How do you save money on a new car? Well, we just bought a car, and we saved thousands of dollars, but not without some work. We purchased a 2019 Toyota Camry. And we got the car in September. Andy has already scuffed up the rims. Anyways, here is our vehicle.
Here’s how we save money on a new car.
We have been planning to buy this car for almost 2 years now and talked about how it was one of our big financial purchases this year. We have been talking about it and seriously saving for it. And we thought we would purchase sometime in a 4-6 month timeframe, but we kept pushing it back to save more. However, we got a push and went on a mission to get this car. I learned shopping for a new car is not fun.
The Car Research
We did research on the various cars we were wanting. We looked at what we wanted and what we needed. What cars would be more dependable for our family? How would we be using the vehicle in the future? How long would we want to keep the car once we got one? What is the resale value if you may have to sell the car? These were the questions and more to figure out what car we wanted. Once we decided, we kind of sat on that decision. We really want to make sure that we wanted that car. We did look at various models online and researched the different models to see which one would suit us. Yeah, we did lots of research.
The Comparison
We compared getting a new vs. used car. There are many advantages to getting a used car, one being price. We decided to look at 2018 cars still being used and still having a new feel. Then, we looked at mileage from each 2018 used car we checked out. We test drove the two models we narrowed down from all our research. It was eye-opening to test drive a car. You get the feel for it and then know which one you want. This helped us narrow down to the one model.
Where to Purchase
When you are looking for a car, it seems like everyone is screaming; they can get you what you want, and they have the best price. We first looked online at one car site and found the used car we liked for the price and the mileage. I went to the dealership, and test drove the car. I felt a weird vibration when I test drove it. Spoke to the salesman and he told me it was certified and that it was so blah blah blah. Honestly, I don’t think he took me seriously. He still was trying to sell me the car and get me a price. Found another dealership, and we went to test drive, and the car needed to be jumped, and the Carfax revealed the car had been in an accident, which explained the window noise we kept hearing.
So the best price with the best mileage was not getting us what we wanted. We checked out one more 2018 model, and we were liking everything about it. We thought this would be the one. Then decided to price a brand new 2019 model with 30 miles as well in addition to test driving one to see what the difference was. Price was definitely different – $7K difference.
I decided to check out TrueCar and Carfax to look for a used 2019 model. There we were able to compare the prices of the new 2019 vs. the used 2019. Honestly, I never thought of being a used 2019 model, but we were getting prices with better mileage compared to used 2018. So a couple coins saved there.
The Negotiations
Once we decided on the car, we did negotiate some.
1. We got our price down by comparing what we were buying to a comparable 2018 with the basically the same mileage we looked at and considered buying.
2. With the used, certified car we were getting 1.9% interest, but couldn’t get the same with the 2019 at the current dealership. We asked to get the difference in financing (so we would not pay more) to be taking off the price of the 2019.
3. Other dealerships, we asked if they threw in stuff. They offered free oil changes, upgraded floor mats, etc. for no additional cost. The best offer was a remote starter, so we asked it that would be thrown in once the finance was done and just about when we were going to sign the papers.
So, we did not spend more on what we would have paid for a used 2018. We have a used new 2019 (so basically nearly new) car, and the research and comparison paid off, pun intended.
Have you used any of these processes to save money on a car? What have you done to save money on a new car? Tell us in the comments below.
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