Buying a New (Used) CarTruck : Othor Games

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:53 pm

It is time for a new car; my 2000 Chrylser Grand Voyager Minivan has 220K miles on it, and I want to replace it on my terms, not when it decides it is time.

At this point I am planning on getting a truck, and if I do it will probably be a Toyota. I am curious about the reliability of recent model American trucks though. Based on what I am going to spend I am looking at a ~10 year old vehicle with ~100K miles on it. I know Toyotas are not quite as good as they used to be, and the American car companies are catching up, but what about the 2004-2007 era?

I also prefer to buy from a dealer, but that isn't set in stone or anything. I feel more confident not getting screwed by a dealer, but the hassle is much less with a private seller.

Between running cars until they almost fall apart, and getting the van from my dad for free, I have not bought a car in the "internet age" and I am wondering what has changed (if anything) from the bad old days.

-Where to look? I have been poking around on some dealer websites, autotrader.com, and a couple other random places; is there any other places I am missing that don't involve walking a bunch of lots with some schmuk salesman (no offense to any schmuk salespeople in the crowd :smile:

)?

-How negotiable are prices these days? With all of the information in the world available at everyone's fingertips it seems the old multi-hour haggling sessions would be a thing of the past. Yea or nay?

-Any good sites for reviews and research on various makes and models of vehicles?

-Any other tricks to use in the battle against cars salesmen and their "Sales Managers"?

» Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:02 pm

There's no real reason to think that buying from a dealer will be any more advantageous than buying from a 3rd party. For one thing, the stereotype that used car dealers are dishonest exists because it's true. Additionally, if you buy from a 3rd party, the car will almost certainly be cheaper since you're cutting out the middleman. If you have any concerns about the car's state, just schedule an appointment with your garage of choice and take the car you're considering over to get looked at. If the seller doesn't like that, then don't bother with them.

As for prices, the blue book value is always a decent starting point for prices, but the best feel you're going to get is just by looking online and seeing how comparable prices are for specific models. If you use a website like craigslist, chances are there will be a number of options for a given model that you can compare with each other. And yes, prices tend to be pretty negotiable. Sometimes people will give you the bottom line straight out, but again, you should know going in what the car is worth.

And if you want to go with a dealer, there's no stress in getting a deal done in a single day. Stretch your negotiation with the salesperson out over days or even a week+ to ensure you get as much off the price as possible.