Shopping for a new car? Well here's a way to save some serious money!

If you are in the new car market you do what most people do. You do what I used to do which was goto a dealership and wait for the salesmen circling like sharks around you smelling fresh meat. Well no more!

Why should you have to even pay these sales guys when you can pocket their commission in savings to yourself? Well you can and you should. How? Buy like a business. Businesses can buy in bulk i.e. more than 1 car at a time and in return don’t have to pay the same markup as Bob and Jane Smith walking off the street. Even better, they get a dedicated guy to deal with them–the fleet manager. Say those wonderful words with me together…the fleet manager.

What’s the difference from a regular sales guy you ask? The fleet manager works on salary and in addition gets a commission on the total number of cars he sells each month. Say his goal is 40 cars by the end of the month and he’s a little slow to get there. The fleet manager can give drastic deals to move one unit to bolster his own numbers leaving a win-win for you and him.

Okay, you say, I’m ready to start saving some money. How do I do this process then? First, don’t just walk in there without doing a little bit of homework. Before you start groaning, this homework is pretty brainless. First you gotta know exactly what model of car you want and all the options you are considering. How? Goto www.kbb.com. That’s the kelly blue book site. So for example, you are looking for a Toyota Camry LE with optional sunroof and 6 disc changer. Simply goto www.kbb.com and look up the car and fill out its free request form and voila!…they print you out two costs. The first is how much the dealer paid (the invoice price) for this car and the second is the estimated street price that salesmen charge you. PRINT THIS SUCKER OUT! Total up the car and all the options you want under their INVOICE PRICE. This is your target price.

How much should I be paying? No more than $500 over invoice. PERIOD.

Second, now that you know how much the dealer paid (the invoice price), start shopping by phone. Goto www.local.yahoo.com and type in the type of car you want to find your local dealers. For example, type in GM, Toyota, Nissan, etc. or you can simply goto the the manufacturers website and most have “find a dealer near you” button. Call each and every one of the dealers you are willing to drive to and ask to be connected to the fleet manager. When connected tell the fleet manager that you are shopping by phone (do NOT tell them you know the invoice price). Tell him the make, model, and all the options/color you want and how much is his best price.

Most fleet managers know that you probably have done your homework and that you already know the invoice price, but just in case, they try to call your bluff and ask how much the other dealers are offering or worse, they ask how much you are willing to pay. You tell them in a straight face, “I’m just looking for the best price YOU are willing to offer me. I’m not willing to drive down there unless the price is right. Would you please tell me what your dealership’s best price is?” 90 percent will be willing to give you a price, write it down. The others who attempt to haggle you over the phone or won’t give you an outright price are telling you that they are going to play hard ball. These people are not worth the time or aggravation so tell them thank you for their time but without a firm price you are not interested thank you very much.

Call EVERY single dealership on your list. If they know you are shopping by phone, many will become competetive. If you have a particular dealership you want to buy from but their price isn’t the lowest then call that dealership back and talk to the fleet manager and say that, “Uncle Bob’s Dealership from down the street has offered to sell me that car for xyz but I really want to buy this car from you. Would you be willing to match their price?” More often than not the fleet manager will agree. If not, then go buy from Unlce Bob.

ADDITIONAL TIP: The pressure is on the very last week of every month. If a fleet manager is a little short on his bonus number for the month then he will be ready to deal. I have personally bought a car from Longo Toyota in Southern California (the largest Toyota dealership in the world) for $500 BELOW invoice on a top of the line Camry XLE. The best month to buy a car is October as they will be trying to aggressively move this year’s inventory for the next model year. Forget about finding cars in November or even worse December, this year’s model will all typically be sold by then.

If you are in Southern California and are in the market for a Toyota, then there really is only 1 place to deal and that’s Longo Toyota in El Monte. The fleet manager is a really cool guy named Frank Soh. I have bought 4 cars from him and referred over 21 others to him all with great prices. There are other fleet managers there because the dealership is so big but Frank is by far the easiest to work with.

Now with all the money you saved you can finally afford one of those cool new Sirius or XM Satellite radios! Rock On!

Money’s tight…save your dough…say YES I SAVED!

Links:
www.kbb.com