This one simple trick can save you thousands of dollars (and a whole lot of time and heartache).
After 12 years, 130,000 miles, and many seasons sitting out on the streets of Boston being pelted by salt trucks and/or really bad parallel parking jobs, it was time to trade in our old Mazda and upgrade.
So we bought a new car! But first, we had to figure out how to do it and not spend an arm and a leg (or, worse, get ripped off at the dealership).
This process brought up a WHOLE lot of questions for us, like:
- How do you determine when you really need a new car… and when it’s just a luxury?
- Is it better to buy new or used?
- Pay in cash or get a loan? (Spoiler alert: we paid in cash and saved up before we seriously thought about buying.)
- Are you an idiot if you buy a new car even though you know how much they depreciate the nanosecond you sign the paperwork and claim it as yours?
- How do you avoid getting screwed at a dealership?
…and more, including the most important question of all:
How do I get a great deal on a new car?
We did the research, went through the process ourselves, and snagged the exact car we wanted at a verified “great” price (according to the pros at sites like CarGurus).
In this episode of the show, we’re sharing exactly what we learned so you can leverage this knowledge for yourself and score your next car at not just at a low price, but for an overall good deal on what you actually want.
Jump into the episode here:
Further Reading & Resources
Don’t miss these good resources for getting a great deal on a new car:
- THE post that gave us everything we needed to handle the negotiation process: Buying a Car: How to Negotiate With the Dealers by Matt Becker, CFP and founder of Mom and Dad Money
- This is another helpful post that suggests the same basic strategy: Spend Just 30 Minutes At The Car Dealer, Get A Great Price by Kat Tretina (although we would challenge the 30 minutes part… even knowing what we wanted, getting our quote before going to the dealership, and paying in cash didn’t save us from an hours-long process. Just a heads’ up!)
- You might like reading Never Split the Difference, too. (This links to an Amazon page, but check your local library first — we found it in the Boston Public Library system!) While we didn’t leverage the book in our experience, it could give you more confidence to go into this transaction knowing you can handle whatever a pushy salesperson might through at you.
To help you with your research and to gather numbers, check out:
And if you want to buy a used car, check out Carvana.com.
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