After spending many years in the automobile business and selling thousands of vehicles I can tell you the best way to negotiate a new car deal no matter what make you are looking for. Let's begin by assuming you have found the make and model of car, truck or SUV you want. The next step is to search your local newspaper to find ads for deals on that vehicle. This will give you an idea of the discounts dealers are offering. Most dealers will try to match competitor's ads so if your local dealer's price is a little higher don't worry in fact bring the best competitors ad with you when you visit the dealership. Going through an on line service like edmunds.com or autobytel is also an excellent way to get dealers to bid for your business. You submit your information along with the exact vehicle you want through their form and it is sent out to several local dealers for their best quotes

How Can I Find Out The Invoice Price ?

There are several site on the internet that will give you free information on vehicle invoices and package costs. A good source of this information is edmunds.com

Beware The Deceptive Ads

By this I mean read the ad carefully. If you see a great price scan the ad to see if it says " One at this price " or under discounts it list " Recent college grad " or " Military Rebate " or other items that are used to discount the vehicle that you may not qualify for. See when the ad expires. Some will expire at the close of business the day they come out.

How Can I Calculate An Approximate Payment ?

Everyone has a budget and a payment they can afford but you will get your best deal by working on the price of the car not what the dealer wants you to work on which is the payment. Let me give you an example of a typical payment based on good credit with a score of over 700 an interest rate of 5.5% and a term of 72 months. Let's assume you will be financing $30,000 your payment should be around $540.00 a month or about $18.00 for every thousand financed. If your credit is below 700 the interest rate will go up and of course the payment will also Keep in mind that some online payment calculators don't figure in your local tax rate so the payment may be off.

How Much Money Should I Put Down ?

The answer is simple. No more than you have to. By this I mean if you are trying to get to a certain payment you may want to put more money down and at the very least I would put down tax, title and license. Depending on your state this could be up to 10% of the selling price of the vehicle. Remember a car is not an appreciating item like say a house so only put extra money down to get to a lower payment or cover negative equity in a trade in vehicle.

How Much Is My Trade-In Worth ?

A simple answer to this question is usually not as much as you think. Everyone is familiar with Kelly Blue Book and you can use it to get an estimated trade in value for your vehicle. After entering in all the options KBB will give you three values. Excellent ( very few cars will qualify ) Good ( where most vehicles fall ) and poor ( don't trade this vehicle in sell it on your own.) The values on each of these categories is an estimate and in the real world most dealers will give you below these numbers but there is some logic to this. First a franchised dealer by law must safety inspect the vehicle which may involve new tires or brakes. Next the car needs to be made ready to show. Any dings or dents must be removed and a complete detail must be done. Add to this the advertising in newspapers etc. plus interest a dealer must pay to a bank if the vehicle doesn't sell for awhile. You usually get less than you wanted. Another way to dispose of your trade-in is Carmax. They buy used vehicles even if you don't buy a car from them and usually will pay you more than a dealer will give you. If there is one in your area it might be worth checking them out if you dealer can't give you what you want.

Want Is Negative Equity ?

Negative equity is the amount of money you owe on your trade-in minus what it is worth. For example you owe $10,000 on your car. The dealer is giving you $8000 your are negative or $2000 upside down in your car. You now have a few choices. Pay the difference in cash, finance the negative ( which will affect your payment ) or try to get more money for your trade-in. To help keep your payments manageable and not set you up for more negative equity when you trade in the new car your purchasing now consider paying the difference unless you are financing at a 0% interest rate or some other low manufacturer's rate. Getting more money for your trade-in from the dealer is usually a good bet. It may not be much but even an extra $500-600 is that much less you need to come up with. Always challenge the first figure the dealer gives you for your trade. Financing the negative equity should be your last resort.

What About Financing ?

If you have good credit and the vehicle you are trying to purchase doesn't have a low manufactures special interest rate, 0%, 2.9% etc., I suggest you contact your local bank or credit union to get pre-qualified for a loan. You can always see if the dealer can beat your interest rate but believe me this is the best way to get financed. You can do this over the internet and usually get an answer within hours Dealers can markup the rate one to two percentage points and get paid from the bank they are financing through for the amount financing. This is called making points. .

What Is a Good Deal?

A good deal is when you pay at or near invoice for the new vehicle you are buying before any rebates.

Do your home work before you go to your dealer and you too will be able to get a great deal on a new car, truck or SUV.