Car Buying Helpful Links

So, I ran across this article on CNN Money today: Buying a New Ride Will Never be the Same. In there, they give some advice for websites to visit before buying a new car.

First on the list is Edmunds. We've been there to do the old side by side comparison of specs. It's how we came up with our short list of vehicles to start with. They are very helpful so you can see exactly where 2 or more vehicles differ so you can understand what is really more important to you. They also have some feedback on the pros and cons of a vehicle from drivers. It's nice information to have before you take the test drive.

Next on the list is Kelly Blue Book. This is a must look when buying a used vehicle. To get an idea of the value of a vehicle before negotiating with the dealer is key. You can also view projected trade-in values compared to the retail (or dealer) price. This can give you a good idea of what the dealer likely paid to someone for the vehicle to see what kind of room you have for negotiations. Again, been here, done that.

The last sight they listed I had never heard of, CarDeals.org. This is a cool place where for $7 you can by a report they publish every other week of dealer incentives from the manufacturer. Basically, auto makers like Toyota, Nissan, etc. offer dealers incentives to sell cars in a month. Some dealers my then list some special offers in their local ads offering money off or special financing. They can use the incentives to "buy down" the price of the car and say sell you a car for $15,000 at 4.9% financing to give you the same price as if you actually bought it at $17,000 for 0% financing. Another local dealer might just offer you the special financing and be willing to knock a couple grand off the price so you know you are getting the $15k and 4.9%. Whatever way it happens, you end up with the same payments. However, know what the manufacturer is offering them will again let you know what extra money they have to negotiate with. For $7, I think I'll be picking up the latest report when it comes out next week!