$10,000 off a new car.

When it comes to new car shopping, most people who have done it two or three times think they have it down, they know how to do it, and telling them the actual best way isn't going to help.

But if you are planning on purchasing an American made vehicle that generally costs $50k, I can save you around $10k. On smaller vehicles, I can save you a proportionate amount. And believe it or not, it has nothing to do with beating up the salesman, or talking to the sales manager, or even showing the dealership you know how much they pay for them (except in the case of high demand vehicles). If you do want one of these, you need to know what someone else recently paid for their's, contact the internet salesperson and ask for a slightly better deal, and send the same e-mail to all the dealerships in the area, with the same email, saying the first person who matches or beats your price gets your business. You can try this trick several times to find the lowest price, by simply changing your name and email address and raising the price, after waiting a week. It's not easy, but if you want the convertable, the high end caddi, newest hybrid or similar vehicle, that's your best bet.

Now, you need to decide what vehicle you want to buy. Before you start your search, figure it out, read reviews, look at resale value, initial quality, etc. Finding your target vehicle is a great way to go. If you want to drive a couple, I suggest renting a car. There are two reasons behind this: One, you're going to be driving a car with a few miles on it, and they will be miles that are hard miles. Nothing is a better test of a vehicle than a rental vehicle. And, two, the stupid salesperson that you use isn't going to appreciate it and you're not going to be buying from him anyway.

Time.

You need to wait until the optimum moment to purchase a new vehicle. If you just simply decide that the road noise in your 4 year old car is not something you want to live with for another six months, you probably won't be able to get a killer deal--a good deal perhaps, but not better.

Buying this year's model is what comes naturally, but it may be a great deal to get the old stock from last year, check the rebates and make sure. Dealerships have actually sold the last year's model for more than the newer year because of rebates, so check and see. It will likely have 300-500 more miles on it than the typical 5-180, but that really isnt that big of a deal in the long run. This works especially well if the dealerships don't like doing rebates on that model.

A little about rebates.

Factory rebates are cash off given by the factory to encourage the sales of certian models throughout the year. they generally start off small, and can actually end pretty small if the demand for the vehicle is high, so don't expect a rebate for a corvette, you're not going to find it unless chevy does something really dumb like produce 3X as many of them as they do now. One of the ideal vehicles for getting huge rebates is the Chevy Suburban. But more on that later.

Research is going to play a large part in knowing when the time is right to even start looking for your car, but generally speaking, you need to stay away from any dealership until you are ready to buy. Some salespeople are really good, and besides, when you show up and you are completely not ready to buy you mess-over the salesperson, who may only get to talk to 2 or 3 people all day.

Rebates under $1000 (wait)
Rebates over $4000 (no matter what vehicle, the time is right)

If you live in a small city, town, or out in the country, this blog may not be the best one for cheap living/money saving, but if you live close to a very large city, you will likely have to go on into town, that is where the competition is.

Once you have researched and found out that the rebates are as high as they will likely get (generally at the end of the model year, or into the next), start looking. I can tell you where you are going to find the best price. It's the big one: on the advertisement. Make sure you are seeing all the ads, get hold of every local paper and spread them all out before you leave. You will be buying the car on a Sunday, by the way, so get that Sunday paper early (the ad cars are done with the largest paper edition, the Sunday edition).

Yes, seriously, the huge Suburban in the picture with the large price is your absolutely best price, and you never going to be able to haggle down that low. Chances are, it's a smaller dealership, and chances are, there is only one or two in stock.

Did you need the metallic grey one? No, sorry but you really don't. You want that color, and that color that you and everyone else on the planet also wants, is going to cost you an extra $3000. If that seems like a decent deal to you, then why are you reading this blog?

Options.

Look closely at the options, and know what each one costs the dealership. This is all part of research. Generally speaking, no two dealerships will put the same ad car on sale, there is always going to be some sort of difference, sunroof, 6-disk cd player, nav system, dvd player...

Chances are, that even with all the discounts you are going to get, you are still better off with a more bare-bones vehicle, the exception being automatic door locks, power windows and an alarm system. all of those three will likely eventually cost you more in the long run (trust me on this, I could tell you some stories!)

Financing.

Get your own financing first, get a credit union, you can belong to a credit union and a bank, and generally the credit unions will be more lenient with lending you cash, and will also have better rates. And go get pre-approved for the vehicle--your interest rate will be much lower than the dealership and you will now be paying the vehicle off on a 30 day option, so when the dealership says, "OK Bob, you're approved," and you notice that the interest rate is 26.95% percent, you can smile and say, "I have a 30 day, cash option here Fred."

You are also going to get financing from the dealership in most cases, that is, unless you can get the money into your account simultaneously with the transaction, in which case you are pretty good with your banker at the CU.

Once you have found the car, and you know your credit score is over 650 (720+ will get you top-tier credit) Now, head on over to the dealership, at 10:30 AM Sunday morning, tell him you want the ad car, drive it around the block, and if it whines or squeaks, they will fix that for you, you just have to make them. Get on in and do the paperwork, don't forget to mention the 30 day option, and he will say "Yeah sure, you can iron all that our with finance." This is when the salesperson will hand you off to the real slime ball, the finance manager, and they will try to get you the worst rate imaginable, TAKE IT. You're not going to be paying that rate, you have your financing already with the credit union.

Add-ons.

Somewhere along the way, you're going to get hit with add-ons.

Anything that you do not HAVE to have by law or already comes on the vehicle and is included in the price, is going to be a rip off, they have this great "system" they want to apply to the interior that repels stains, and this amazing UV protecting coating that will shield your clear-coat. And if you just get the interior for 20% off, we will do the exterior coat for free...

NO.. it's Scotch-Guard and a good quality wax, you can do it yourself for less than $50. Seriously, they have a little spray bottle, and they spray that on. I know, I used to be the one doing it.

Well, you want to protect your car, right? If you extend your warranty a little, this will...

RIP YOU OFF. Remember, you are buying a car from them that costs you less than it cost them. Now, they know they were going to lose some on the vehicle, but they perhaps thought they could get you in one way or another. So, no extra warranties, no coatings, pinstripes, tinting, rubber treatments, sealers, stain guards, side steps, brush guards, bed liners, car covers, NOTHING!

You can get everything else in the same quality for less.

And now you are driving off the lot in a vehicle for a price that can't be beat.

Any sales managers here want to add anything I missed?