What Do I Need To Know Before Going to the Dealer?

[Aaron]

OK, I'm going the local Toyota dealer tomorrow to get 1) Pricing and negotiation 2) loan rates and 3) availability. Am I missing anything?

I've NEVER purchased a new car, had a car payment, or went searching for loans, so I don't want to get taken advantage of by any dealer.

What do I need to watch out for? What questions do I need to ask? What information do I NOT want to give them? Just don't want to get screwed here

I am getting rates from multiple sources, not just the dealer.

[NYPrius1]

Check out Edmonds.com for prices.
Since The price of gas will soon be 4.00 or more, get to the dealer as fast as you can.
Good Luck To You!!

[JimN]

Read through CarBuyingTips.com new car buying guide, avoiding dealer scams, new cars, used car buying and contact the local dealers immediately. As the price of gas increases so does the Prius. With gas now at $3/gal here I would expect one will be paying close to MSRP.

The other factor against you is that the dollar hit a 5 year low against the yen. Sooner or later (and I'll bet "sooner") Toyota is going to start wanting more dollars for their cars that sell.

[Compdunz]

I agree with JimN. You should walk in with some quotes from various dealers around your area.

fightingchance.com is another very good web site to look at.

Good Luck

[Bill Merchant]

Go to Toyota Cars, Trucks, SUVs & Accessories and "build your own" so you can see what packages include which options and how much MSRP is. Don't get any extras, like paint sealant or undercoat or window serial number etching - all crap that the dealer may try to get you to pay too much for. Don't get pre-paid maintenance or an extended warranty (you can get these later here if you really want them for a lot less than the dealer may charge). You should go to your bank and credit union to see what their finance rates are, but sometimes Toyota Financial Services or the dealer's source is more competitive.

And if you feel too pressured, tell them so and just walk. They need you more than you need them, since another dealer is available.

[richard schumacher]

ConsumerReports.org - Car buying guide for new and used cars by Consumer Reports

I bought mine by phone, email, and fax, getting bids from multiple dealers and challenging the ones I liked to match the best price. When they try to sell you crap you don't want just say no. You have the money, they want it, therefore you are in control.

[MountainStone]

Used Cars, New Cars, Buy a Car, Sell a Car, Car Dealers - AutoTrader.com

Also, shop for financing before speaking to a dealer. Find your cheapest interest rate and don't pay any fees. Credit unions are almost always less expensive than banks.

[rigormortis]

bring someone with you, for the following reasons:
1) in case i need a cosigner - and he/she would volunteer to keep the interest rate down,
2) to give you a ride home, so your not stuck there if the dealer wont
negotiate

the dealer will hard sell you various optional packages and or devices, every single one can be refused and purchased later on.

warranty can be purchased up to 3 years/36000 miles for 980.00 online to extend the base warranty for 100,000 miles 7 years something with 0 deductible (expect 1500 - 2000 at a dealer with a $50 deductible)

prepaid maintaince will cover all scheduled maintaince up to 55,000 miles (mostly just oil changes and tire rotations) (<800 or so online)
(expect to pay 1500.00 at the dealer)

various protection thingies, like for the bumpers, paint, seats can all be refused

i think anything option 3 and higher has a built in alarm, but not a glass breakage sensor, this is one thing you actualy might want to consider having the dealer put in at the time of purchase if the price is good. but
then again you can shop around and have this installed later

if you want lojack, just for the sense of security against maybe getting carjacked or something like that, dont spend more then $650 maybe 750
because last time i checked lojack will come to your house or work for 650.00 flat

dont let the dealer put any of his advertising decals or placards (ones that are glued to the actual body work)

thats about it

[rigormortis]

make sure you get an instruction manual, theres a dealer check list you can check to make sure all the stuff the dealer supposed to do, like install the shelf in the glovebox, weird stuff like that, is on here somewhere

make sure you get two keys

dont lose your keys! they might cost at least 150 each plus paying $ to the dealer to replace if they are lost, dealer typically wants $500

[patsparks]

^The address of the dealer.^
Sorry I couldn't help myself.