Purchasing a new car for the first time

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by fotze

I HAVE NO ballls!!!!!!!
I just bought the car and got the guy down $200, that is it. I felt bad even asking for that. What a PUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSY am I. I think I must have left my spine in my mom's birth canal.

Must have been the dude's easiest sale ever. I am a dream customer. The guy lied about not leaving when we walked in when he had his jacket on to leave. Why lie about that, yet I ignore it. I neeed a shower.

....and to top it all off the baby just shat the most gloriously horrific sulfur blast of crap of all time, I puked in my mouth.

I would've saved you $2000 if you paid me $200 to go in with you, too bad. Or maybe it's the fact that you're a filthy rich engineer that you don't even care about the $$

[Bean]

Originally Posted by flamefan74

If model year isn't important to you, try finding one of the last model year (2004) when the new model year (2005) comes out. Usually dealers will give you a better deal on these than a brand new model year car.

I wholeheartedly agree with buying a previous year's car. I had gone into the Subaru dealership looking for a 2006 Legacy, (came in at 7:45 when they closed at 8:00) after talking to the sales person and the sales manager until about 9:00 regarding my purchase, the sales manager offered me a 2005 Legacy for the invoice price with my choice between 2 colours of which he had left on the lot. (The price was much better than what I had been able to get at the other dealership in Calgary)

I was able to combo this up with a great deal (IMO), 0% financing over 4 years, and was able to pick up the car 2 days later. Many elements of what the other CP'ers have mentioned also came into play for this particular purchase. The only other thing that I can offer is to take the advice of others when you hear about bad service or issues with particular dealerships. Sometimes rumours are not just rumours....

In this case, although I got my car for a price that I thought was unbelieveable; they had proven that the bad press about them is true to the rumours that I have heard about them.

Good luck!

p.s. look for any discount available such as Stampeder's STH for Stadium Nissan, Membership affiliations and the all important Student discounts and such. (I milked my degree towards cash back for two cars! oh yeah!)

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

I hate dealerhsips and all their games. The only way I can carshop it to walk in with a price in mind, ask if they can do it and either walk out with a car or just plain walk out.

It may not be the best price, but its a price I can live with and doesn't take 3 years off my life trying to fight through the slimeballs. Although I did get screwed on Calgary Honda's $400 'etching' fee. I called it a 'profit fee'. I paid it anyway because at that point the $400 was worth less to me than starting again. Still makes me cranky.

Crowfoot Honda only charged $250 for the etching, I said I didn't want it and they said it was already done so I said "fine, throw in the undercoating/rustproof/paint protection stuff your finance guy is gonna sell me in 10 minutes' time and you got yourself a deal" At that point the guy finalized the deal faster than Shean Donovan on a breakaway. I think I ended up paying sticker without the taxes in the end with a 5 year extended warranty and every possible accessories you can put on the car, I was pretty happy with it. They even sent us a basket of flowers about 2 weeks after. I was close to going Mazda 6 but the style is just too "loud" for me, that and North Hill just doesn't seem to want the sale bad enough and the service department looks shoddy, and Kramer were just a bunch of jackasses who wasted 15 minutes of my time.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by LGA

The one big thing I have to say is...good luck trying to find a 3000GT or 300ZX anywhere in Calgary...bah, greatest frustration in my life right now...

It's easier just importing an early 90s Japanese sports car from Japan than finding one in Calgary. Edmonton always seems to have more selection and I've never figured out why.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by LGA

The one big thing I have to say is...good luck trying to find a 3000GT or 300ZX anywhere in Calgary...bah, greatest frustration in my life right now...

Give Neeper a PM. He has a 90 Fairlady (300zx) for sale. I had the chance to take this beast out for a spin. It has some serious power.

[Flame On]

Big bump
So as a few may have seen not too long ago, I had my car stolen. Actually it has been recovered, but not before the idea of getting a new car took root and now that's what we're going to try and do. (Plus the lil 14 year old bas***ds that took it kinda ruined it mentally for us.)
I'm looking at a Focus, which suits us and the price. Love to have the flexibility to get a Civic (another one it was what was stolen) or something but can't stretch.
Anyway. There's a sticker price that the 2006 has but this includes "Ford Family Pricing" which is a 3000 $ credit on all models they're selling until the end of August. Of course the dealership is using this as a way of not dropping a dime off the sticker price in negotiating.
So my question is, is that BS can they still come down off that price?
Would it be a bad idea to email all the local ford dealerships with the price quoted and seeing who/which can beat it?
Any ideas? Thanks if so.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

The mass e-mail to see who responds is always a good idea, and with Ford there are a lot of dealerships in small towns that might bite to move something off their lot.

I quite like the Focus, having driven them a lot in fleet vehicles. I especially like the ZX3/5 hatches. Handles great and a good buy IMHO. A pity we didn't get the new version here.

[Flame On]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

The mass e-mail to see who responds is always a good idea, and with Ford there are a lot of dealerships in small towns that might bite to move something off their lot.

I quite like the Focus, having driven them a lot in fleet vehicles. I especially like the ZX3/5 hatches. Handles great and a good buy IMHO. A pity we didn't get the new version here.

That's exactly the one we're going for so yay . Didn't know about a new version coming.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Anyway. There's a sticker price that the 2006 has but this includes "Ford Family Pricing" which is a 3000 $ credit on all models they're selling until the end of August. Of course the dealership is using this as a way of not dropping a dime off the sticker price in negotiating.
So my question is, is that BS can they still come down off that price?
Would it be a bad idea to email all the local ford dealerships with the price quoted and seeing who/which can beat it?
Any ideas? Thanks if so.

Those rebates come from Ford, not the dealership, so the dealer can move the same as he ever did.

I believe LemonAid mentions to email/fax dealerships, give them exact specs, and ask for their best quote. Then when you get the best price, send one more out asking if anyone wants to beat the price.

And holy bump. I started reading and thinking it looked familiar. This thread is 2 months shy of 2 years old.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Big bump
So as a few may have seen not too long ago, I had my car stolen. Actually it has been recovered, but not before the idea of getting a new car took root and now that's what we're going to try and do. (Plus the lil 14 year old bas***ds that took it kinda ruined it mentally for us.)
I'm looking at a Focus, which suits us and the price. Love to have the flexibility to get a Civic (another one it was what was stolen) or something but can't stretch.
Anyway. There's a sticker price that the 2006 has but this includes "Ford Family Pricing" which is a 3000 $ credit on all models they're selling until the end of August. Of course the dealership is using this as a way of not dropping a dime off the sticker price in negotiating.
So my question is, is that BS can they still come down off that price?
Would it be a bad idea to email all the local ford dealerships with the price quoted and seeing who/which can beat it?
Any ideas? Thanks if so.

I haven't read anything positive about the Focus. Lemon Aid, for one, gave it the lowest possible rating. I think the first line of the review was something like "Who does Ford think they're fooling?"

Hate to pee in your cornflakes, but thought I'd share

[Eagle Eye]

go to CarcostCanada.com, pay $40 to see what incentives and what the invoice price is on up to 5 models. When we bought our car a month ago this website told us about a $2000 incentive to the dealer to sell the car (the dealer would have never told me about this)

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Bean

I wholeheartedly agree with buying a previous year's car. I had gone into the Subaru dealership looking for a 2006 Legacy, (came in at 7:45 when they closed at 8:00) after talking to the sales person and the sales manager until about 9:00 regarding my purchase, the sales manager offered me a 2005 Legacy for the invoice price with my choice between 2 colours of which he had left on the lot. (The price was much better than what I had been able to get at the other dealership in Calgary)

I was able to combo this up with a great deal (IMO), 0% financing over 4 years, and was able to pick up the car 2 days later. Many elements of what the other CP'ers have mentioned also came into play for this particular purchase. The only other thing that I can offer is to take the advice of others when you hear about bad service or issues with particular dealerships. Sometimes rumours are not just rumours....

Okay I am in the process of buying a new car, and anyone that I mention that too says that I should look for a car that is a year or two old, cause I will save money etc. Well the car I am interested in is the Mazda 3 and their is almost nothing out there in the used car market. All the listings I have looked at have only a couple of them. Most are not the options that I am looking for and most of them are a year old with 40,000 kms!

I think the car I am looking is very popular, because most of the new guides that I have read and forums say that your lucky to get anything off of the sticker price, because why sell it for a thousand dollars less when you can sell it for sticker price to someone else right away?

I asked about negotiation of the price to two different salesmen and they both said that Mazda doesn't haggle anymore, that their prices are set. Do I believe them? No. Is their anything I can do about it? I don't think so.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I think the car I am looking is very popular, because most of the new guides that I have read and forums say that your lucky to get anything off of the sticker price, because why sell it for a thousand dollars less when you can sell it for sticker price to someone else right away?

That was the situation I was in back in Jan.

I had read all the guides, knew what I was looking for, but there were a grand total of 5 used ones in the city & area. Tough haggle to even drop $1K

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by fotze

They didn't move for me, but I'm not much of a haggler. Was the salesman named Ed?

It wasn't Ed, I think it was Rick maybe. I haven't payed for my car yet, but it is on the way from Vancouver, so I think I am past the haggeling stage now anyways.

Also there is no way I am getting all this undercoat/fabric protection/etching. What kind of anti-theft is on the easiest breakable part of the car?

So far I am happy with the way things have gone at the dealership.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

That was the situation I was in back in Jan.

I had read all the guides, knew what I was looking for, but there were a grand total of 5 used ones in the city & area. Tough haggle to even drop $1K

Yeah its kinda frustrating, but the whole reason I am buying a new car is so (hopefully) I don't have to deal with the problems of a used car (repairs). Plus the used cars that I've seen haven't been much of a difference in price than a new one. So wouldn't I spend a couple thousand more and get more warranty and exactly the options that I want.

[Log]

I recently bought an 06 Altima 3.5SE. We were looking at used (1 or 2 years old, less than 40k). But the resale value on the six cylinder Altima's were way too high.

Anyways, the wife and I got our Altima for $3500 under the sticker price (GST, PST, tire tax, A/c tax not included) and got 6 free oil changes thrown in by the dealership.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Burninator

It wasn't Ed, I think it was Rick maybe. I haven't payed for my car yet, but it is on the way from Vancouver, so I think I am past the haggeling stage now anyways.

Also there is no way I am getting all this undercoat/fabric protection/etching. What kind of anti-theft is on the easiest breakable part of the car?

So far I am happy with the way things have gone at the dealership.

The Etching is actually a pretty good theft deterrant. If you wanted to steal a car, would you steal the one that only has the VIN in a couple places, or the one that has the VIN on every piece of Glass on the Car, and before you can sell it (assuming you aren't gonna chop it), you have to replace thousands of dollars worth of Glass?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

The Etching is actually a pretty good theft deterrant. If you wanted to steal a car, would you steal the one that only has the VIN in a couple places, or the one that has the VIN on every piece of Glass on the Car, and before you can sell it (assuming you aren't gonna chop it), you have to replace thousands of dollars worth of Glass?

The thing is, we live in Calgary, not Compton. People aren't going to steal a Mazda 3 to sell it. Most likely your car will just get prowled here (busted windows, stuff gone). If it is stolen, it will be found in a ditch somewhere. If you have a higher end car, then maybe. The etching is more of an insurance sale than anything, because the offer to give you a new car if it gets stolen. I already have insurance thanks. Go ahead and steal my car.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

The thing is, we live in Calgary, not Compton. People aren't going to steal a Mazda 3 to sell it. Most likely your car will just get prowled here (busted windows, stuff gone). If it is stolen, it will be found in a ditch somewhere. If you have a higher end car, then maybe. The etching is more of an insurance sale than anything, because the offer to give you a new car if it gets stolen. I already have insurance thanks. Go ahead and steal my car.

Yeah thats what I was thinking too, I have insurance and I live in a pretty calm part of the city.

But something else I was thinking of getting, was the clear 3M protection for the hood. Has anyone else got this done before? is it worth it? Should I get at the dealership or is it cheaper somewhere else?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Yeah thats what I was thinking too, I have insurance and I live in a pretty calm part of the city.

But something else I was thinking of getting, was the clear 3M protection for the hood. Has anyone else got this done before? is it worth it? Should I get at the dealership or is it cheaper somewhere else?

Get it somewhere else for sure. It does the job for keeping rocks off, but I'm not the biggest fan as you have a line going across your hood where the film ends, and I figure rock chips are just inevitable living here.