Car Prices

Shopping for Decent Car Prices

What with trade-ins, options, TT&L, insurance, credit checks, unexpected fees, and everything else, you've got your hands full when it comes to buying a car; you shouldn't have to deal with unreasonable car prices too. But you just might if you're not careful, whether the car you're itching to buy is a new one or just new to you. Fortunately, you don't have to take high car prices lying down. Just keep a few tips in mind, and you might find yourself saving thousands of dollars. While we can't tell you every possible secret in this limited space, these pointers will give you a place to start.

It's all about research

As commonsensical as it might seem, a lot of us don't bother to do our homework when buying a car. Either we know exactly what we want in regard to make, model, and color and buy the first one we come upon, or we get caught up in the moment, fall in love with a car, and buy it on the spot. That's human nature, sure enough, but it's not necessarily smart.

Bypass that sort of error by doing some research. Local auto trader magazines and newspapers are your best starting point. Often, you can find decent deals that, combined with manufacturer rebates, special options (like the employee interest rates so popular back in 2005), and dealer discounts, can save you tons of cash -- up to thousands of dollars. Those of us who are electronically inclined can supplement the search by surfing the Internet. Not only can you scope out nationwide manufacturer deals, you can often find local websites advertising their car prices (which of course are lower than anyone else's). Everybody and his dog has his own website now, so it's not unlikely that your local dealers will have joined the online cavalcade.

Consider the online option

If you're really not fond of dealing with car salesmen, consider purchasing your car on the Internet. You can get everything from cream pies to fresh rose petals on the 'Net these days, and cars haven't been left out of the equation. You might even find that car prices are cheaper on the Internet than they are at your local car dealerships, and the reason for this goes back to the lack of salesmen. Not only can you buy from the major manufacturers this way (Saturn was a pioneer in this regard), a brief bit of surfing will turn up a number of large companies that do nothing but sell cars on the Internet. They'll be perfectly willing to quote you car prices on brand new cars or refurbished used cars, whichever you prefer. Because they want your business, the sites are typically easy to use: you can search by category, make, model, rebates, APR interest rates, and even the amount of payment you're willing to make. Often you can even apply for financing. In some cases, once you've chosen and paid for your car, they'll even deliver it to your door. Not bad for something you can do without even leaving your computer!