Help!!!

[ibeapoet]

My dh wants to trade our car. We're currently driving a 2007 Focus, fairly loaded and he wants to trade to a Mazda5, used definitely not new (can't afford new). OMG are we having touble locating a reasonably priced one of these. Most dealers are priced about 1500-2000 over the KBB retail value and the one dealer we talked with didn't even want to give us KBB trade in for our car!!! Are dealers just trying to drive away customers at the moment. We've got fairly good credit and don't forsee financing to be a problem. Looks like dealers would be jumping to get business at the moment, so does anyone have advice for dealing with car dealers???

[mkrebecca]

good luck with that!! You would think they would be glad to sell a car right now!!

[Cpogie]

My dh wants to trade our car. We're currently driving a 2007 Focus, fairly loaded and he wants to trade to a Mazda5, used definitely not new (can't afford new). OMG are we having touble locating a reasonably priced one of these. Most dealers are priced about 1500-2000 over the KBB retail value and the one dealer we talked with didn't even want to give us KBB trade in for our car!!! Are dealers just trying to drive away customers at the moment. We've got fairly good credit and don't forsee financing to be a problem. Looks like dealers would be jumping to get business at the moment, so does anyone have advice for dealing with car dealers???

I would suggest you do your homework on the internet, google for car dealers in your area, most of them have web sites. See what their inventory is...call if you have to, but do not give them your name or phone number to get back with you. If you go in person, you should know what the car is worth, what your willing to pay and make it known you are not there to make a deal and you are willing to pay X amount and not a dime more. If they agree, do not let them talk you into buying extended coverage. Not only is it costly, the business could go under before you would ever need them. Next thing check the paperwork carefully, they will try and offer you a higher interest rate which they make money on! Only agree to a rate you feel comfortable with. There are sites that will tell you what the dealer paid for the car....also check with the Kelly Blue Book for prices.
You should of been with me when I helped my son buy a truck some years ago. My son could not believe what I got away with, I told them we would not pay a nickel over 15,000 tax included for a truck he wanted, they tried to sell me an extended warranty, higher interest payment, and tack on sales tax, which made the cost over 15,000. I told them to take that off, I wasn't going to pay for that as it would make the total cost over 15,000. They weren't going to do it, so I told my son we are done here, lets go. When we got up to go they sure changed their tune...got it!
Goodluck!!

[ibeapoet]

We'll I've been doing homework. I have my payoff, trade in value, KBB value of the Mazda5, and an idea of what our intrest rate should be. What I can't get over is the attitude of these sales people, they think they are sitting on a gold mine. My dh told one today that he was overpriced on the vehicle and he was told if he didn't like it oh well. Then he got on autotrader.com and it was priced 2000 cheaper that what the salesman quoted him. He plans to go talk to a manager or owner tomorrow. The nerve of some of these dealers though. We drove all the way to Clinton Tn which is about a 2 hour drive to look at one of these cars only to find out that it was gone...they knew we we're coming we'd emailed them and received a reply only the day before. If had been sold even before they received our email and we we're told it was still in stock. They even had our number. My husband wrote a nasty email to the dealership and never got a response. I'm beginning to believe that customer service is a thing of the past.

[Cpogie]

Your right, customer service stinks! You should see how bad it is here too. They act like they are doing you such a huge favor. We have car dealers going out of business like we have never seen before, long time dealerships. You would think they would do almost anything to make a sale right now!!
Well, I wish you luck, you just need to find the right dealer willing to make that deal!!

[bunny]

first off don't let them think they have you . when you walk in tell them we are buying a car and it can be from you or I'll go else were. when they give you a price you always laugh at them .oh and don't tell them you have a trade in until they start to drool that they are getting a sale. When we were looking at RVs we found one we liked used and asked them the price they wanted $20,000 so I walked . I checked on there web site and went back in 2 weeks and asked them the price again. they told me the same $20,000 so I laughed at them and told them I would give them $12,000. Well first DH looked at me like I was crazy then the dealer Kind of laughed at me so I just said ok you can sit on the RV for another year and have to replace all kinds of parts that have deteriorated from not being used and I started to leave. Well he jumped up and said he would be right back . We got the RV for $14,000. YOU HAVE TO BE A HARD @SS sometimes.my Dad taught me that. if all else fails look in the news paper in the legal section and buy one that was a repo and just sell yours yourself.

[Cpogie]

first off don't let them think they have you . when you walk in tell them we are buying a car and it can be from you or I'll go else were. when they give you a price you always laugh at them .oh and don't tell them you have a trade in until they start to drool that they are getting a sale. When we were looking at RVs we found one we liked used and asked them the price they wanted $20,000 so I walked . I checked on there web site and went back in 2 weeks and asked them the price again. they told me the same $20,000 so I laughed at them and told them I would give them $12,000. Well first DH looked at me like I was crazy then the dealer Kind of laughed at me so I just said ok you can sit on the RV for another year and have to replace all kinds of parts that have deteriorated from not being used and I started to leave. Well he jumped up and said he would be right back . We got the RV for $14,000. YOU HAVE TO BE A HARD @SS sometimes.my Dad taught me that. if all else fails look in the news paper in the legal section and buy one that was a repo and just sell yours yourself.


Bunny, you sound like me, never give up! I did the same thing when we were trying to get a house for my daughter some years back, the house was a total mess, in need of huge repairs and they were asking $69,000, I put in a bid of $35,000, got it for $37,000.....our realtor/friend was amazed, but like I told her, the worse they can say is no.

[ibeapoet]

Can I send ya'll with my DH???? Some realy good advice. I've finally found several in KY that is priced around kbb and I'm going to call or email on them. The demand for the 5 must be a lot less in KY than in Tn because the milage to price ratio is much much less. Keep your fingers crossed.

[bunny]

Good luck !!

[Cindy]

Do you have a Carmax near you? They will give you an estimated trade in value, which is good for 7 days, but you don't have to buy one of their cars. Our first experience with them was with my hubby's Jeep-they gave us $700 more than what we were thinking, and the second time was with my PT Cruiser. They gave us $1000 more than we were thinking. Both vehicles had 'issues' with them, and there was no way we would get the money that we did with another car dealership.

We are more than pleased with them-good luck to you and your DH!

[Cpogie]

Do you have a Carmax near you? They will give you an estimated trade in value, which is good for 7 days, but you don't have to buy one of their cars. Our first experience with them was with my hubby's Jeep-they gave us $700 more than what we were thinking, and the second time was with my PT Cruiser. They gave us $1000 more than we were thinking. Both vehicles had 'issues' with them, and there was no way we would get the money that we did with another car dealership.

We are more than pleased with them-good luck to you and your DH!

Thats an excellent suggestion too!! Best of luck!!

[ibeapoet]

Well... sometimes things just go strangely. We drove onto a mazda. suzuki lot to look at a used mazda 5 and my dh spotted a SX4 and we came home with it. We're at half the intrest we were paying on the focus and in a cheaper car payment and the same term lenght. I like to have fell over. And it's brand new!!! My dh's first new car. Thanks ladies for all the advice.:D

[Cpogie]

Yeah, and Congrats to you both on the new car. Happy at last.:D

[Motherofthree]

Well... sometimes things just go strangely. We drove onto a mazda. suzuki lot to look at a used mazda 5 and my dh spotted a SX4 and we came home with it. We're at half the intrest we were paying on the focus and in a cheaper car payment and the same term lenght. I like to have fell over. And it's brand new!!! My dh's first new car. Thanks ladies for all the advice.:D

Congrats on the new car! :D

[SSIAnkie]

Way to get a bargain! Congratulations! :D

[ALawicki]

You got lucky! Seth is trying to trade off his car so we can get him into a cheaper payment (he pays over $400 a month) and they are saying they only want to give him $4000-5000 for a BMW convertible:eek: We found a place that would give him close to his payoff and they had a really nice jeep we loved, but since it was used the bank wouldn't finance him for more than 48 months. With them not completely paying off his car there was no way he could get it cause the payment would have been close to the same. We are having a horrible time. His brother is going to go with him and act like it is his car and make the deal and then once they are going to do the paperwork and such Seth will step in. I hope it works. I have to look up some cars for him today while he is at work. Getting rid of that car will save us so much money and we will have more to save for the house we are going to try and buy in a year or so!

[ibeapoet]

You got lucky! Seth is trying to trade off his car so we can get him into a cheaper payment (he pays over $400 a month) and they are saying they only want to give him $4000-5000 for a BMW convertible:eek: We found a place that would give him close to his payoff and they had a really nice jeep we loved, but since it was used the bank wouldn't finance him for more than 48 months. With them not completely paying off his car there was no way he could get it cause the payment would have been close to the same. We are having a horrible time. His brother is going to go with him and act like it is his car and make the deal and then once they are going to do the paperwork and such Seth will step in. I hope it works. I have to look up some cars for him today while he is at work. Getting rid of that car will save us so much money and we will have more to save for the house we are going to try and buy in a year or so!

Try a credit union instead of a bank. It depends on the year and the milage of a car how long the term of the loan will be. But if its at least an 06 you should be able to push it too 5 years.

[ALawicki]

Try a credit union instead of a bank. It depends on the year and the milage of a car how long the term of the loan will be. But if its at least an 06 you should be able to push it too 5 years.

It wasn't an 06. It was like an 05 or something and it had ALOT of miles on it. It was a jacked up jeep, so I figured they wouldn't give him a long loan. We are going to look at a truck this weekend, so hopefully that will work out. And the truck is brand new! They have a $9000 rebate on it:D

[Ryan's Mom]

It wasn't an 06. It was like an 05 or something and it had ALOT of miles on it. It was a jacked up jeep, so I figured they wouldn't give him a long loan. We are going to look at a truck this weekend, so hopefully that will work out. And the truck is brand new! They have a $9000 rebate on it:D

We bought a new Chevy HHR last summer. We weren't planning to, but the motor in our '01 Deville blew up with less than 42,000 miles on it! I had never purchased an extended warranty, but we got the Deville used and the previous owner had a transferable warranty which only cost us $50 to transfer. Thank goodness we did. They had to rebuild the motor and I only had to pay a $50 deductible. I don't know what it costs to have a Northstar V8 rebuilt, but someone told me it is around $2500-$3000! When we went to purchase another car, we paid the difference between the trade-in and the new car cost with a check from our home equity line of credit. Better interest rate and to them it is a cash purchase. We shopped near the end of the month and we also checked out several dealers and ended up with two dealers competing for our business. The really funny part is that if the 2nd dealer got us he was going to get the car I wanted from the 1st dealer. In the end we only paid a little over $4000 difference between the trade-in value (I didn't tell them the motor was rebuilt) and the price of the new car, including tax and title etc. They also had a $2500 rebate going. I should think that the end of the year would be a great time to purchase a new car, better than the end of the month, if their fiscal year ends 12/31. They should be trying to get their sales figures up as high as they can at that time. Just let them know that you are quite willing to walk away and if you're looking at a vehicle from another dealer it might not hurt to let them know. That's what we did. Oh, and this time I got the extended warranty. I figure that what we saved not having to pay for the repairs to the Deville's motor more than covered the $900 for the warranty.

[ALawicki]

We bought a new Chevy HHR last summer. We weren't planning to, but the motor in our '01 Deville blew up with less than 42,000 miles on it! I had never purchased an extended warranty, but we got the Deville used and the previous owner had a transferable warranty which only cost us $50 to transfer. Thank goodness we did. They had to rebuild the motor and I only had to pay a $50 deductible. I don't know what it costs to have a Northstar V8 rebuilt, but someone told me it is around $2500-$3000! When we went to purchase another car, we paid the difference between the trade-in and the new car cost with a check from our home equity line of credit. Better interest rate and to them it is a cash purchase. We shopped near the end of the month and we also checked out several dealers and ended up with two dealers competing for our business. The really funny part is that if the 2nd dealer got us he was going to get the car I wanted from the 1st dealer. In the end we only paid a little over $4000 difference between the trade-in value (I didn't tell them the motor was rebuilt) and the price of the new car, including tax and title etc. They also had a $2500 rebate going. I should think that the end of the year would be a great time to purchase a new car, better than the end of the month, if their fiscal year ends 12/31. They should be trying to get their sales figures up as high as they can at that time. Just let them know that you are quite willing to walk away and if you're looking at a vehicle from another dealer it might not hurt to let them know. That's what we did. Oh, and this time I got the extended warranty. I figure that what we saved not having to pay for the repairs to the Deville's motor more than covered the $900 for the warranty.

He just went and looked at another car this weekend and they still didn't want to give him anything for his car. I was shocked. They said they could get him into a lower payment, but it wasn't that much lower and he would be upside down again for another 6 years:eek: He threatened to walk a few times and they would come back and do it over, but they wouldn't even give him close to his pay off. So he decided just to keep his car and pay it off in the next 2 years and we will both have paid off cars. That way we can sell his car once it is paid off and take that money and get him a cheap jeep. Plus with both of us having paid for cars in 2 years we will have more money for a house (which we will be buying in 2 years once I finish school) and we will have extra money to buy the SUV I want for babies!!! I am kind of glad it worked out this way cause it is better for us in the long run!