New Wheels

Finally after all of this time we got the new car. One week ago today we acquired this 2008 Honda CRV, perfect for bass and baby. I really dig it. Its the first new car I've ever owned and I hope it will last until Milo takes Driver's Ed.

As you know I've been preparing for this for a LONG time. I've done so much research not wanting to get ripped off and I feel I've done well. Through CarBuyingTips and FightingChance I learned a lot, so this is how I finally went about buying a new car:

I first decided what I wanted, a Honda CRV EX series. This was one step up from the bass model and includes a 'moon roof', stereo controls on the steering wheel, and a better sound system. Through sites such as Cars.com, Edmunds.com, and YahooCars I got a bunch of quotes from a bunch of dealers. When you get quotes through a website you are usually dealing with an internet fleet manager as opposed to a salesman so the price is usually going to be more competitive. I took the lowest quote I got and asked if any of the dealers wanted to beat it, most said they would match it but not beat it. So I took my lowest quote to a dealer, picked out a car, and sat down to haggle. BIG MISTAKE. I'll never try to haggle with one of these guys again. Right off the bat he sat me down and said the car came with a 'Pro-Pack' (which was nothing more than a plastic liner for the cargo space, suspicious looking mudflaps, and different lugs for the hubcaps) and that option would add another $700 on top of MSRP. Carrie and I said 'no way'. He said he could give us $300 off but not the entire thing because the Service Dept. would still need to charge him. I said "isn't the Service Dept. and the Dealership owned by the same company" he said "yes, but they are a separate entity" and went on to say he didn't really understand it because he'd only been working there 8 months.

BULLSHIT!

At this point I whipped out all of my research which included the invoice price and my lowest quote. He immediately looked distraught and told me he had to take my stuff to his "manager". I made them an offer and they said "no way". I asked him what kind of hidden fees (such as dealer prep, etc.) there were after the price and he once again claimed he didn't know. Back and forth we went but they wouldn't budge. So Carrie and I left.

Now the CRV is the #1 selling SUV for $25,000 or less, it's a really hot car and through the quotes I was getting and the experience at the dealership I realized I wasn't going to get a deal below invoice for it. So I decided the base model (the LX series) would be fine and did another round of internet quotes. We ended up purchasing our vehicle for $300 over invoice which is not too shabby for such a good selling car. I got the quote over email, confirmed it over the phone, drove to the lot and picked up my SUV. There were no extra options such as the Pro-pack or Lojack or any of the other things they put on the car to pad the price. The only fees I was charged were tax and title. I couldn't have been happier.

And if you can believe it, I'm abbreviating the story. I was lied to on more than one occasion by these guys. But I learned a lot about buying a car. Here are some tips:

-DO YOUR RESEARCH. The worse thing you can do is walk in to a dealership without knowing everything you can about the car.

-Invoice price is NOT the price the dealer paid for the car. After you take into account 'holdback' and factory-to-dealer incentives cars often cost dealer a couple grand less than the invoice price they give you. FightingChance can give you up-to-date info on dealer incentives, invoice pricing, etc.

-Shop online. I can't stress this enough. The above sites I linked to strongly urged only dealing online but I didn't see the light until I went to the dealership and experienced it for myself. You apply for quotes online and the internet fleet manager with either call you or email you a price. If they don't come up with a number over the phone, don't deal with them-they only want to get you in to the dealership so they can start their bullshit negotiating.

-Finance online. Dealers offer financing so they can bump up the price of the car on you. When they say "what do you want your monthly payment to be?" run for the hills. They will hook you up with a low APR but claim they have to charge more for the car and in the end you will lose more money. I got approved for 5.6% APR online from CapitolOne, the best any dealership offered me was 5.9%. CapitolOne mailed me a blank check that was able to write for any amount I was approved for, I went to the dealership, made a down payment and paid for the rest of it with the blank check. My financing is all squared away and won't have to deal with the dealership again.

So thats the story. The sites I linked to above was how I came across all of this information but much of it didn't make sense until I actually experienced it. I really liked learning about this stuff so if you or anyone you know is buying a car (new or used) feel free to ask me any questions. I'm an expert at this point.

Best part is I love my car.

Now I need to add that I do have some guilt over my CRV. Not because of the price or anything but because my Grandfather, a life-long UAW member, drove the "Be American, Buy American!" philosphy into my head as a kid. And my father-in-law (who works at the same UAW factory that my grandfather did) has strong opinions on the subject as well. So let me say this for my own comfort: I have a young family and an unpredictable career, I researched a LOT of cars. With those things in mind the CRV was the best buy for SUVs in our price range. In regards to gas mileage, safety, re-sale value, dependability, and price it blows the American counterparts out of the water. JD Powers and Associates agree. I wish I could make a political statement and buy an American vehicle but I have bigger things to think about (and frankly if I could afford a political statement I would've bought a hybrid).

So that's the story of the new car. Well, most of it anyway. Now let's make sure we don't get another greedy, oil-lovin' crook in the White House so I don't have to finance my next fill-up!