Negotiating to Buy a New Car the Easy Way

Do you hate the thought of buying a new car because of the struggle you have to go through negotiating with the dealership? Relax. Negotiating to buy a new car is easy. Sure their sales people receive negotiation training, but you have the upper hand. Why? Because you can easily find out everything that they want to keep hidden. Information is the key to winning any negotiation. If you use the resources and approaches outlined below, you will negotiate the lowest possible price and drive away with a great new car.

First Find Out What the Dealer Paid for the Car

The true dealer cost is made up of two components - the Dealer Invoice less the Holdback.

Add In the Hidden Incentives to the Dealer and the Advertised Rebates

These rebates change from month to month so you need current information. A good source for hidden incentives is CarDeals, published by the Center for the Study of Services. Call (800) 475-7283 and for a few dollars they will mail/fax you the most recent copy. Edmunds also has a good information set for both advertised and hidden rebates (which they call marketing support).

Determine Final Dealer Cost

Let's say that you have decided on a 'Roadster Supreme' with a sticker price, including all options and delivery, of $23,000. Your research comes up with the following information:

Dealer cost	          $20,000 
Advertising charge        400 
Holdback - 3% of MSRP    -600 
Hidden incentive       -1,000 
Actual dealer cost    $18,800 

Making the Offer to the Dealer

So what do you offer the dealer? My experience is that in general the dealer