14
votes
How do you buy a car?
-
How do you decide which kind of car you want?
- How do you prioritize what you're looking for?
- How do you know if you'll like it or not?
- Bonus points for tips on selecting a car your spouse will like as well.
-
Why do you pick new/used?
-
How do you negotiate the price of the car?
I make a spreadsheet that has a list of the things that I want in a vehicle, prioritize it, do some research to fill it out.
Edit: I note later in this chain that this is overkill. Look at broad strokes, eliminate options that don't meet needs, test drive the best 2 or 3. If you like fiddling with data, though, by all means make a spreadsheet.
For each thing, we roughly place them in the order the we consider "close" to important. So if you had these three and you thought this was close to the order you were considering:
Then I would give myself a specific question about performance vs. cost - "Do I want to add a bit of performance at the cost of feeling a bit cramped when I'm driving?" When the answer is no, then I'll adjust and put comfort ahead of cost. Then I do this all down the list of things I'm considering. If you feel like there's no answer to the question, the your category may be too broad, and you can break it down further; maybe comfort is split into "Legroom: Front Seat" and "Legroom: Back Seat".
You don't.
The most important thing is to either agree on the list parameters before hand, or to have separate lists and then pick the car that's closest to the top of both of your lists.
Pick new if there is a very good sale and you want that original manufacturer warranty. That is basically the only reason to choose new.
Pick used to save money. Your warranty will be a bit worse. You can make up for that by saving thousands and thousands of dollars and turning that into your own warranty.
Do your research. When we bought our most recent vehicle, we found one that was similar, but not local, at a reduced rate. We used that as a bargaining chip. If you have a price in mind that you do not want to go over, then be prepared to walk out if you cannot get that. Let's say you're looking for something at $50k, and the asking price is $52.5k. I would start at a reasonable amount under your goal ($48k) and then see what happens. If they won't budge off $52.5k, then thank them for their time, and get up and leave. Give them your contact information for if they change their mind. Almost every dealer will come down in price; they'll just make it socially awkward for you to want to do so.
Once you have a prioritized spreadsheet of your parameters, how do you make the leap from there to selecting the make/model you want?
I give them a weighted score on the parameters, and then look at the top options.
Simple weighted score: give each parameter on the list above a "weight". There are many ways to decide on weights, but if you just want to simplify things, give the lowest parameter a weight of 10, and then increase by 1 each time you go up on the list of parameters you are considering. Then multiply the weight by the score in that category and sum them up. You'll have a list of your favourites, roughly ranked by the things you value.
I got caught up by the question, and I should have really led with this: in reality, my method is complete overkill; I just like writing algorithms for things.
You can simplify the whole process by a lot by reducing what you're interested into key things and then picking cars that are broadly in the same category, and then looking at only the issues that are of the highest importance to you. I would suggest "ease of maintenance / warranty", "comfort", "price", "economy" as the four important things. Rank each car on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the research you do, and then look at those stats next to each other. If anything scores under a 5, I would summarily remove it from the list. You'll probably be left with 2 or 3 options; test drive each of them, and see what prices you can get.
Research. I list "must haves" (generally safety features for me) that filter out models. Then "nice to haves" which let me rank individual models. I generally look at each maker, and pick 1-2 models I like (I am in the market for compact sedans, so I picked a Elantra, Corolla, Civic, Fusion) then rank them. Most have tradeoffs. Some (like Chevy sedans and the Fusion as well) get dropped quick. Other have tradeoffs.
I look up car reviews, and read car news to figure what I like. The biggest issue is car journalism is often focused on ride quality - Most economy sedans get like 3/5 on the reviews, but are 5/5 commuters. The good journals will point this out.
New vs Used really depends - for me the sweet spot is 2-3 years old, but you can save a lot more buying older Toyotas or Hondas. Later year domestics or Korean cars are much nicer (particularly Korean - Hyundai and Kia) than they were, but I generally won't buy a domestic due to bad experiences.
Negotiation is dying in the age of internet pricing. It still exists, but you're probably not going to get a ton off.
Used, I spend around 7-8 grand. I like it because I didn't spend much, it doesn't break down, and if I wrap it around a tree and insurance stiffs me I can buy a new one. I usually go for Toyota because quality control and repairs are cheaper. I negotiate the price of the car by knowing the value of the car, and then providing evidence of the car's sale value. My spouse mostly cares about a good radio (as she has her own car when she drives), so I just get a decent aftermarket radio. I prioritize cost, reliability, and gas mileage. Ideally I try and get a few years old and under a hundred thousand miles. Getting a faster or more powerful car won't change the speed of your commute in the city.
Where do you shop for your used cars? I assume you start online, but do you start with Craigslist, AutoTrader, local dealership site, or something else? At that point do you filter down to "Find Toyotas within 50 miles from me under $10k" and then just poke around at the cars that show up from there?
Cargurus IMO is my favorite - just know that some deals show a "low price" that doesn't include mandatory fees. They do this to look good. Once you get close to deciding you can email them and ask what the true OTD (Out the door) price is (mention what state you're from if they're out of state). If they can't give you a ballpark OTD then IMO they're not worth your time.
Well usually I just go to each dealership and I talk to them about what cars they have. Then you can show them "I went here and they gave me this offer, can you do better" and you keep doing that until you meet your target. While it is a good amount of work, it is also thousands of dollars.
I live in the city, so I only really look at compacts, and since I don't like most sedans, that pretty always means hatchback . They're small, easy to drive, cheap, usually pretty fuel efficient, and they have enough space to carry my groceries and other odds and ends.
First thing I look at is price. I usually walk in with a fixed budget, and I won't consider a car outside my set price range. After that is safety and fuel efficiency. Third is comfort and interior usability. Fourth is carrying capacity. Last is driving feel and outward appearance.
This is one of the hardest things about car buying, and the truth is you don't really known until you've owned it and seen how much trouble it gives you. That being said, I usually look up all the cars in my car category and watch a ton of reviews for each one, from just demonstrations of the interior to test driving to professional car reviews that comprehensively review the whole car. When I walk into a car purchase, I usually know exactly what I want, and after having looked at pretty much every competitor for that car, I'm usually pretty comfortable I've selected the car that will best suit my needs.
The price difference between new and used is pretty substantial, often in the order of thousands of dollars. When I've financially better off, I'll probably start buying new even though I know it's objectively an expensive luxury, but for now I buy used.
I don't, actually. This sounds contradictory to what I said above, but I'm well enough that haggling over a few hundred dollars doesn't really make much of a financial difference to me. Usually I buy from other individuals or small car dealerships, and they tend not to be very flexible on the price to begin with. That being said, I make up for it by being a complete pain in the ass on having the car thouroughly examined and on having very little flexibility in what I want.
So when you've decided you want to buy a used, cheap, compact that's safe and reliable, where do you start looking? Do you pick a make/model and start looking for that first? How do you pick that make/model?Or do you start by seeing what's available on Craigslist? Or get boots on the ground at random dealerships?
Generally, I start by fixing a price, and looking for a range of years where that car might fit that price - for example, where I live, a well taken care of hatchback that costs $8,000 is usually around 6-8 years old, though it depends on the brand and options. I then start looking at what the major companies offer in this segment and age range - for example, a 2012/2013 Toyota Yaris, 2010/2013 Honda Fit, 2012/2013 Chevy Sonic, Mazda2, Ford Fiesta, etc.
Then I start researching each car on YouTube and online forums, usually looking for common problems or complaints, as well as how it compares in the afermonted categories. For example, the 2012 Toyota Yaris came with a 4 speed automatic rather than a 5 speed, which means it doesn't shift as smoothly and gets lower MPG than the Fit and other subcompacts on the highway. The Ford Fiesta gets great marks on drivability and a nice interior, but has some rather weak safety ratings. The Chevy Sonic also gets great marks on interior, but its 1.8L engine isn't very fuel efficient at low speeds and the 1.4L Turbo gets low marks for reliability.
Once I've read through all this, I decide on a particular model or two that seem like great candidates (let's say, a Toyota Yaris or a Honda Fit), and then I look where I can find those particular cars. Craigslist is my favorite resource, but I've also used Autotrader and sometimes emailed dealerships directly as well.
I have a few limitations that dictate a few specific cars for my family. First, I have a family, a young one at that. Having automatic sliding doors is such a nice thing for a young famiily that a minivan is a given. Where I live is the next limitation. We have inclement weather and plenty of steep hills, so AWD is necessary. That makes it a Toyota, as they're the only minivan that offers AWD. We didn't want to buy new, as they had just come out with a new model and those always need a couple years to iron out some problems. We also wanted something below 30K miles. So we watched for a Sienna to come on the market within a specific range of years and miles, and at a good price. When that happened, we jumped at it. Negotiated just a little bit, and bought it. It was pretty simple, really.
For the vehicle I drive to work and back we still wanted AWD (see AWD reasons above), but were a little more flexible with body style. I would probably have gone for some kind of sedan but the wife thought an SUV would be more appropriate and I didn't feel like arguing about it. Happy wife happy life.... We only have two dealerships within a reasonable distance of us, and we bought a used SUV for a reasonable price from one of them. Didn't negotiate much, as my daily driver had broken down for good and we needed something quick, but next time we'll take more time and get a better deal. Don't go into a dealership needing to buy today. You have to be able to get up and walk away from the deal for real if it's not going to work for you. I've spent quite a bit of money in payments because I wasn't willing to spend a little more time getting the right deal.
I responded to a few questions, but figured I should ask 2 big ones: What is your budget, and what type of car do you want?
If you don't know what type of car you want, what type of driving do you do/plan to do?
Those 2 questions are very important guiding questions.
The first thing you do is determine your budget. Do you have the money in hand or are you going to need a car loan? If you are going to need a loan, go talk to your bank first before stepping foot at a dealership. Always have your preferred bank's rates and options figured out before trying to buy something from a dealership. You do not need to share this information with the dealership, and if they ask, low-ball/lie about your rates by at least 1%, they aren't likely to get you a better rate than your own bank and if they can, they aren't going to offer it you unless you already have something similar lined up. It's also better to not even let them run your credit, they will run it through several different banks and do a sloppy job shopping around. Also having your credit score checked by that many banks temporarily drops your score for 6 months to a year.
Once you have a budget figured out, you need to list the features you absolutely need from your vehicle. Me, for example with my last car purchase required, AWD, v6, aux jack, comfortable interior. Just about everything else was somewhat flexible, and I still would have preferred getting a remote start or built in GPS, but they weren't make or break for me. After I had my features I spent time researching vehicle companies and what models of cars they make that would fit my budget and include those features. I made a list of manufactures and the models of cars I was looking for, then prioritized them by how trustworthy I've known those manufacturers to be.
Next, start searching for the cars on your list, make notes of all the potential ones you want to test out and where they are located. Spend some time going out and test driving them. Make sure to test drive a majority of the cars on your list and cross out the ones that flat out don't work for you. Some used cars are just shitty so it might be worth trying a different one to compare how they drive. When you do this, don't dink around at the dealership too long, go in knowing exactly which cars you want to test drive and leave when you are done, salesmen will waste a lot of your time if you let them.
Personal opinion, if you aren't looking for a truck don't even consider buying an american vehicle. Japanese vehicles have been the best vehicles to own for most consumers for decades. Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Subaru, Acura. They are also significantly easier to do your own work on without requiring specific specialty tools per model like american manufactures do.
I think about what I need the vehicle to do first, then go from there. For example one of my four current vehicles is a 1992 Ford F350 quad cab dually with a 460CI big block because what it needs to do is haul around me and the guys plus our cars and equpiment.
A jack of all trades is a master of none, so I choose to have multiple vehicles instead of trying to shoehorn everything into one. So I buy for the purpose.
I like rare, interesting, odd, or purpose built. It typically needs to fit two of the first three and can be made to suit the fourth. I research options it came with, rarer trim the better, or find as much information about it as possible to decide if I can build it to the purposes I want it to achieve. Bonus points if it meets all four of my preferences.
She has her priorities, I have mine. Hers are, thankfully, good gas mileage and reliability. So she selects commuter cars which are primary modes of transport for her and therefore our car if we need to go somewhere on typical roads.
I don't like debt, depreciation, and dealers. So I buy used and buy in cash. I did put a deposit down on a Tesla truck which will be the first new car I've ever purchased, but will still be paid for entirely in cash.
Compare price to others on the market, deduct for condition/mileage/missing options/etc, haggle until both parties are happy with the price. I won't overpay, but I don't expect them to give it away either. I don't lowball, it's insulting, but I repair and build my own cars so I don't go in at a disadvantage to what something should cost to fix if needed.
Take this with a grain of salt, because I haven't bought a car outright in a number of years.
After years of owning vehicles 'til they died, the spouse and I both looked at the value of our time, the risks of being stranded with breakdowns, the maintenance space available, the number of miles we drove, etc. We decided that leasing was our best option. This is categorically not true for everyone.
But the decision-making process for what to lease is similar to buying, so here's how we did it.
This, as others above have already mentioned, requires a parameterisation process.
You can get rid of whole categories of vehicle by putting on boundaries with the following questions:
What is your budget?
How many passengers and/or how much stuff do you need to carry?
This tells you how many seats, and what the interior volume/cargo volume requirements should be. That usually determines the broad type of vehicle, e.g. hatchback, compact or intermediate sedan, crossover, van, SUV, etc.
Let's say you're primarily using your car for 20 miles of daily commuting, periodic grocery/shopping trips, but would like something you rarely use for off-road dune climbing. You may not get what you're looking for unless you're willing to compromise on costs and efficiency for your primary use.
When we did a spreadsheet, suitability for each type of use got a 70/20/10 weighting. For us, it was basic urban/suburban commuting, occasional shopping trips that included hauling large amounts of landscape/garden/building materials (bulky, but not so heavy as to require upgraded engine/suspension), and rare long road vacations. [Note that there's a lot of overlap in suitability for the occasional and rare use - all we really needed was cargo volume.] The most recent pick was a Honda CR-V based on cost, reliability, fuel efficiency, and other factors, but there are other vehicles which would have met the need.
Suppose you're in a temperate climate, but the terrain is flat, snowfalls don't exceed 10 cm, and you do almost all of your driving on well-maintained urban and suburban roads. You probably don't need a vehicle with AWD.
Example: For a while, simply owning a Honda in our zip code meant an extra $40/month insurance cost due to rate of thefts of that make.
How much do looks/performance/environmental impact matter to you?
Once you've narrowed your search on parameters, then test drive, test drive, test drive. Don't be shy about asking the salesperson for a vehicle you're thinking about for more than one test drive. Preferably with you or your partner individually, then together.
Spouse and I have different ergonomic needs; we each tend to like seats the other isn't comfortable with, I'll find a B-pillar position impossible to see around where he's not bothered, and so on. [Driver and passenger seats are not necessarily constructed the same, either - if long road trips are in scope, be sure you're both comfortable at all times.]
I'm not at ease driving with an engine that doesn't have punch for quick acceleration, he's not comfortable unless he has road height to see over things. Ideally, you'll find something that the primary driver is happy with, but the secondary driver can at least operate safely and comfortably.
As I said, we're leasing - I've never had a used car that I was totally happy with over the long term, and every new car becomes a used one. Keep in mind the bathtub curve - for most automobiles, the inflection point for increasing major systems failures (not addressed by routine maintenance) is at about 5 years.
Otherwise, check Kelley Blue Book for remaining value on used vehicles as a proxy for reliable years of life left. There are multiple sources which report on general makes/model/year that remain highly reliable and provide the best used value.
I will either prioritize cost or features, and then that determines if I am buying used or new, and the sort of car I look at.
The best way to know if you or your wife will like a car is to test drive cars at dealerships.
You get a good deal by making an offer and then walking away.
These days I honestly think it's much easier to get a good deal on a new vehicle. I've only once felt like I got a good deal on a used vehicle.
If you have never owned a car before, your thinking will evolve. Don't try to buy the perfect car.
If you might have kids soon, your spouse will want something safe with four doors.
Technology in cars is rapidly evolving. Expect cars to be ten times smarter in ten years.
Test drive all the new cars at a dealership to get a feel for what you like and don't like. Then walk away. You are there to test drive, not to discuss price. What would it take to get you to buy the car right then and there? Sorry, you have other cars to test drive, you dont buy on the same day as a test drive.
Email all the dealerships, asking for an internet quote, "cash, out the door." Use a throw away email address. Then take the lowest and email that to all the other dealerships asking them to beat that price, "cash, out the door." You eventually get the best deal on a new car. Take that price into any dealership. Agree on the price. Then agree on financing if needed. Then agree on trade in, if needed.
The lowest cost car is probably a gently used Japanese sedan from a private party in a cash deal. Look for a 2-4 year old car that hasn't been selling for a few weeks, and has been reposted a couple of times. Email them to make sure they have all the service records in hand and a believable reason to sell such a new car. Turn up, use a checklist to inspect the car, then mention all the faults of the car. Ask them if they would be willing to sell the car for $X cash. Then say you are going to walk away to look at other cars, mention they probably have lots of other offers as well, and if you can't find anything else you might be back. You can check back with them in a few days to see if they are still interested in your price, or if sold, then ask them how much they sold the car for. If they are willing to sell it to you, get it inspected as a condition of the sale. If you pay cash, the DMV will rely on the sellers honesty to calculate sales tax (if applicable.)
Are you asking about "you" as in personally, or "you" as in the general person?
If you are asking about personal choices, that's really easy. I'm never buying a gas powered car again, and the only electric cars in my budget are used Nissan Leafs. Things may have changed recently (they certainly aren't quite as good as they were in the past), but they depreciated very fast because people are crazy with range anxiety so the market was filled with tons of crazy good deals.
If you want some more general advice, I'll double down on this: unless you have double-checked and are absolutely sure that it's untenable for your average use, buy an electric car. Here's a shortlist of reasons why electric would be untenable:
Like I said before, range anxiety is really overblown (This video does a good job explaining why), and there are far too many advantages to going electric even if you were to discount the fuel savings and environmental impact.
To be completely frank, the reasons why salespeople are so valuable is that they understand there are multiple types of shoppers. Some people might value the 'prestige' of a car, some people might want something super comfortable. Some people are just looking for the best deal. So if you are really looking for a car, these aren't questions people can answer for you. Only you know what you like. From there, test drive some cars and persue the one that made you the happiest based on your values.
Negotiating is honestly a completely different topic. There are a lot of articles with advice on how to negotiate, but honestly a good proportion of it relies on skill, and that needs practice. The good thing is that most people negotiate it without even realizing it; think about all the time you have talked to people about work and chores and about the things you are and are not willing to do. That's negotiation. The only difference is that you are negotiating for a dollar figure or financing terms instead of actions.
Even some of your bullet points can be downplayed with the prospect of renting a car/truck for long road trips or towing
You know what, I wrote the truck thing with the unwritten assumption that people looking to buy trucks were actually planning to make heavy use of the extra capabilities. Upon further reflection, there are many people who buy trucks who pretty much never use the bed or towing bar.
Regarding rental cars, that's a maybe. Really, it depends on what your driving habits. If the reason why you are taking a road trip is just to save money on transportation, a rental car works. If you just want to drive the car you are most comfortable with, rental cars aren't really going to solve the problem. Rentals have their own problems; while most cars in rental fleets seem to be fairly fuel-efficient, they are rarely electric.
Beyond that, the concept of "long range" for EVs is changing. My 2012 Leaf was rated for 73 miles of range. The 2020 Leaf base model has 149 miles. Even with the vast distances in the middle of the United States, I doubt there are places where you'd have to drive more than 100 miles to get to a public EV charging station.
I leased a car, mostly because I was talked into it by my mom, it would help my credit, she knew a guy, my Uncle works for GM, etc. If you like to have a new car, are willing to put some money down and can go with a payment, it's an acceptable way to go about it and you can buy at a discount once you're done. But given that and buying a car of the side of the road, there's no reason to get anything new unless you want driver Assistance, or a super fancy display or some other feature, plus the warranty aspect of if gets damaged or pops a part, it's covered by the dealership.