There should be a class in school dedicated to teaching people about the transportation industry. It's so broad and diverse that the great many of us get swallowed up in it-wallet first. One of the most basic requirements that holds sure for most jobs is that you have reliable transportation and not just your Chevrolegs. Probably the most challenging is determining where to start learning and who to trust. It seems that some of the most habitual liars are employed selling you stuff related to transportation. So we are going to start here; getting your information from someone who got tired of sales people and mechanics lying and cheating their way to selling me stuff I didn't really need.
I am sure that we all know how affordable walking is and even bike riding, so we'll skip past those and straight into the serious wheels.
Before you consider buying another vehicle (or your first), make every effort necessary to take an introductory class on automotive technology or send a family member in for that training. Having a trusted source with some automotive knowledge goes a long way and community college courses are so inexpensive that you'll recover the money quickly by avoiding the purchase of lemons or paying for services you don't need.
The least expensive route to vehicle ownership is, as you may already know, to buy a used vehicle. This can often be a trap, though, because you don't know how well the vehicle was cared for by previous owners. Even the respected Hondas and Toyotas of the eighties and nineties could turn out to be lemons, especially since so many people think that such cars are indestructible and rarely maintain the vehicle (often driving the car like it's stolen). There are a few basic rules that I have for purchasing a used car, which, when followed, generally produce great results. Get a competent mechanic to inspect any used vehicle you want to buy.
The most important rules to have for yourself when preparing to buy a car are to get plenty of rest (you'll make better decisions), take your time (most mistakes will be made under a sense of urgency), do your research and be prepared to walk away from any deal for any reason.
Some of us won't be satisfied with a used vehicle and will therefore want to buy new (or newer). Though the aforementioned rules apply equally well, though there needs to be some further explanation of the car sales world for the weight of the rules to be fully realized. In automotive dealerships, there is a process for dealing with customers that is often outright crooked. Be aware that no matter how well you prepare for dealing with them, they are employed full time in the field of getting people to sign. I'll have to actually walk you through a condensed version of the process you'll be led on and comment along the way with insights into the how and why of it. Upon arrival, you are greeted by a friendly face who could be a seasoned sales person or a new hire who has the hunger for sales. The role this person play is highly dependent on whether they have any skill in sales and not as much actual experience at dealerships. A good sales person will illicit fact about and feed those facts back to you in a way that makes you feel already at home with the car, like it's attached to you at the hip. Once the sales person gets you attached to the car, you'll be passed on to a senior sales person who will get you to provide your financial information and begin paperwork and negotiating the price.
When you submit an offer (hopefully you did your homework and know how low to go with that first offer) the senior sales person will often have to take it to their boss for approval, which is a part of a routine meant to wear you down. If you keep attempting to haggle, they will let you haggle nickles and dimes until you get drowsy, thirsty, hungry and you can't do it anymore. Once you get to the point of exhaustion, you get passed on to who will often be the person who walks you through actually signing the paperwork (a legally binding financial agreement). You may have thought that you did all the negotiating with the former senior sales person, but there are more options to decide on, places to sign and more things to just wear you down.
Up until this point, you may have thought that you did a good job haggling down the price and though you may have, there is much more wiggle room in finance fees and upgrades that can add all those savings right back on and then some.
Now I'll highlight what you can do to avoid being deceived. Please note that I believe that somewhere out there exist honest sales people, but don't bother trying to find them. Schedule a day to go on a couple dry runs; go to a couple dealerships and practice walking away after negotiating with a sales person (be prepared for them to follow you out to your car trying to get you back in). If you feel bad about it, just realize that it's just more practice for them too. It is important that you practice walking out in real life, so that the experience on the day it matters most is not new to you. Take the entire day off of work, push everything else off of your schedule for the day of real negotiating and bring some snacks and water. Don't bring your kids or any other distractions. Turn off your cell phone unless you must have it on and be on guard.
Your initial offer should cut out all their profit and almost be insulting. You want the car at cost. Make that your goal and, though it won't happen, you'll get closer to it than you thought you could. You might settle with the senior sales person, but the haggling has not even started. You should be on high alert when they offer you a pen. I had to take the pen from my wife's hand the first time she bought a new car, because she was too nervous and under their spell. Don't let anything on the contract go unchecked or be blank. You must read the whole contract if you don't want them to sneak in extra profit for themselves. When I went through my wife's contract, I caught several mistakes that would have cost us between hundreds and thousands extra. One mistake was on a part of the contract (OPTION to waive finance charge) that was supposed to allow us to bring in our own loan within a certain period of time( we went to our bank before ever setting foot on a dealership and got approved for a very inexpensive loan). If you don't catch something like that, which is a single and not very catchy line, you could end up owing the difference between the interest your bank charges and the interest of the loan you sign for at the dealer.If that doesn't make sense, just do some research on loan agreements.
Nothing's easy in world of transportation except Sunday drives on lonely roads. You will save more when you put work into saving. By doing research and planning ahead, you can save much. No matter how much you plan, though, always be ready for something that will jump up out of nowhere like a dear on that lonely Sunday drive.
I am sure that we all know how affordable walking is and even bike riding, so we'll skip past those and straight into the serious wheels.
Before you consider buying another vehicle (or your first), make every effort necessary to take an introductory class on automotive technology or send a family member in for that training. Having a trusted source with some automotive knowledge goes a long way and community college courses are so inexpensive that you'll recover the money quickly by avoiding the purchase of lemons or paying for services you don't need.
The least expensive route to vehicle ownership is, as you may already know, to buy a used vehicle. This can often be a trap, though, because you don't know how well the vehicle was cared for by previous owners. Even the respected Hondas and Toyotas of the eighties and nineties could turn out to be lemons, especially since so many people think that such cars are indestructible and rarely maintain the vehicle (often driving the car like it's stolen). There are a few basic rules that I have for purchasing a used car, which, when followed, generally produce great results. Get a competent mechanic to inspect any used vehicle you want to buy.
The most important rules to have for yourself when preparing to buy a car are to get plenty of rest (you'll make better decisions), take your time (most mistakes will be made under a sense of urgency), do your research and be prepared to walk away from any deal for any reason.
Some of us won't be satisfied with a used vehicle and will therefore want to buy new (or newer). Though the aforementioned rules apply equally well, though there needs to be some further explanation of the car sales world for the weight of the rules to be fully realized. In automotive dealerships, there is a process for dealing with customers that is often outright crooked. Be aware that no matter how well you prepare for dealing with them, they are employed full time in the field of getting people to sign. I'll have to actually walk you through a condensed version of the process you'll be led on and comment along the way with insights into the how and why of it. Upon arrival, you are greeted by a friendly face who could be a seasoned sales person or a new hire who has the hunger for sales. The role this person play is highly dependent on whether they have any skill in sales and not as much actual experience at dealerships. A good sales person will illicit fact about and feed those facts back to you in a way that makes you feel already at home with the car, like it's attached to you at the hip. Once the sales person gets you attached to the car, you'll be passed on to a senior sales person who will get you to provide your financial information and begin paperwork and negotiating the price.
When you submit an offer (hopefully you did your homework and know how low to go with that first offer) the senior sales person will often have to take it to their boss for approval, which is a part of a routine meant to wear you down. If you keep attempting to haggle, they will let you haggle nickles and dimes until you get drowsy, thirsty, hungry and you can't do it anymore. Once you get to the point of exhaustion, you get passed on to who will often be the person who walks you through actually signing the paperwork (a legally binding financial agreement). You may have thought that you did all the negotiating with the former senior sales person, but there are more options to decide on, places to sign and more things to just wear you down.
Up until this point, you may have thought that you did a good job haggling down the price and though you may have, there is much more wiggle room in finance fees and upgrades that can add all those savings right back on and then some.
Now I'll highlight what you can do to avoid being deceived. Please note that I believe that somewhere out there exist honest sales people, but don't bother trying to find them. Schedule a day to go on a couple dry runs; go to a couple dealerships and practice walking away after negotiating with a sales person (be prepared for them to follow you out to your car trying to get you back in). If you feel bad about it, just realize that it's just more practice for them too. It is important that you practice walking out in real life, so that the experience on the day it matters most is not new to you. Take the entire day off of work, push everything else off of your schedule for the day of real negotiating and bring some snacks and water. Don't bring your kids or any other distractions. Turn off your cell phone unless you must have it on and be on guard.
Your initial offer should cut out all their profit and almost be insulting. You want the car at cost. Make that your goal and, though it won't happen, you'll get closer to it than you thought you could. You might settle with the senior sales person, but the haggling has not even started. You should be on high alert when they offer you a pen. I had to take the pen from my wife's hand the first time she bought a new car, because she was too nervous and under their spell. Don't let anything on the contract go unchecked or be blank. You must read the whole contract if you don't want them to sneak in extra profit for themselves. When I went through my wife's contract, I caught several mistakes that would have cost us between hundreds and thousands extra. One mistake was on a part of the contract (OPTION to waive finance charge) that was supposed to allow us to bring in our own loan within a certain period of time( we went to our bank before ever setting foot on a dealership and got approved for a very inexpensive loan). If you don't catch something like that, which is a single and not very catchy line, you could end up owing the difference between the interest your bank charges and the interest of the loan you sign for at the dealer.If that doesn't make sense, just do some research on loan agreements.
Nothing's easy in world of transportation except Sunday drives on lonely roads. You will save more when you put work into saving. By doing research and planning ahead, you can save much. No matter how much you plan, though, always be ready for something that will jump up out of nowhere like a dear on that lonely Sunday drive.
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