection
If you have the money, get the vehicle inspected by a professional to determine what the condition is!
If you do not have the money or time, make sure that you know what to look for and inspect yourself!
Pull a Credit History Report! But don’t rely solely on the history report, I have seen many clean history reports on vehicles that had been flipped over!

9. Learn to negotiate
Make your calculations. Price minus trade and/or down payment plus t.t.l. will determine what your amount financed should be.
Hold strong to those numbers and stick to your guns until you have reached the bottom dollar! You might not get exactly what you wanted, but if the vehicle is in good condition after you did your inspection, than go for it!
If you have bad credit and the dealership got you your financing, leave a deposit (credit card only!) and wait till your financing has been completely approved before you do the paperwork. Get the name of the lender, call them to make sure and get the details!

10. Have fun
Like everything else in life, your auto buying experience will be what you make of it!

Be nice, stay cool and enjoy your new Auto Buying Experience!