Archive for the 'Buying a Car' Category

Step 3: The Test Drive

Just because you fall in love with the first car you test drive, does not mean you should buy it!  Make sure you test drive all the cars on your list, and take some time in between test drives (if you take more than one test drive in a day) to gather your thoughts.  Remember that you aren’t picking out a new cell phone – a new (or new-to-you) car is an expensive purchase, one which usually takes years to pay off, and you might own for many more after that.  Take the time to play with all the buttons, look for blind spots, park the car in a parking spot at a location you might visit, and especially put the car on the highway.  You might even close your eyes while parked and try and reach all the stalks on the steering wheel, audio and HVAC buttons, anything you may need to adjust while driving.  This information goes for the dealership as well.  You’ll likely be bringing your car in for routine maintenance or warranty work, so make sure the dealership has at least one person you can work with.  If you come across a high-pressure salesperson, tell them you’d rather deal with their manager or another salesperson.  They’ll switch people out until you’re happy, because after all, for each car they sell to a happy customer, an average of two more people will visit that dealership, through word of mouth on your part.

Continue reading after the break for a crib sheet of things to look for during a test drive:

Continue reading ‘Buying a Car, the Easy way; Step 3′

There are plenty of online and in-print articles, going into great detail about  buying a car.  Many of them give you all the little details on how to get the best deal, to really pull a fast one on the dealership.  The rest also go into great detail, and give you ways to get a good (but not great) deal on a car.  I’ve read plenty of them, and I can tell you this:  the ones I have read are all too complicated, or go into too great a detail, to be of much help to the average car buyer.  In the paragraphs below, I will tell you the easiest and simplest way that I’ve found to buy a car, get a pretty good deal, and drive away from the dealership happy.  I was going to do this all in one post, but I found it just too long for one sitting, so instead, I will be posting each of the steps individually, starting with the list of steps, and Step 1, today.

For the reading-averse, here’s a list of steps, followed by deeper explanations, still in easy-to-understand terms.

Step 1: Find out what your trade-in is worth (skip this step if you don’t have a car you want to trade-in, or are selling it in the open market).

Step 2: Create a “Short List” of 5 or less cars you are interested in.

Step 3: Test drive all of the cars on your list.

Step 4: Narrow down the Short List to your favorite car.

Step 5: Buy the car!

Continue reading ‘Buying a Car, the Easy way; Overview + Step 1′