What next?
What are the questions to ask when buying a vehicle?
In making the first step in deciding what to buy, it is helpful to take a look around at your current situation. Take notice to particular situations: i.e. work, travel, family, leisure, etc. Use these "situations" as considerations toward the vehicle that will be best in fitting to your needs.
I must say, for sure, one very important thing is: never walk on a dealership lot without actually knowing what you are there looking for.
Now, a "specific vehicle" might not define "knowing what you are looking for."
At the least, "knowing what you are looking for" requires you to know particularly how much you can afford. Vehicles can be bought outright; or they can be leased for a particular amount of time; or they can be financed throughout a particular amount of time. If you are leasing or financing a vehicle, then you must realize you are required during either term to have full insurance coverage which is another added expense on top of whatever the monthly car payment is. Once again, I repeat, even if you do not have a specific vehicle on your mind, the least you need to know is what you can spend, and you should have an idea of the type of vehicle you want or need. I am claiming this as important because it is very simple to walk into a car dealer and be met by a car salesperson who seems to have our best interests in mind. However, reality is, they do not have our best interests in mind. It is a salesperson's job to make as much money as possible for their dealership. This isn't something you need to hold against these people. However, it is something you must know because you should not allow them to put you into something that you cannot afford, nor something you do not even want.
Always keep in mind these salespeople are very persuasive, they're very convincing. This is their job, they meet someone new every day, and they are good at what they do. By knowing exactly what you want and need, you are limiting their persuasive misdirection that a salesperson will definitely drag you toward.
It is also helpful to keep the following in mind: You can always be agreeable, but no deals are done until contracts are signed and tags are transferred, money is paid, and then you are pulling off the lot in that vehicle. A car buying event usually has a lot of papers that needing to be signed. If you get to a particular moment where you feel that you have been persuaded in a way that you are not comfortable with, simply excuse yourself from the situation. Tell the salesperson that you need sometime to think over everything. It is that simple! And it is something you might have to do because car salespeople are that good. This salesperson might be annoyed, or they might try to tell you that the deal can only be done today. Do not fall for that. First of all, by walking away it might even get you a better deal. Secondly, it is really important you not be tricked and sold into something you are not comfortable with. Think about it before you sign for it!
Finally, before ending today's tip of the day, always remember: keep your numbers to yourself. The salesperson will immediately ask you how much you are looking to spend. They might also ask what you are currently paying on a current lease or finance. They are only asking you these because they want to calculate in their minds how much they can get away with charging you for a this new purchase. There is no reason for these salespeople to know how much you currently spend on your current vehicle. Let me repeat that: there is no reason for a salespeople to know how much you are currently spending on your vehicles.
For me personally, a greatly helpful site I've referred to for years is: Edmunds.com This website offers a great amount of information about all new and used vehicles. On this site you will find pros, and cons, as well as detailed explanations about any vehicle you are interested in. You can also see what people are paying for the vehicles you are interested in, and you can get a rough estimate of a cars worth through this site. In addition there is a finance calculator that you can use to help you do all your important homework to know exactly what you can and cannot do with reference to your new purchase.
Now, the only problem is, this site has become a little confusing, at least compared to what it had been in the past. Please refer the following images to see how to use edmunds.com for it to be most helpful so you can complete your important homework assignments. And I explain these images: the first image you will see it has a big red "no" symbol. I am pointing this out because once you log onto edmunds.com, this is what you are presented with first. Unfortunately if you get caught up in that world, then you might get lost as you become distracted from your main mission, and then it is possible you will hate me and edmunds.com. Please note, I am not implying to never use this part of their site. It seems as though Edmunds has an agreement with dealerships for them to make money from leads they point toward dealerships. However, for what I've been explaining throughout this blog post, this particular section is not helpful for our homework assignment. Once on the homepage, you need to scroll down toward the bottom of the homepage and find the words "New Cars" and underneath that it says "Calculators." That is where the golden wealth of information resides at the time I wrote this blog and posted the screen shots. On my second screenshot which refers to this section of edmunds.com, please realize that the big red arrows are arrows that I have added, they do not exist on edmunds.com. These arrows are just pointing at the places you should refer to so that you can do the important homework so you are not taken advantage of when you walk onto a dealership lot. Good luck!
I must say, for sure, one very important thing is: never walk on a dealership lot without actually knowing what you are there looking for.
Now, a "specific vehicle" might not define "knowing what you are looking for."
At the least, "knowing what you are looking for" requires you to know particularly how much you can afford. Vehicles can be bought outright; or they can be leased for a particular amount of time; or they can be financed throughout a particular amount of time. If you are leasing or financing a vehicle, then you must realize you are required during either term to have full insurance coverage which is another added expense on top of whatever the monthly car payment is. Once again, I repeat, even if you do not have a specific vehicle on your mind, the least you need to know is what you can spend, and you should have an idea of the type of vehicle you want or need. I am claiming this as important because it is very simple to walk into a car dealer and be met by a car salesperson who seems to have our best interests in mind. However, reality is, they do not have our best interests in mind. It is a salesperson's job to make as much money as possible for their dealership. This isn't something you need to hold against these people. However, it is something you must know because you should not allow them to put you into something that you cannot afford, nor something you do not even want.
Always keep in mind these salespeople are very persuasive, they're very convincing. This is their job, they meet someone new every day, and they are good at what they do. By knowing exactly what you want and need, you are limiting their persuasive misdirection that a salesperson will definitely drag you toward.
It is also helpful to keep the following in mind: You can always be agreeable, but no deals are done until contracts are signed and tags are transferred, money is paid, and then you are pulling off the lot in that vehicle. A car buying event usually has a lot of papers that needing to be signed. If you get to a particular moment where you feel that you have been persuaded in a way that you are not comfortable with, simply excuse yourself from the situation. Tell the salesperson that you need sometime to think over everything. It is that simple! And it is something you might have to do because car salespeople are that good. This salesperson might be annoyed, or they might try to tell you that the deal can only be done today. Do not fall for that. First of all, by walking away it might even get you a better deal. Secondly, it is really important you not be tricked and sold into something you are not comfortable with. Think about it before you sign for it!
Finally, before ending today's tip of the day, always remember: keep your numbers to yourself. The salesperson will immediately ask you how much you are looking to spend. They might also ask what you are currently paying on a current lease or finance. They are only asking you these because they want to calculate in their minds how much they can get away with charging you for a this new purchase. There is no reason for these salespeople to know how much you currently spend on your current vehicle. Let me repeat that: there is no reason for a salespeople to know how much you are currently spending on your vehicles.
For me personally, a greatly helpful site I've referred to for years is: Edmunds.com This website offers a great amount of information about all new and used vehicles. On this site you will find pros, and cons, as well as detailed explanations about any vehicle you are interested in. You can also see what people are paying for the vehicles you are interested in, and you can get a rough estimate of a cars worth through this site. In addition there is a finance calculator that you can use to help you do all your important homework to know exactly what you can and cannot do with reference to your new purchase.
Now, the only problem is, this site has become a little confusing, at least compared to what it had been in the past. Please refer the following images to see how to use edmunds.com for it to be most helpful so you can complete your important homework assignments. And I explain these images: the first image you will see it has a big red "no" symbol. I am pointing this out because once you log onto edmunds.com, this is what you are presented with first. Unfortunately if you get caught up in that world, then you might get lost as you become distracted from your main mission, and then it is possible you will hate me and edmunds.com. Please note, I am not implying to never use this part of their site. It seems as though Edmunds has an agreement with dealerships for them to make money from leads they point toward dealerships. However, for what I've been explaining throughout this blog post, this particular section is not helpful for our homework assignment. Once on the homepage, you need to scroll down toward the bottom of the homepage and find the words "New Cars" and underneath that it says "Calculators." That is where the golden wealth of information resides at the time I wrote this blog and posted the screen shots. On my second screenshot which refers to this section of edmunds.com, please realize that the big red arrows are arrows that I have added, they do not exist on edmunds.com. These arrows are just pointing at the places you should refer to so that you can do the important homework so you are not taken advantage of when you walk onto a dealership lot. Good luck!
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