Important! Before You Go, Make Sure You Know The Following Information:

• What Insurance Are You Geting? We reccomend AIG Direct or 21st Century for the most relaible and inexpensive young driver insurance. You can also check NetQuote.com to compare Insurance Prices around the web. Also relate to our Complete Guide On Auto Insurance

• Have You Read Our Guide On Buying Used Cars? Read This

• Will You Need A Loan? We reccomend using MyAutoLoan.com
  or Any-Credit-Auto-Loan.com

• Do You Have Good Credit? Why not check for Free with Equifax.

Buying your first new car can be a pretty daunting task, especially since car dealerships (perhaps a little like casinos) are designed to mask the ins and outs of the business. If you’ve already found the perfect car for you, our guide is a must-read for getting the best possible price for your new motorized friend. Once you know about your new car, head over to our Complete Guide On Auto Insurance

1. Pricing

It may be common knowledge that sticker prices are only a starting point for negotiation, but how do you determine a realistic, fair price for a particular car? There are two tools that are invaluable for the task of pricing.

• Edmunds.com and their True Market Value tool will help you cinsiderably. The pricing is integrates actual sales figures, color, region, and more into the car price. This tool is free, and can be found HERE.

• Kelly Blue Book can help you find fair market prices for cars anytime although they don't include as many factors

• Edmunds.com, Yahoo! Autos, Cars.com, and Autobytel can search all new cars in the country for New and Used Cars. You can request a quote from right there on the site and look at actual cars for sale! No need to go down to the dealer and get haggled. Inquire with them first online and then go down there with an idea of what you want.

Tips: Quotes will often be emailed to you, so be sure to provide your correct address. Follow up on promising quotes with a phone call, and let the dealer know the specifics of the car you are looking for: are you set on a particular trim level, color? Make note of what each dealer has in stock and their pricing. Telling the dealer up front that you are working with several dealers will bring the element of competition into negotiation, which often works in your favor. But more on negotiation later.

2. Trading In

Just as you shop around dealers for the best price on a new car, so too should you get multiple trade-in quotes on your old car if you are trading in. Sites like Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) and Edmunds’ True Market Value will help you give an idea of what you can expect to get. But remember: what a dealer will actually give you for your car depends on a variety of factors, ranging from the time of month to what they currently have in stock on their parking lot. While it’s true that you will get more cash selling your used car to a private party, there are some hefty advantages to trading in:

• It’s easy and relatively painless, and you spare yourself the time and trouble of placing ads and showings

• In most states, you will even pay lower sales tax on your new car if the deal involved a trade-in. The decision is ultimately yours, but if you can get what you feel is a fair price for your car, getting everything done in one place is a convenience that is probably worth it.

3. Financing

Once you’ve priced your car and your trade-in, you will have a pretty good sense of how much of the car’s price you’ll need to finance. Being a smart consumer almost always pays off, and it is important to realize that the car dealer isn’t the only place you can get a loan, and shopping around for the best rates can save you loads.

If you don’t already know your credit score, you can order it Free with Equifax.. Knowing your credit score, like knowing the worth of your car, will help you get an idea of what sorts of rates you can expect.

CarBuyingInfo.com Reccomends: MyAutoLoan.com and Any-Credit-Auto-Loans.com, who can get you set up fast, reliable and easy loans with any credit.

4. Negotiating

In order to get an accurate sense of the dealer’s offer, you want to get the out-the-door cash price for your car. That means, don’t bring your trade-in into the picture just yet, and tell them you are paying cash. Have the three dealers with the best prices essentially bid for your purchase: take the lowest price and call the other two dealers. Tell them that you’ve been offered the same car for $XX,XXX, and that if they can beat the price, you’ll buy from them. Eventually, the dealers will hit their rock bottom price, at which you will have to take it or leave it. At which point you take the best dealer and offer them your trade-in. Remember that sites like Kelly Blue Book offer only a rough idea of what you should get for your used car. However, if the dealer offers you something way out of range, threaten to walk.

If all else goes well, you are now ready to negotiate financing. If the dealer offers some incentive to finance through them, such as a cash rebate, find out whether there is a fee for early repayment. If not, take the dealer’s financing and pay it back with your lower rate auto loan a few days later. You’ll save a few pretty pennies with this strategy if it’s an option to you.

Finally, go over the paperwork carefully and make sure the dealer hasn’t tacked on inordinate fees. “D&H” (delivery and handling), “VIN Etching,” “Administrative Costs,” are all little red flags of unnecessity. Request to have them removed, or take your business to another dealer. Add up all the numbers to make sure that the total cost is in fact the sum of all its parts.

Well, you should be reveling in that new car smell just about now. Drive safe!

Is this Car For a Teen? Read our Tips On Buying Cars For Teens

Want To Avoid Dealer Tricks? Read About Their Ad Tactics Here