Car Buying Checklist: Step by Step Guide to Car Shopping
written by Credit-HQ ExpertAmong your various buying experiences, car shopping can be one of the most frustrating and confusing. So it helps to have a game plan up front when you get ready to go out to shop for a new or used car. This article is meant to give you a few ideas for how you can keep control of your car buying experience.
Establish a Starting Price: Be the Boss of What You Will Pay
One of the things that seems to get away from you when you go to a car lot is the price. That is why before you begin the shopping experience, you should decide how much you want to pay and how much of a monthly payment you can afford. You don’t have to be at the mercy of the car salesman to figure that out. You can find helpful car payment calculators online so you can take the base price and the loan time frame and the calculator will give you a monthly payment.
Car dealers are notorious for talking you up so you buy a car that is more expensive than you wanted. By doing the math before you start shopping, you can be the boss of what you pay and hold the line on that price throughout your car shopping experience. Here is a simple worksheet for documenting your payment parameters:
Target price: $____________
Monthly loan payment: $____________
Loan period: _____ months
Research Car Options: Be the Boss of the Car and the Options You Will Buy
Now that you know how much you will pay, there is no reason to wait to go to a car lot to know prices and options. You can research this information using Consumer Reports, the many online dealership web sites and Kelly Blue Book. If you have a specific make and model you want, you can refine the options you will need and compare the gas mileage and other values that different models of cars have to offer.
Also, look at how going with a used car of the same model will save you some serious money. It’s good to create a tracking chart so you can document the cars, the makes, the prices and the good and the bad features each car before you actually go car shopping. Here is a template for that tracking chart:
|
Name |
Manufacturer |
Listed Price |
Pros |
Cons |
Start Shopping: Be the Boss of the Shopping Experience.
Having armed yourself with information, you can hit the dealerships to kick the tires and take the cars that made your list on a test drive. Don’t let car salesperson pressure you into buying on your first visit. Visit several dealerships and evaluate every car on your list. If a dealership uses high-pressure sales to close the deal on your first visit, buy from someone else.
You can keep control of the buying process by being firm about your price and options and by forcing the car dealerships and salespeople to compete for your business. Find out if there are any deals that a specific salesman can offer to sweeten the deal. Collect car salespeople’s business cards so you can call back with questions. The dealer should have a report showing the history of ownership and any accidents a used car may have been in.
If he or she doesn’t have that report, take down the VIN number from the car and get that report from CARFAX on any car you are serious about buying. Keep your chart of potential cars from your preparation with you and update it as you go. In fact, you can start a new chart where you track which dealerships you visited, the salesperson you worked with, prices and keep some notes on what you liked and didn’t like about the dealership.
Make notes about the prices and features being offered for each car in the following chart:
|
Dealership |
Salesperson |
Dealer Price |
Pros |
Cons |
Know You’re Financing Options: Know Your Car Loan Resources Before You Negotiate to Buy the Car
Financing through the dealership is probably the least advantageous way to go. By knowing what financing possibilities you have, you control how you will buy the car you want. Research your credit score before you make an offer. If you are a member of a credit union, they offer very good car financing deals. Once again, there are excellent online calculators where you can compare car loans to see which one is in your best interest.
Using an online calculator, you can enter the loan amount, the down payment, the interest rate, and fees or extra charges that will effect the price and the term of the loan and get back a monthly payment to see if you can live with it. Armed with this great information, you have the upper hand when you begin to negotiate with the dealer. You know what you want, what things should cost, and what negatives about the car give you an advantage. By taking charge of the car shopping experience, you will come out of the process with the car you want at the terms you want. And that is a great feeling.
Here is a worksheet for documenting the results of your work:
Loan amount: $____________
Down payment: $____________
Interest rate: ________ %
Fees: $____________
Loan term: ________ months
Monthly payment: $____________
Negotiate and Buy: Be the Boss to the End
In the current economic market, you hold all the cards. You can drive a hard bargain. Dealerships are suffering for lack of buyers. So if the seller doesn’t want to meet your terms, take your business elsewhere. You will be surprised how quickly a car salesperson will bend over backward to do business with you rather than lose that sale.
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