I bought a car! It was a stressful experience, especially to
someone like me who moved from Boston and never owned a car
before. Here is what I did. If you are also a first-time car buyer,
hope my experience is helpful to you.
The goal is to figure out what's the right car for you, how to buy one at a fair price, and how to avoid dealer scams. With google, research is really easy. Friends are also useful resources for information. This site carbuyingtips tells you more than what you want to know. I understood the car-buying process by skimming through the chapters. I simplified the steps listed in the chapters.
These two sites have collision test information:
If you are choosing between Toyota and Honda, I found that the data indicate Honda has a weaker frame (safety cage).
Again, carbuyingtips has too many links. Edmunds and CarsDirect are sufficient. I found that dealers are willing to match the price.
Get a pre-approved loan from your credit union.
Email/call a dealer to schedule a test drive.
Ask specifically whether they have the exact car you want. With Toyota dealers, I had a lot of difficulties. On the website, I could configure many options with a Toyota. But dealers simply would not have them on stock. For example, I didnot find any Camry v4 with both sunroof and side airbags in stock at the four Toyota dealers I contacted, or CarsDirect, but both options are marked as available at CarsDirect, and costco auto. I finally decided to get a Honda, although Toyota gained my heart with Prius .
After test drive, if you dont like the car you originally picked, go back to step 1.
Ask your friends to recommend an insurance agent for you. If you never have a car before, the dealer would not let you drive off the car without your proof of insurance. Your insurance agent needs to fax your proof of insurance to the dealer when you sign your paperwork.
Bring a folder with your lowest quote, your loan document, and your insurance agent's information. Also bring a big bottle of water, and someone you trust. You'll have a lot to fight off.
I was prepared, but still found the experience stressful and unpleasant. My dealer was frequently out of the office, putting me into long wait. He lied about every question I asked him. He tried to sell me a loan which I didnot plan to take, but I took it at the end for the sake of finishing the car buying business. However, he is the most reasonable one among the three dealers I met.
I believe I read this in-and-out trick at carbuyingtips. The purpose is to tire you down so that you do what they want you to do. If you are tougher than I, and are not in a hurry to buy a car, you may do what carbuyingtips suggests: put an alarm clock on the table and tell the dealer if the deal is not closed in half an hour, you'll walk out.
I was too bored during the long wait, and wrote a simple loan calculator during the wait. It is a c program, takes as input the yearly rate, the total amount of loan, and the term of the loan in months, and outputs the monthly payment.
Some friends recommended buying a car from CarsDirect. But I didnot have a good experience with them.
After I submitted a quote request, a representative contacted me. He asked me whether I had test drived. I told him I was not. He lost interests immediately. He told me to test drive at a dealer but not to tell the dealer I was working with them. He would call me later after I test drived. He later called me once, and I told him I didnot find the Toyota model I wanted at a dealer. He never called me again. I tried to call him twice, but each time he was busy, and promised me to call me back, which he never did.
I prefer taking CarsDirect's quote and working out a deal with a person face-to-face. Dealers would usually match the price. The salesman has already spent time with me test-driving the car. If they match the price, I'd like to buy from them. CarsDirect acts as the broker between us and the dealers, not between us and the manufactures. Their price cannot be lower than what we can get directly at dealers.
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