Do You Prefer To Drive A New Car Deal, At The Dealer, Online, Or Use No-Dicker Dealerships?

I typically do the research and test drives in advance of the purchase.

Then I scour the net and drive the deal from there.

I have always settled on a price online before walking in the dealership and driving the chosen car and making the decision.

Research, research and research again:

1. Always have a realistic indication of any trade you might have
2. By all means know the finance rate you should qualify for.
3. Drive the purchase independent of the trade and the financing independently of the purchase.

If you already know all three from above, you should already know what the payment will be for the term you are looking at. So if the payment comes back higher than you calculated, then the dealer played with one of the three variables.

Ditto above....plus I get a confirmed price on line ( www.true.car.com )
then shop it at dealer(s) of my choice who reluctantly match or better deal slightly.

Bartering hardcore for a deal only makes you think you got a good deal in most cases.

Here's a question.

Let's say you know you want to lease. Now a lot of people say to talk down list price thus leading to lower payments. However, no matter how I calculate it the monthly and down is still higher than the dealer's online lease special (which I assume can be negotiated as well).

So in this case, how would you go about negotiating on a car lease?

My approach on a lease is to have the dealer quote me a monthly price and major terms (down payment,mileage, cost per mile over, etc). I next negotiate the terms first..."I need 15,000 miles a year" though I'm ready to settle for 12,000 not the 10,000 he offered. Leave the monthly price to last. If he said $399 a month I might say "$340 a month is the top I can afford. I am prepared to commit today if you can agree to $340 a month." Again I'm already willing to settle for $370 when I say this. Letting him know you are willing to commit today is very important if you want him to counter. Also, be quiet don't say much or anything at all. Make him come to you. Of course you have to be prepared to walk away but only as a last resort. Remember you hold all the cards...he makes nothing if you walk.

So what do you do when the value is grossly different from what you find online? I was trying to lease an A5 and I found a few web sites that had lease rates, calculators, etc. Everything I was coming back with was about $200/mo *less* than what the dealers were wanting. I can't tell if i was looking at information wrong or what. Most of that was from the MF being much higher than i was expecting.

Two most influential factors in determining a lease are cost of vehicle and value at time vehicle returned. To address the first, go to www.truecar.com and find out what others have paid to purchase vehicle and request a guranteed price to find out dealers' current best price plus which dealers are willing to deal to get sale/lease. Use this price in your lease calculators for initial value. Go on net to find residual values for your brand to plug into calculator. Also politely make the dealer explain to you why there is a difference of $200. If you made a mistake, you made a mistake. If there are areas that might be negotiated, then negogiate. If the explanations sounds fishy, find another dealer.

I purchased my last few cars through Costco. I always do my homework about the price I should be paying and the price through Costco's auto buying program is very close to my estimates. No I don't work for Costco.

I have yet to identify an on the level car dealership. They are all scam artists and out to pick your pocket. Never trust a car salesman or dealer. Never.