New Car Buying Service....

[GeauxLSU]

OK.

I am a cheapskate.

The last new car I bought was nearly 15 years ago. I like driving beaters.

1) My wife, however-is of a different mind. As her car slowly decays into a decrepit old beater, I find myself in the unenviable position of needing to sort through the available options to locate a new red (go dawgs) Chevy Cruze 4 door for her. (Yeah, I know.... She loves UGA-and must drive a red car. It's a thing.)

2) I want to see what tricks y'all have found for finding the best deal. I know there are a million internet options these days, but I haven't used any.

3) Anyone tried the USAA car buying service? What about Sam's or Costco? Is there a way to find out the price the wholesale clubs can come up with short of actually buying a membership?

4) Above all, I HATE dealerships. No offense to anyone who works in the business, but I hate the places with a passion. Some people hate dentists or flying, or the thought of getting on a ship. I hate car dealerships. I'd like to find a deal online and avoid ever setting foot on a dealership beforehand.

5) Also-is there a way to look up dealer invoice? Is that even a real number anymore? (I remember being able to find it ages ago, but I hear the dealers have all figured out how to work that system. I am not interested in paying junk fees like destination charges or any protection package nonsense. I want a car at the best price, and no jibba-jabba.)

Thanks for the ideas!

1) I really would not be buying a Cruze (although I drove one that was actually a stick the other day and I was shocked at the 'get up and get" it had. But in general... yeah... no! But I get it, "happy wife..."
2) There are no "tricks". If you want the best price it requires work/time. If you want the least hassle, you're going to pay for it. Period. That's reality.
3) They are all good on the "no hassle side". Not so much on the price side. Again, see #2.
4) You have to decide it's a sadistic pleasure and above all be willing to walk away.
5) Yes, but it's a virtually meaningless number. Holdback and rebates make paying "invoice" far from the "best" possible deal in many instances. As far as "junk fees", who cares what they call it? You figure out what your OUT THE DOOR PRICE needs to be and let them label it however they need to.

PM coming...

And oh yeah, those that think the new ad valorem tax isn't better either 1) Buy new cars every couple of years or 2) are really bad at math.

 

[Wallace's]

And oh yeah, those that think the new ad valorem tax isn't better either 1) Buy new cars every couple of years or 2) are really bad at math.

Really, the only way you would "pay more" than the old way would be

• Buying a car while living in another state, then quickly moving to GA, where you would pay sales tax in the other state, then have to pay TAVT here. After 5-6 years though, the TAVT would still be cheaper than the old yearly ad valorem.
• Buying used cars from private sellers every couple of years. Even then, if you kept the car 5-6 years, your TAVT would again, be cheaper than the old yearly ad valorem.

If you are buying from a dealer every couple of years, it is still cheaper due to the fact TAVT is now in lieu of sales tax. So, now you are not paying double on that → sales tax + ad valorem every year like the old way. It becomes an even better deal if you trade in as you are only taxed on the vehicle value less trade in vale. Although this was the way of the old "sales tax" method, you still had that pesky yearly ad valorem due on the FULL VALUE of the vehicle.

Lastly, I cannot remember how a lease works with TAVT anymore. It is either you have to spread TAVT out over the lease tern for the full value of the vehicle, or the value of the vehicle less residual value? I cannot remember. Either way, the old way, you paid sales tax on every monthly lease payment anyways. Leases may be worse, but cannot remember anymore.

 

[jcountry]

The problem with trade in is the dealers take that into account and just subtract the tax from what they are willing to value the trade in at. (And of course they subtract that from the already low 'trade in' value.)

 

[Dogtown Darren]

Question to the car sales folks:

When is the best time to buy a new vehicle? End of summer when the new models are rolling in? End of the year when folks are broke/preoccupied with Christmas? End of the month?

I'm gonna be in the market for a new truck soon, but it'll be in the next 1-2 years. I'm flexible as far as when I buy.

 

[Wallace's]

The problem with trade in is the dealers take that into account and just subtract the tax from what they are willing to value the trade in at. (And of course they subtract that from the already low 'trade in' value.)

Then you are doing it wrong. NEVER bring a trade into the deal until you work the deal up on the new car to your liking first, like deal ALL the way worked to an out the door price. I always tell them I am just buying a new car and don't have a trade. After we get the deal I want on the new one, I ask then about my trade. 9/10 you can hear the sigh of "dammit" since they cannot manipulate the numbers to make your trade look more valuable than it really is.

 

[TapcoFan]

The ONLY way that happens is if you were a resident of another State when you bought the car, then moved to GA. At that point you have to pay TAVT to register it in GA. EVEN WITH THE "OLD WAY" BEFORE TAVT, you would STILL had to have paid ad valorem on that car, instead of paying a one time fee, it would have been spread out over the life of the vehicle, which after 5-6 years of residence in the state, would have surpassed the the amount of the new TAVT.

Sooooo, let's say you trade that $30k car in in just 2-3 years? Now what? The value of that trade is reduced from the states value of the new car you are buying. Let's say that $30k car you're trading is worth $18k 3 years later and you are buying a new $30k car. You would now only pay tax on the $12k difference, and you are done.

Before you would have had to have paid sales tax on that $12k difference PLUS ad valorem every year on the FULL VALUE of the car.

Yep, lesson learned the hard way. Don't ever bring a Porsche into GA. Good to know for future purchases though.
When I lived in CA, I had to pay $560 each year to keep tags on my F-150. That was a license to steal and it's nice not having to deal with that here.

 

[Wallace's]

Question to the car sales folks:

When is the best time to buy a new vehicle? End of summer when the new models are rolling in? End of the year when folks are broke/preoccupied with Christmas? End of the month?

I'm gonna be in the market for a new truck soon, but it'll be in the next 1-2 years. I'm flexible as far as when I buy.

My experience in the business years ago were as follows:

Generally at the EOM during a closeout of the old model years and the EOY pending the dealership actually needs the extra units for their quota/rebate requirements.

If you go to a high volume dealer in a metro area, you are typically less likely to get one of those crazy deals as they are more likely to have the volumes to hit the goals they need, but some do need them.

The model year changes, especially previous year models, left lingering around in Nov/Dec typically get massive factory rebates and dealerships will normally be pretty willing to give you a great price as they want them out of there. Cons of this are that your selections become extremely limited. My former employer (Ed Voyles) pushed aged units like crazy and we would work great deals on them. Couple that with EOM quota pushes and good rebates can make for some pretty nice $10-$17k discounts on new full size domestic trucks. Again though, finding EXACTLY what you want can be difficult if going for this strategy.

I have been out of the business for quite a few years, so hopefully others can give you more current market updates.

 

[GeauxLSU]

Question to the car sales folks:

When is the best time to buy a new vehicle? End of summer when the new models are rolling in? End of the year when folks are broke/preoccupied with Christmas? End of the month?

I'm gonna be in the market for a new truck soon, but it'll be in the next 1-2 years. I'm flexible as far as when I buy.

End of the month (generally internal sales goals, no huge pressure). End of the quarter (they are trying to hit volume goals for hold backs and rebates, real pressure). End of the year. There is truth to the inventory tax issue.

 

[jcountry]

Then you are doing it wrong. NEVER bring a trade into the deal until you work the deal up on the new car to your liking first, like deal ALL the way worked to an out the door price. I always tell them I am just buying a new car and don't have a trade. After we get the deal I want on the new one, I ask then about my trade. 9/10 you can hear the sigh of "dammit" since they cannot manipulate the numbers to make your trade look more valuable than it really is.

Yeah-but they still pay peanuts on that trade.

I like your strategy, though.

 

[Wallace's]

Yeah-but they still pay peanuts on that trade.

I like your strategy, though.

Right, but they are in the business to make money and you have to realize that about trade values. They cannot buy in at retail value, then sell at that same value and make any money. Yes, some are a little stingy on trades, others put more money in them. All in how well you negotiate the deal.