This article will show you the best way to buy a car - not to be confused with the best way to choose a car.
You buy a car when you pay for it.
Choosing a car is something different.
When choosing a car there are many variables that you must consider including make, model, style, color, options, tires, etc.
It is after you have chosen the car that you must contend with the thing that stands between you wanting it and you owning it - the price.
Once you have chosen a car, you have to buy (pay for) the car.
The best way to buy a car is with cash in hand or your car loan already in order.
This is the only way to ensure that you will not be oversold or out-negotiated on the auto sales floor.
Most times, people go looking for a vehicle before they look for the loan and they get their financing through the dealership.
As common as this is, it is actually the opposite of what you should be doing in order to get the best deal.
Have you ever gone to a dealership and been asked what monthly payment you are looking for? I have...
and then I had to play hardball to actually get that payment.
The salesperson kept going in back and "talking to his manager" and coming back with payments that were just a little above the payment I was looking for.
The payments weren't too much above, but high enough to make me say "try again".
To make a long story short, I spent the next three days in negotiations before I drove away in my new car with the payment I was looking for.
Luckily, I wasn't in any rush because I knew this game was about to be played and I was going to win, but for three days it was a pain in the neck.
That was several years ago.
Since then, I have learned how buy a car - how to walk into a car dealership and drive out with the car I want within a couple of hours.
The best way to buy a car is to have your financing approved ahead of time.
Car salespeople have a lot of tricks they use to build fees and commissions into the price of your car.
If you tell them where you want your monthly payment to be, they may try to tack on a few extra dollars each month by adding to your principal amount.
The money that is added to your principal is all dealership commissions.
That few extra dollars you are paying each month could amount to thousands of dollars in commissions.
The problem is, as soon as you drive off of the lot, your car is worth thousands less than your loan amount.
So the best way to buy a car is to get your car loan before you go around kicking tires.
This way you know exactly what you are working with, exactly how much your monthly payment will be, and you can use your energy to pick out the best car instead of playing the "negotiating game".
Ken S.
, Founder LowRateSearch © 2010