Thread Tools

***Alpha*** · December 9th, 08:55 PM

So I'm a budding auto enthusiast. Well not really, I'm buying a car within the next few months.

Background info:

I drive about 20 highway miles to work and back 4 or 5 times a week.
I live in New England. It snows wickid haad.
I only make about 7 bucks and hour and work about 20-30 hours a week.
I am a caucasian male teenager
I am very good at fixing things, especially mechanincal things. I know a fair amount about cars, considering I've never worked on one.

Throw some tips at me for buyign my first car. I'm probably going to pick something up for around 25-3500.

Theres a place down the street that has some fairly decent pickups (S10's and rangers a lot of the time) for a decent price. Is it kosher to haggle with them?

BTW insurance is 2700 for a step 14 minor driver with no experience in massachusetts. Wonderful. Thankfully the parents said they'd help me out with a downpayment.

**Z PYRO** · December 9th, 09:00 PM

2700/6mo or yr?

its always good to haggle with buying a car. if you can save a couple hundred why not? if they wont bother dealing with you, go somewhere else. also don't rule out buying private party, you can get decent cars for cheap. the downside is not having any kind of warranty and possibly getting a POS. just means you have to do your hw and not get the first thing that you like

***Alpha*** · December 9th, 09:09 PM

YEah. I'm on kellys blue book (kbb.com) right now just looking. I still have to go get my license. I drive fine, but i never finished the driving hours in drivers ed.. I have like 2 more to do.

***darkdragon*** · December 9th, 10:25 PM

I dont pay 2700 for a year. OUCH even if it is a year. I am not a very good driver (past tense) but that is like wow..............

oh by the way I know I sounded like an idiot....

**Z PYRO** · December 9th, 10:47 PM

i paid about 1k for a year for my bike

and that was a lil more than liability. my stang has just liability and its about 1200/yr. i've been drivin close to 4 years now, have 2 tickets and no accidents

**Spudchucker** · December 9th, 11:02 PM

you can have my truck if you want, the tires alone are worth like $1000

you just have to have a few things fixed, including the 4 wheel drive

***Dooms*** · December 11th, 09:31 PM

Insurance for me is $9,000 a year on the Cobra and $3,200 on the Mazda. I would love to have $2,700 insurance.

If you buy something privately bring a mechanic a long to look at it or ask the owner if you can bring it to a local mechanic before you buy it to get it checked out. As to what vehicle to get, if you do get a pickup get some sandbags for the winter.

***MagicMarker*** · December 11th, 09:58 PM

Well, I'm biased on Hondas. They are efficient and don't cost a lot and last pretty much forever. Especially if you can fix things on your own. If it snows that much, won't a pickup be useless in the snow? At any rate, base your vehicle of choice on needs and not necessarily on wants.

In NJ I pay $1150/yr full coverage w/ $500 deduct. I drive a 96 Civic coupe.

Also take your time buying a car. Don't rush it b/c you'll be stuck with it for a long time. Unless you are like my buddy and make decent money and have good credit, he walked away with a 2002 WRX for $17K

**Spudchucker** · December 11th, 10:09 PM

did you just imply that a honda would do better in the snow than a 4 wheel drive pickup?

**CoWcH** · December 11th, 11:25 PM

Since were talking about insurance, I pay 381/yr. And that is 100/300k liability. I beleive with base liability is around 310/yr.

***MagicMarker*** · December 11th, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spudchucker

did you just imply that a honda would do better in the snow than a 4 wheel drive pickup?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't know that S-10s and Rangers came in 4WD. And I didn't say a Honda is better then a 4X4.

***Dooms*** · December 12th, 12:12 AM

If it had snowtires it would be better. A FWD car with snowtires is better than an AWD with summer/all season tires.

**2 legit** · December 12th, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicMarker

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't know that S-10s and Rangers came in 4WD. And I didn't say a Honda is better then a 4X4.

your wrong.......they most definently do

***MagicMarker*** · December 12th, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2 legit

your wrong.......they most definently do

Well, I'm not that much into domestics since I started driving my Honda. My father was GM loyal and those always fell apart around 130K and he always bought them new. I have over 130K on my Honda (used) and it drives better and has no problems then my old domestic that only had 90K on it and I bought it new. Around 90K, the whole car had problem after problem. I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Although, I've always had a soft spot for Camaros and Mustangs, but they suck in the snow.

***Dooms*** · December 12th, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicMarker

Although, I've always had a soft spot for Camaros and Mustangs, but they suck in the snow.

Any high hp car with performance tires sucks in snow. That's why you get a set of winter tires. Don't be fooled by 4WD either. 4WD can actually make winter driving worse because if all four tires break free and start spinning the rotation at idle might be enough to keep all four tires broken free which would keep you sliding. With only two drive tires usually the ones that don't have power to them will stay stuck long enough to keep you from spinning out and get the drive tires hooked back up. Believe it or not the best way to drive in winter is in 2wd then lock it into 4wd if you get stuck or are going up a hill. Don't forget, if you start sliding shift to neutral as fast as possible to help regain grip.

**Uncle_T** · December 12th, 01:07 PM

is that shifting into neutral trick useful on FWD or AWD vehicles?

**mLuH** · December 12th, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicMarker

My father was GM loyal and those always fell apart around 130K and he always bought them new.

my cavalier has 148k on it..its a '92, and works GREAT. the only thing wrong is 1 speaker is broken. power windows/locks. my uncle said he had a cavalier that he drove to 250k which is pretty nice sounding for me, considering this is my first car. insurance for me is about 130 a month or less...not sure...

as for alpha..haggling is never out of the picture..dont go for the first car you think is great..look around for a while and look into private parties (as stated before) goodluck with your search

**DaBluedevil** · December 12th, 01:52 PM

Taken from : http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/showthread.php?t=885

Quote:

well, DONT be drooling!

PRE ENTRANCE
Set a price that you want to pay. my general rule is if they can't give me 10% of sticker, than i won't buy the car. I would suggest using 10% as a starting point. BE PREPARED TO WALK AWAY THAT DAY! You may not buy the car that day, and that is fine. Go in there dressed casual, but sharp, and act like you own the world. Look good, and confident. Walk the lot, and count how many rexs there are, including the one on the showroom floor. Remember this number.

THE ENTRANCE
Think: "I don't need this car, im just curious." Walk and parouse on your own, sit in the thing. (like you havent berfore!) Don't wait for a salesman to come to you. you are shopping for salesmen here too. DO THIS FIRST! Walk in the door, and pick the person that will sell you your car. Pick the youngest, most inexperienced looking joe in there. if someone asks you if you want help, and they're not your choice for a salesman, say "im just looking thank you." Stay away from women or older men (no offense!). When you are ready, and have shown what you are there for, then go ask the person you want for help.

THE TOUR
The guy will start blabbing now. Avoid talking about price at all costs. Discuss ALL the options, even the ones you don't want, or are too expensive for you. Ask lots of questions. trunk space, show me the spare, mileage, stereo, who makes this, the warranty, the flat four (they love jabbering about that) etc. Think of EVERYTHING. Don't even hint at your price range. your biggest weapon is keeping information about what you want/need and hiding your budget/price range. That leaves them no ground to stand on. (after all, what you give them is all they have for information!) ESPECIALLY DON'T HINT AT THE COLOR YOU WANT! Drag the process out, and act uninformed. even ignorant. "air to air intercooler? hmmm..."

THE DUCKETS
<from above>"Before you go in, set a price that you want to pay. my general rule is if they can't give me 10% of sticker, than i won't buy the car. i would suggest using 10% as a starting point. BE POREPARED TO WALK AWAY!" <end> There are more rexs out there ALWAYS, even if not at that dealer. The point is, the salesman knows your serious about your dollar limit if he sees you are willing to walk away. Find out what colors are available NOW (like if you were to buy the car immediately)-(this is good for two reasons, the salesman is always willing to help if you are going to buy right away, even if your not, hint at it, it gets them in the right price moving mood. Second, you want to know how many cars are NOT accounted for right now by other customers. -This is important for haggling.- Again, remember this number.) Even if it takes another week to drive this sucker home (my purchase took 18 days), this is the way to get your price. I know its tough, i loved the car from day one. But act like you DON'T NEED IT! BTW, this step is usually where the test drive comes in. Have fun!

PRE-HAGGLE GAME
When the person is done showing you the package you will finally sit down to discuss price. List out all the options you DO want, and a few more that you DONT. Opt for the body skirt and the spoiler, or the upgraded stereo too, and other things you don't really want/can't afford, even if it means that they have to install it later or import it from a distributer, or wait for the parts(the short shifter was key here for me). Basically get the price for a car that is MORE than you want. The guy will give you a price for the "more than you want" car. This is your basis.

THE GLORIOUS HAGGLE GAME
This is the easiest part believe it or not. and it really is a game. View it like that and you will do fine. Do the least amount of talking possible. Most of the time, especially with an inexperienced salesperson, the guy will dig his own hole. let your silence do the work for you. Subtle facial expressions of discontent are generally more than enough to make a point. When he gives you the number, tell him it is too high, and say "can't you help me out a bit?" Remember, even if they ask, do not give them a number that you are looking for, work from what they give you.

It is at this point that everyone is saying now is "the dealer just said "no way, there is way too much demand" inside, you are laughing now. How many were on the lot again? Probably b/w 3 and 10. How many were accounted for ie: (how many cars were available when you asked what colors were availale if you bought it TODAY)? heh heh. i had trouble containing myself when this part came. i actually said. "Come on, there are a ton of them on your lot! Stop giving me the runnaround" (there was at least one in every color, and most had a few in each color) i don't know if this outburst was smart or not, but the point is, you will have a tangible grip on the real demand this dealership is seeing, and know that you are that much better off walking away if the guy won't budge. You have no idea how much this person wants the commission on this car. if the person still doesn't budge, ask for a business card, and say thanks for your time today.

LEAVE.

call/go back a week or so later and see how many of those rexes moved. (probably one if they are lucky. U know my dealership was moving one-two a month.) Start the haggling over again, and use that basis price he gave you last time. I was able to slowly chisel away at the price (without ever really giving my price ceiling away) saying "no no no, that's still a little too much."

Once you get at or close to your 10% number, start ditching the items yo