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new car buying advice

chrlswltrs said:
Since when? What are BMW and Tesla doing? I've never heard of that before at all. I grew up in NC, and I know just a few weeks ago an old classmate just sold a car through a private sale. I think you might be misinformed.
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Not sure if I understand the post or your reply, but it might be correct, one or the other. I have never seen auto sales direct to the consumer from the manufacturer. Dealers are one thing; they have been selling cars via ads forever.

I am looking at an ad from a dealer in CA offering new ($$$$$) cars and they will ship. Bike dealers I deal with do the same thing. Order, wait a week and ride off.

Harley-Davidson will not sell directly, but Starklite will.

Not sure how it would work. Bad things can happen to a car by the time it reaches the end user and it is not always pretty. Dealers clean up the car and prep it. I can well imaging getting a dinged and damaged car. Dealers buffer these problems don't they?

How do you return the bad one to the manufacturer? What about warranty service? What about manufacturers undermining their dealer networks?

And who do we hate after car salesmen go away?
 
runekey said:
No, go on Craigslist to buy used cars. Lurk around a little, learn how the used car ecosystem works, see what kind of prices things are listed at, and eventually make an offer.

By avoiding the stealership you cut out the middleman of used auto sales and save yourself a ton of cash
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However . . .

If you do not know anything about cars, a CL special can be a very costly car. Sometimes a trusted dealer is a good thing.

Several really good used dealers here in my area. One turned me on to my last Opel GT. Got a sweet deal, a solid runner and it was a great experience.
 
Bob Maxey said:
Not sure if I understand the post or your reply, but it might be correct, one or the other. I have never seen auto sales direct to the consumer from the manufacturer. Dealers are one thing; they have been selling cars via ads forever.

I am looking at an ad from a dealer in CA offering new ($$$$$) cars and they will ship. Bike dealers I deal with do the same thing. Order, wait a week and ride off.

Harley-Davidson will not sell directly, but Starklite will.

Not sure how it would work. Bad things can happen to a car by the time it reaches the end user and it is not always pretty. Dealers clean up the car and prep it. I can well imaging getting a dinged and damaged car. Dealers buffer these problems don't they?

How do you return the bad one to the manufacturer? What about warranty service? What about manufacturers undermining their dealer networks?

And who do we hate after car salesmen go away?
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Tesla and BMW aren't known for going bad on their warranties- in fact, Tesla has many service centers. It is a valid concern, but tell me this- what interest is it to the manufacturer to accrue a bad reputation? Hrm? Also, your "what ifs"- why should I HAVE to buy from a dealer if I want to buy directly from the manufacturer?

Or pay the hefty mark-ups dealerships enact to make their money (by necessity)?
 
dealerships.. get paid by OEMs to fix their warrantied cars. bill back.

that is how you can buy your car from one dealership.. move to another state and still get warranty
 
I agree with the others, buying new cars is one of the biggest (and most common) wastes of money i see happen. Think about it this way: whatever you chose to spend on a NEW car, say 30k, you could get a way better used car for the money. this is almost always true.
 
dibblebill said:
Or pay the hefty mark-ups dealerships enact to make their money (by necessity)?
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That all depends on the car. There isn't as much mark up as you think. I've sold many cars that had only $100 difference between dealer cost and MSRP. Some more expensive cars have more mark up, but the mark up on a used car is almost always higher than a new car unless the used car has been sitting on the lot for a few months and the dealership just wants to get rid of it. If dealerships only sold new cars, dealerships couldn't exist. There is a much bigger mark up on used cars, and service departments make money. 95% of dealerships lose money on their new car sales department.
 
i personaly dont believe all that talk about new cars dont ahve that much profit..

big ass lots..
many workers..
tv commercials..
radio commercials..
sponsor all kinds of things..

if they only making the difference between sold price and Dealer invoices..
it would not pay for all that! and profit for owners to have all the nice things they own.
i think there is some kind of Manufacture rebates/paybacks to dealerships each month.

how can new dearlership loose money and make profit on used cars.. when the used lot is small and new is huge???
 
dan330 said:
i personaly dont believe all that talk about new cars dont ahve that much profit..

big ass lots..
many workers..
tv commercials..
radio commercials..
sponsor all kinds of things..

if they only making the difference between sold price and Dealer invoices..
it would not pay for all that! and profit for owners to have all the nice things they own.
i think there is some kind of Manufacture rebates/paybacks to dealerships each month.

how can new dearlership loose money and make profit on used cars.. when the used lot is small and new is huge???
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They make money on service, used cars, financing, extended warranties, and on some higher end new cars. All that does add up. I'm not saying dealerships don't make money, I'm saying they don't make it on the sale price of new cars.

Most ads are paid for by the parent company, not the local dealership. Salespeople work on commission only.
 
After pondering and snooping for five years, I just got an ‘11 Kia Soul, 19K miles, for just under 13 grand. Had to drive a hundred miles to save about three grand. Same payments as my traded-in Subaru, good ride for a cheap little econobox.
 
Around two years old the sweet spot for me: still within manufacturers warranty (though I think the Kia has a longer warranty) but old enough that you're saving like 40% on the price as new .. at least, in the UK, if you're prepared to take your time to find the bargains.

I got my current car at 2.5 years old with 16K on the clock and paid 45% under list for the base model, never mind all the extras. Also got it from a main dealer who drove it 150 miles to me for the test drive.
 
And since I’ll probably keep this car for many years and had to succumb to a six year loan to keep the payments down, I got the warranty upgraded to 100K miles, bumper-to-bumper. As long as I don’t drive it 180 miles a day like I had to with my Subaru, it should all line up.
 
I just sat in it to marvel that I can audio-cord from my droid right into my car stereo, and power it from the adjacent USB jack. Then I listened to some Radiohead to hear what a bottom-of-the-line Kia stereo system can do. Amazing. Better sound than all the high-fi componentry I’ve paid dearly for over the years.
 
check on the ownership taxes, road tax, insurance, license, interest rate (if you loan), post sales service from the dealer, important phone numbers to contact in case of break down/accident, expenses for oil/fuel per km usage, sometimes different color also has different price.
 
check on the ownership taxes, a bit higher since it’s newer
road tax, no difference
insurance, turns out to be a bit less
license, interest rate (if you loan), higher but may refi
post sales service from the dealer, supposed to be good but I need the service at the local dealer which is going to be pissed that I went to Phoenix to save money
important phone numbers to contact in case of break down/accident, thank you
expenses for oil/fuel per km usage, about the same or less, smaller engine
sometimes different color also has different price. onliest one at that mileage/price
 
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