OT: Paying cash for a new car, tips?

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by froze

Just fake it! Tell them you are interested in getting a loan, negotiate the lowest price possible with them thinking you're going to finance it, go back into the finance room, then simply tell them you changed your mind and you'll be paying cash, thank them for their time and write a check.

And they'll give you a new sales contract with a higher price. If you think you're going to bait and switch a car dealer, it aint going to happen.

[froze]

Originally Posted by CAAD

The minute you say finance, you will fill out a credit app on the sales floor.

Then do it, fill it out, just because you filled it out doesn't mean you accept the loan.

[fourflys]

by all accounts I've seen the car sales world heading quickly into a bit of a hurt locker right now.. so unless you are looking at a high demand vehicle, you will likely be in the driver's seat (pun intended).. as long as you're prepared to go in with a price in mind that you want to pay and walk if you don't get it, I think you might do very well.. I was pretty surprised when I bought my new car at the end of Oct and got about $5k off the sticker (new 23 Subaru Forester Wilderness).. makes me wonder if I could do even better now?

[yngpunk]

Originally Posted by froze

Then do it, fill it out, just because you filled it out doesn't mean you accept the loan.

Other than the temporary hit to your credit score due to an hard inquiry, the less people who have access to your credit information the better.

[CAAD]

If you have a savvy business manager go ahead and finance it but ask what his charge back period is. 60 days usually, get the loan, pay the loan down just enough for 2 payments, do them a solid by letting them get paid without paying much interest and getting a good price on the car.

[froze]

Originally Posted by CAAD

If you have a savvy business manager go ahead and finance it but ask what his charge back period is. 60 days usually, get the loan, pay the loan down just enough for 2 payments, do them a solid by letting them get paid without paying much interest and getting a good price on the car.

There we go, I like this!!

[45K10]

Just to bump this up and give an update:
We purchased a new '24 Rav 4 Prime yesterday (cash deal w/trade-in) and got a great deal.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! We especially found the tactic of leaving the dealership and negotiating the deal over text to be very helpful.

Thanks again!

[buddybikes]

If you work for large company, see what extra deals that your company signed up for, some employee rewards program. I was surprised when I went in and saw Audi is giving 6% cash back, above and beyond what you (I hate this word, negotiate) If they had a hybrid allroad, would be all over it. Just drive our old cars and not worry about insurance tracking....

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by superbowlpats

If paying cash most dealers will insist on a bank aka certified check or wire transfer. There are some pretty reasonable interest rate deals out there if you dont want a ton of cash tied up in your new car. I just got .9% for 36 months on a new 23 Honda Ridgeline.

Yeah, if you can secure a low rate somehow, paying cash for what is a pretty big ticket item in your life, second to your home, doesn't make a ton of sense, especially when CD rates are around 5%. Just go to the bank and write a check to them for a five year CD, and you'll be ahead in the end.

[CAAD]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Yeah, if you can secure a low rate somehow, paying cash for what is a pretty big ticket item in your life, second to your home, doesn't make a ton of sense, especially when CD rates are around 5%. Just go to the bank and write a check to them for a five year CD, and you'll be ahead in the end.

Only with a new car purchase will you get a good rate. New cars are a bad deal anyway. If you are savvy enough to go through with the above plan, then you are savvy enough to know new cars are a terrible idea. With new cars, you have to consider depreciation or keep it till the wheels fall off.

On the other hand, Used car prices are coming down. BUT the rates even with excellent credit (800+ score) are hovering around 7%.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by CAAD

Only with a new car purchase will you get a good rate. New cars are a bad deal anyway. If you are savvy enough to go through with the above plan, then you are savvy enough to know new cars are a terrible idea. With new cars, you have to consider depreciation or keep it till the wheels fall off.

On the other hand, Used car prices are coming down. BUT the rates even with excellent credit (800+ score) are hovering around 7%.

True, but, as you say, used car prices are still a bit absurd. Sometimes you have to look at a low rate for a new car with long warranty vs. used with mileage and shorter life. I was buying lightly used cars for awhile, but my present car was a pretty good deal new, and I'm pretty sure it will last ten years plus.
But, we live in a world of 60,000 dollar pickup trucks that are, essentially, 40-50 year old tech, and drivers all around me who are most likely in debt for hundreds of thousands in their lives driving cars that cost them maybe three to four times what they should be actually spending. Logic never counts in the car market.

[Ken Robb]

I didn't go back to read the early posts but I have received some excellent quotes using buying services offered by USAA, AAA, Costco and once finding a great deal/ad in the LA Times and getting a San Diego dealer to match it. Several turned me down but the third sales manager I spoke with was happy to take the deal.

[froze]

Originally Posted by CAAD

Only with a new car purchase will you get a good rate. New cars are a bad deal anyway. If you are savvy enough to go through with the above plan, then you are savvy enough to know new cars are a terrible idea. With new cars, you have to consider depreciation or keep it till the wheels fall off.

On the other hand, Used car prices are coming down. BUT the rates even with excellent credit (800+ score) are hovering around 7%.

He's already bought the vehicle. But you are correct, it's not a wise decision to buy a new car due to the huge depreciation of around 50% just in the first 4 years of ownership. Loans (including credit cards) are a bad deal as well. It's easy to become upside down on a car loan due to the depreciation, which means if the car is totaled or stolen, you'll owe money on a car you no longer have, then people fall into the second trap, they go and finance another car and have the old loan balance transferred to the new loan, a horrible thing to do, now you're extremely upside down.

It's quite easy to buy a car with cash if you are smart about it. All you do is figure out how much of a car payment you can afford a month, then put that money each month into a separate savings account marked "car". Some places of employment will even have a savings account you can opt into where whatever amount you want gets taken from your paycheck every month and deposited if you are the kind of person that spends money recklessly and needs assistance not to spend it, if it's not there, you can't spend it mentality.

In today's world we have the internet, you can go online to 4 or 5 different car for sale sites and simply search for a car that you want, you can request how far out you want to search, a max odometer mileage you're willing to accept, max price, and other things as well, hit enter and boom, you have a bunch of cars fitting your wants.

I was looking for a retirement toy car since I sold all my classic toys 6 years ago, but being a car guy that itch roared up, so I started looking at several different older convertible sports cars and after a while decided to look at a Lexus SC430 because with those if the wife and I want to go someplace overnight we can put the dogs in the backseat, and the Lexus fitted several requirements that I wanted, convertible primarily, this car has a removable hardtop, check; back seat for the dogs, check; decent horsepower, check. With the internet I found a 2002 with only 53,000 miles on the odo, in new-like condition, being sold by a Lexus dealership, for under $11,000 on a manager special sale. I did have to travel 160 miles to go see it, but I was confident that the car was in good shape after talking with the salesperson, so got down there and it was in near-perfect condition, test drove it and bought it. Drove it home and it drove and rode wonderfully, but it was cold out so dang it, the top stayed up!

I originally wanted an older Alfa Romeo Spider, they did cost more on average, but what I forgot to think about was the dogs, where do I put the dogs in a car like that? So I had to switch gears to think about them. Having at one time owned a Spider I know how to work on most of it, but thinking back on that Spider, I know it doesn't ride as nice as the Lexus does, plus I would have to fool around with the Spider more, and since I'm not getting any younger, ehh, working on cars isn't great on my back anymore, time to move on.

Anyway, if you use the internet like I do all the time for the last 30 years to find cars you can get any car you want with low mileage at a price you can afford.

Word of caution though when using the internet, most car lots that sell only used cars and are not associated with a new car dealership will have by and large, mostly junk cars regardless of the mileage, a car may have low mileage but the chances are high it was in a wreck, and they'll charge more for the car then it's worth. The CarFax can be deceiving, if the car was in an accident and it was repaired using cash instead of an insurance company paying out a claim, the CarFax will show no accident history, the police taking a report do NOT send anything to CarFax, only the insurance company that pays out a claim files the report to CarFax.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by 45K10

Just to bump this up and give an update:
We purchased a new '24 Rav 4 Prime yesterday (cash deal w/trade-in) and got a great deal.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! We especially found the tactic of leaving the dealership and negotiating the deal over text to be very helpful.

Thanks again!

Congrats on the new car. Just curious, what sort of deal were you able to get? I remember a year ago(?) or so, those RAV4 Prime’s were going 10%+ over MSRP.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by froze

He's already bought the vehicle. But you are correct, it's not a wise decision to buy a new car due to the huge depreciation of around 50% just in the first 4 years of ownership. Loans (including credit cards) are a bad deal as well. It's easy to become upside down on a car loan due to the depreciation, which means if the car is totaled or stolen, you'll owe money on a car you no longer have, then people fall into the second trap, they go and finance another car and have the old loan balance transferred to the new loan, a horrible thing to do, now you're extremely upside down.

It's quite easy to buy a car with cash if you are smart about it. All you do is figure out how much of a car payment you can afford a month, then put that money each month into a separate savings account marked "car". Some places of employment will even have a savings account you can opt into where whatever amount you want gets taken from your paycheck every month and deposited if you are the kind of person that spends money recklessly and needs assistance not to spend it, if it's not there, you can't spend it mentality.

In today's world we have the internet, you can go online to 4 or 5 different car for sale sites and simply search for a car that you want, you can request how far out you want to search, a max odometer mileage you're willing to accept, max price, and other things as well, hit enter and boom, you have a bunch of cars fitting your wants.

I was looking for a retirement toy car since I sold all my classic toys 6 years ago, but being a car guy that itch roared up, so I started looking at several different older convertible sports cars and after a while decided to look at a Lexus SC430 because with those if the wife and I want to go someplace overnight we can put the dogs in the backseat, and the Lexus fitted several requirements that I wanted, convertible primarily, this car has a removable hardtop, check; back seat for the dogs, check; decent horsepower, check. With the internet I found a 2002 with only 53,000 miles on the odo, in new-like condition, being sold by a Lexus dealership, for under $11,000 on a manager special sale. I did have to travel 160 miles to go see it, but I was confident that the car was in good shape after talking with the salesperson, so got down there and it was in near-perfect condition, test drove it and bought it. Drove it home and it drove and rode wonderfully, but it was cold out so dang it, the top stayed up!

I originally wanted an older Alfa Romeo Spider, they did cost more on average, but what I forgot to think about was the dogs, where do I put the dogs in a car like that? So I had to switch gears to think about them. Having at one time owned a Spider I know how to work on most of it, but thinking back on that Spider, I know it doesn't ride as nice as the Lexus does, plus I would have to fool around with the Spider more, and since I'm not getting any younger, ehh, working on cars isn't great on my back anymore, time to move on.

Anyway, if you use the internet like I do all the time for the last 30 years to find cars you can get any car you want with low mileage at a price you can afford.

Word of caution though when using the internet, most car lots that sell only used cars and are not associated with a new car dealership will have by and large, mostly junk cars regardless of the mileage, a car may have low mileage but the chances are high it was in a wreck, and they'll charge more for the car then it's worth. The CarFax can be deceiving, if the car was in an accident and it was repaired using cash instead of an insurance company paying out a claim, the CarFax will show no accident history, the police taking a report do NOT send anything to CarFax, only the insurance company that pays out a claim files the report to CarFax.

I stopped at Alfa Spyder as a toy car. Pretty sure this thread is all about saving money when buying a car. Thanks for proving my point that trillions (no exaggeration) have been spent on cars during my lifetime that could have been spent better elsewhere.