Here’s the deal: Employee pricing is the lowest price you will
ever be able to purchase a vehicle for period.

Employee pricing is usually several hundred dollars below
invoice.

So how is the auto dealer making any money selling at employee
pricing?

It’s simple… They are reimbursed from the auto manufacture.
For example General Motors gives $1500 to the dealer for every
car sold at employee pricing.

When you combine employee pricing with the rebates your getting
the very best deal possible.

Obviously the dealer is still going to try and up his profit
margin in several other ways.

If you are trying to trade in a vehicle then the dealership is
going to try and offer you even less than he normally would.

Because of employee pricing everyone and their brother is
buying a new car right now and the dealerships are stuffed with
used car inventory. Therefore unless they can “steal” your
trade they are really not that interested in taking in another
used car in their inventory.

If you want to buy a car at employee pricing then this would be
the best time to try and sell your trade in vehicle yourself
and save yourself the headache of muddying the water with your
employee price purchase.

The other question I get asked a lot lately is, “How do I know
I am getting the actual employee pricing?”

They are doing national advertising for employee pricing and it
is coming from the auto manufacture. When the actual auto manufactures come out with an incentive program the dealers
must adhere to it! If they tried to be dishonest and sell you
the car you want above the employee pricing they would be
in extreme hot water with the manufacture, could lose their
franchise, and get sued.

Therefore you don’t have to worry about not getting the actual
employee price if it is advertised. The only time the numbers
can get skewed is when you throw in your trade vehicle which
you owe money on. Again, this is why I encourage you to sell
your vehicle yourself.

Last but not least, just because there are great deals at
employee pricing does not mean you should go out and buy a new
car. If you can’t afford the car or the payments then it does
not matter how good a deal you got.

This article unveils the dealer’s selling tactics and how you can get around them. But before we dive into the new car buying tips, we need to understand what makes up the dealer’s profits.

In addition to the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price), which is the dealer’s cost for the car plus an additional 20-25% profit, a dealer also gets financial incentives from the manufacturer when a new car is sold. This is called Holdback.

Depending on the car, dealers can make hundreds on each car through holdbacks. Dealers also get additional incentives and bonuses on selling a car before the end of the month and/or quarter.

A shrewd dealer can make several thousand on a new car even by selling it at invoice price. This is how new car buying can become tricky for the consumer.

Ready to learn how not to put a dent in your wallet on your next car purchase? Here are four tips to get you started. Each one is a dealer tactic to watch out for.

1. The Guilt Trip

As you may have noticed, every desk in a dealership has photos of the salesperson’s family, instead of photos of cars. Midway in the negotiation, the sales person will bring them up and make it look like his little commission check can hardly pay for his daughters college and little Bradley’s braces.

A seasoned salesperson will soon have you feeling guilty for driving the price down and hurting his commission. Watch out not to fall for this tactic, since you already know about holdbacks and incentive programs from manufacturers.

2. Wearing You Down

Come prepared to spend half a day at the dealership or pay whatever the dealer asks for. Car Dealers are trained to delay and tire you out to the point where you give in and accept their price just to get out of there.

After you make your offer, sales people typically claim they would have to run it by their manager. You may then have to re-start negotiating with the manager, who is also a seasoned salesperson. This dance goes on for a while until you give in.

Remember, there are multiple dealerships in a city, so they need you more than you need them. Demand to speak to the manager after a certain time period or threaten to leave.
Because you are devoting a lot of time to bargain with the dealer, they know you are a serious buyer, so they will not let you leave. The earlier you can speak with the manager, the faster you can leave.

3. The Test Drive

We all enjoy a good test drive and look forward to it. Although it is essential to test drive a car before you buy it, remember to not show your absolute love for the car to the salesperson. Their goal is to get you emotionally attached to the car, so it becomes a must have for you. I have learned it the hard way.

To hide your emotional tears from the salesperson, mention the features of a competing car in the same class, like the new shape, light, leg room, resale value etc. This will make the salesperson a little vulnerable.

4. Monthly Payments

This one is to confuse you. Dealers will start talking about monthly payments rather than the total price of the car. They will start by asking how much you are willing to pay per month and how much of a down payment you are willing to pay. Since people don’t want to look like they cannot afford a certain car, they will usually give a higher number. Big Mistake!

You have left little room for negotiation when this happens. Always steer the conversation to the total price of the car and do NOT mention any trade-ins at this point. Only after the total price of the vehicle is completely negotiated then talk about interest, monthly payment and trade-ins.

General Rule;

As a general rule, remember to only focus and negotiate on the Total Price of the vehicle. Everything else is pretty much the car dealer’s trough.

If the above new car buying tips seem like a lot of hassle, yet you still want to get the best price in town, there are some websites that do this for you. www.autoauctionbids.com for example is a great website for this because you can collect price quotes from multiple local dealers for a particular car as well as its competing car models (like Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Ford Taurus) and compare them.

The website then allows you to send back the lowest quotes received for each car make to all participating dealers in your area through the website itself.

Dealers view this price and continue to submit new lower prices over a 3 day period. By putting local car dealers in such a price competition allows you to avoid the dreadful face to face negotiation and yet gets you the lowest price in town for up to 3 competing car makes.

Consumers waste millions of dollars everyday because of dirty oil, worn spark plugs, faulty thermostats, loose gas caps, underinflated tires, malfunctioning engine controls, poor wheel alignment, dirty air filters, and so on. These problems are basic and easy to take care of, yet still they are major causes of wasted fuel.

As they say, “a stitch in time saves nine”. With proper maintenance you can save a lot of fuel. Avoid gas vaporization by ensuring that your vehicle gas cap is not damaged, loose or missing. Your tires must be properly inflated; otherwise it can cost you a few miles per gallon. Replace your spark plugs regularly to avoid misfiring and fuel wastage. Replace clogged air filters and improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.

Driving habits are another major contributor to poor fuel economy. Bad habits include exceeding speed limits, aggressive driving, excessive idling, carrying heavy items in vehicle, and the list goes on.

Fast driving in low gears can consume up to 45% more fuel than is needed. When traveling at highway speeds keep windows closed. Open windows reduce your mileage by 10%. You should drive steadily. Sudden changes in speed wastes fuel.

A lot of fuel can be wasted by prolonged warming up of the engine. You do not need to warm up engine for more than 45 seconds even on cold mornings. Starting and stopping your engine needlessly is another no-no. Avoid revving the engine, especially just before it is switched off.

You should also buy your gasoline carefully. Choose quality brands that provide greater economy. Buy your gasoline during the coolest times of the day. And never fill your gas tank to the top. The gas can slosh over and out of the tank.

Today’s cars are built very well and you can expect to get a good amount of mileage from your car. You can expect at least 100,000 miles. If you purchase a car you may have five years of payments, but your car may last eight to ten years. This means three to five years of no monthly car payments. However, as you car ages, the need for upkeep goes up too. With more mileage on you car things start to break down and costs to keep your car up mechanically may go up. It’s doubtful though that what you pay out for maintenance and car repair will ever be as much as monthly payments would be.

When you lease a car you make monthly payments as you would if you purchased a car outright. But, when a lease is up you have nothing to show for it. These monthly payments may be somewhat less than if you were buying the car. Leasing a car usually requires large down payments and security deposits, taxes and fees. It isn’t necessarily cheaper up front than buying a car. Also, when you lease a car you have mileage restrictions. A lease generally allows between 12,000 and 15,000 miles annually. If you go over that amount you pay for each mile. This can really add up.

Leasing doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay for upkeep. You are held to the manufacturers specified servicing schedule for your vehicle. If you don’t have the required maintenance performed this can void your lease.
If you want to end the lease early there are generally large termination fees. At the end of your lease if there is damage to the car, or if there are missing parts you will be charged for them.

However, most of us are stuck having to a buy a used car from a dealer or private party at some point. The downside to this is that you can get a car that at first seems like everything you ever wanted, but soon becomes your worst nightmare.

What I have come to learn is that by the time that you begin to realize that you have a lemon on your hands, it is usually too late. The car has already outlived its 90 day warranty which is often filled with loopholes for the dealer anyway. What does this mean for you? If you’re like most people, you’re thinking to yourself, “it means you’re screwed.” However, read on.

Most people who buy their cars used know that dealers set up their agreements in terms that will serve only their best interests. Buyers also assume that there is really nothing that they can do in order to get the most out of their money.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, there is a lot that you can do to protect yourself even after you have bought yourself a lemon.

That’s right: as a buyer you do have rights as well.

In fact, there are laws that are designed to protect you should you find that you get stuck with a bad car and a terrible dealer.

Did you know that now is the best time to buy a car? There are very large cash rebates, dealer discounts and employee discounts offered just about everywhere.

The recent major drop in the car industry had forced many people to steer away from buying new cars and also has prompted some of the best discounts ever from the dealerships. You need to do some online research before hitting the dealership and it could save you money and headaches.

Websites like Autoweb.com, Edmund’s Automobile Buyers Guide, Autolink, Autopedia, Kelley Blue Book and CarPrice.com are just some of the sites that are currently giving up to date pricing information on new cars.

You should however make note of the dates when each rebate is set to expire so that you can take advantage of these special offers.

When you are looking for the best prices, you want to visit several different Web sites when researching pricing information for the obvious reasons.

Everything from sticker price to customer rebate information may vary from site to site. It’s wise to cover all the bases. Whenever you are in doubt, contact an auto manufacturer directly.

When it comes to the basics behind the lemon laws, knowing the basics can be the difference between whether or not you get screwed or get the chance to recover the money that you spent on the car.

The state and federal statutes offer a wide array of relief for consumers who get stuck with a bad car or truck after they buy.

At the same time, these statutes provide buyers with the chance for recovery of costs and attorney fees which are a strong incentive for attorneys who would like to take up the cause on behalf of unhappy lemon owners.

“Lemon laws” basically outline all of the procedures that are used in order to settle these sorts of new car problems.

These lemon laws differ from one state to another, but lemon laws in general are designed to provide the owner with a refund or replacement vehicle should this problem occur.

For example, some states mandate a refund or a new car if a large enough problems cannot be repaired within four tries, or if the car has been out of service for around a month within the first year or 12,000 miles driven.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as; some states only provide you with the chance to make one attempt for significant safety related issues such as the brakes or steering.

Some states do not even stop with just providing lemon owners with either a refund or a new car. Some of them will, in fact, also let you recover any sort of attorney’s fees that you have to deal with during your pursuit of getting some satisfaction from your purchase of a lemon.

It is always good to know that you can get some sort of return on your money when you buy a lemon. It happens so often that eventually there was bound to be some laws protecting the buyers.

When buying a used car always insist on determining if the vehicle has a rubber timing-belt. Be aware that about five years ago an International Oil Company did a follow up on 5,000 cars it had turned back after 3 year leases and traced them to their eventual private owners. All the cars had by then passed through wholesale auction markets and likely one or more retail dealers before being sold to a private owner. The survey disclosed that 50% of the cars had their odometers illegally turned back.

When buying a used car, supposedly with 40,000 miles for example, and determining it has a rubber timing belt, insist on a written guarantee from the seller to guarantee in writing to replace the timing belt at no charge if it fails within another 20,000 miles, a typical recommended total amount (Call any Dealer to get the recommended amount for the particular make of vehicle). After all, the vehicle may in fact already have 55,000 miles on it. If the seller will not make that guarantee, then he is admitting that the mileage is probably not accurate and by implication may well have been turned back. If the seller will not make that guarantee, consider a compromise, such as $100 maximum cost. If not acceptable, walk away and look elsewhere.”

Before buying any car, especially 4-cylinder foreign cars, or even 6-cyl. BMW, be aware of the unavoidable cost of $400-$800 to replace the timing belt at anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 miles if the car has an ‘interference’ type of engine. The sales person will invariably not mention that an ‘interference’ type engine powers the vehicle and may not even know what one is. If a timing belt on an interference engine is not replaced at recommended intervals, the repair cost when the belt breaks (not gradually, but always catastrophically) could increase to $3,000 to $5,000 due to engine failure because parts have smashed into each other

An ‘interference’ engine is an engine design that has been avoided by some manufacturers for well over 80 years. General Motors, Chrysler, etc., typically use a metal chain-type timing belt on push-rod engines (often called a timing chain) to transmit torque from the engine crankshaft o the engine camshaft that opens the valves that admit air and fuel. (Note: on some new cars the fuel is admitted not through the valves but through injectors in the top of the cylinder. Rather than use a steel timing chain, interference engines may use a rubber timing belt with its limited life, whereas steel timing belts typically last 150,000 to 200,000 miles or more.

Valves open further in an interference engine and project further into the combustion chamber than in a ‘free-running’ engine. This allows outside air at atmospheric pressure flow faster into the combustion chamber through the larger valve opening. The engine can therefore inhale more air, be a little smaller, and still create as much power while reducing its. manufactured cost and also guaranteeing future repair business for its dealer. If a rubber timing belt breaks by not being replaced soon enough, some of the valves stuck in their open position will collide with the top of the pistons, thereby breaking or irreversibly damaging one or the other or both. To make matters worse, it is not possible to measure the wear on such a rubber belt so that it could be replaced when there is some indication of imminent failure. Failure in these belts is catastrophic, without warning. This will require a whole new engine be installed. Woe to the owner. Finally, the rubber belt may have to be replaced long before 60,000 miles solely due to its age. This is really playing a bad poker hand. Interference engines are like a time bomb waiting to explode unless replacing the timing belt at the recommended interval. Be aware of that guaranteed future expense before buying a new car, or especially a used car, ” with such an engine.

2. You can also get a good deal from July to October because that is the time of year when dealerships are trying to get rid of their inventory to make way for the new models.

3. Purchasing a car online is becoming a great way to get a new car. Just wait for good rebates and incentives online and shop around. Print out your information from the best quotes and bring it to the dealer that you are most willing to work with. Bringing in lower quotes from another company might be your best bet in getting a good deal.

4. You should visit FightingChance.com if you are hoping to find new car prices, dealer incentives, and the best rebate offers. This site is the first place that you should go for great advice on buying a car. It’s even more informative than the Kelley Blue book. This program for buying new cars can literally save you thousands of dollars.

5. A good place to start when going into a dealership is to bring a copy of your credit score with you. It can lower your interest rates on your car loan. Your car dealer should not know more about you than you do.

6. You can avoid a common scam that dealerships pull. You will often hear that your financing fell through and that you have to respond by paying more money on your loan. Don’t believe it. It’s another reason for you to get a copy of your credit score.

7. Another common scam by dealership salesmen is for them to tell you that they have found you a lower rate, but that they want you to re-sign your loan papers. Usually, that is a downright lie. Once they pull up your financing information, they have the upper hand if you don’t know the details about your credit information. You can get a copy of your credit information online at equifax.com for about $10-$15. It’s better to pay $15 now than thousands later.

8. Don’t bring in a car for trade in if you still owe money on it. The dealership rarely pays the rest of the loan on time which will result in you having to pay a great deal of late fees to the bank. If you do decide to bring a car in that you owe money on, get it in writing from the dealership that they will pay the balance on the car within 10 days.

9. Sometimes a dealership may not have all of your options and must order the car directly from the dealership. If this happens they will often ask you to pay $500-$1000 for a deposit on the car. Try not to pay more than $500 and be sure to pay with a credit card because sometimes the dealership will tell you that there was a price increase on the vehicle and will want more money. If you pay with a credit card you have room to dispute the amount being taken from you. If you pay by check, you can just consider the money gone.