by Cody Hodge

Created on: February 21, 2009

When it comes to buying a car, there are several things that you need to know before you go into the dealership. You need to do your homework, and you need to know what you want, and how much you can pay. If you don't know this before you go in, don't go at all, just stay home and keep thinking about what you want. You can spend the time looking at cars at home, and without the pressure of a salesman. Once you find what you want, then go to the dealership and make a deal. When you are at the dealership you can then use these tips to help you get the best deal for your car.

The reason that you need to get the car, and the price in your head before you go to the dealership is because that is the easiest way for them to get you into a more expensive car. If you go to the dealer and you don't know what you want you have no clue if you are getting the right car for you.

Once you know what kind of car that you want, and you know your price range, you are ready to go to the dealership. Keep in mind that for every 10,000 dollars you are going to borrow, it is roughly 200 dollars a month in payments. So if you bought a 15,000 dollar car it would be 300 per month.

The first thing the dealer is going to do once you found the car you want is to sell you a warranty. Don't buy it, chances are you will never use it, and the only thing you are helping is the commission that the salesman is making. All the warranty does is raise the price on your car, and you won't have anything tangible to show for it.

After the warranty the dealer will try to sell you add-ons such as VIN etching, and other protective coatings. That again just raises the profit level for the dealer, and is something else that you don't need. Don't pay for anything that you haven't heard of before you entered the dealership.

After you get the pitch for all the stuff you don't need, the dealer is going to try and get you to pay the most possible. They will try to get you a really high interest rate, and will try to get you to pay in more than 60 months, which is the typical length of a car loan. This lowers the monthly payment, but will result in more interest paid over the life of the loan.

Once you settle on the price, consider what your trade in is going to be. You want to settle on a price before the trade in because you don't know what the dealer is going to give you for the trade, and you can negotiate a lower price first before the trade. If your trade is already factored in they will just give you a song and dance about how with trade you can't go any lower.

After the price is settled on after trade, and the monthly payment has been thrown out there, then you should take a minute and consider the offer. If the monthly payment is good to you, then go ahead and make the deal, but if it is higher than you would like, then go ahead and just leave. If the salesman goes to talk to his boss first, that isn't to get a better deal, again that is just for show.

Typically if you leave the dealership will call you back in a couple of days to tell you that magically your offer is acceptable. You can typically get down to the payment you want. When I went to get my new car last year, I wanted a payment of around 225, and the dealer offered 255 at best. I left the dealership, although it was an hour away, but I got my price, and I was very happy with the deal.

The trick to buying a car is to be patient. Don't let the dealer control you, you control the dealer. If you don't feel comfortable talking face to face, you can usually negotiate over the phone, and get a deal first then go sign paperwork. Remember there is no deal until you sign the paperwork, so don't sign anything until you have the best deal possible.

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