3 Tips For Getting The Best Price On A Used Vehicle

Use these three tips to get the best price on a certified used vehicle when purchasing one from a car dealership.

Find Out The Invoice Price

Once you have selected a vehicle that you are interested in purchasing, make sure that you research the invoice price. This price is what the auto dealership most likely paid to acquire the vehicle and is lower than the asking price of the vehicle. Use a couple websites online to get the invoice price for the vehicle you want to buy; using multiple websites will help you obtain a more accurate invoice price over using just one website.

When you are ready to start the process of negotiating the price you'll pay for the vehicle, you are going to want to try to get the sales price of the vehicle down as close as possible to the invoice price for the vehicle before any other specials or discounts are applied to the price. You may not be able to get the dealership all the way down to the invoice price--they do want to make some money on the vehicle, after all--but you should try to get them as close as possible to the invoice price.

Find Out What Discounts Are Available

Next, make sure that you research and find out what discounts are available to you before you get to the negotiation stages. Many dealerships advertise their special discounts, but there may be additional discounts that they offer but just don't advertise. A few examples of additional discounts that you need to ask about include discounts for both former and current military members and student discounts. Many dealerships also offer membership-based discounts; for example, they may offer discounts for members of certain professional organizations, credit unions or even insurance companies. Find out if you qualify for any of these discounts before you start the negotiation process.

Find Out Your Interest Rate

Finally, you need to find out what interest rate you qualify for, because that is going to affect your monthly payments and your long-term overall costs of purchasing the vehicle. Often times, dealerships will advertise 0% interest rates, but you have to qualify for these interest rates. Find out what interest rate you qualify for from the car dealership and from your local bank or credit union; you want to shop around for the best interest rate. Knowing the interest rate will help you keep the long-term picture of the value of the car in mind.

When it gets down to negotiating the price, counter with a lower offer than you expect to pay so you have some wiggle room to work up to the offer that you really want; plus, you could be surprised and they could accept your lower offer. Take your time with the negotiating process; it doesn't have to happen in a single hour or a single day. Work with the dealership until you can get a price that you can both agree to and feel comfortable with. Contact a company like Canyon Honda for more information.


Share