Automobilia etc....

I'm ok with the price it's at now. Drove it yesterday and am in love. I'm ok paying the sticker price, but after they run the numbers would like to be able to say, that's xx more than I want to pay a month just to see if they'll come off the sticker.

Be careful with that approach. What they may just do is tack on some extra months on the term or tweak the apr. You will find your best success by negotiating from the bottom line. That said if you know what apr you qualify for (go to credit karma, find your credit score, then see what rates are at your local credit union, see if the dealer has a lender can beat that rate), and you are certain they are not going up on term you can negotiate using the monthly payment.

Just remember on a 60 month term, $20 dollars a month roughly works out to $1000 financed. So if you want them to lower the payment by $40 a month, they would need to cut the price by $2000.
 
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Be careful with that approach. What they may just do is tack on some extra months on the term or tweak the apr. You will find your best success by negotiating from the bottom line.

This has been fantastic, honest advice.


I genuinely appreciate you putting it out there for people. Working parts at a dealership really jaded me to a lot of the business, so it's nice to see legit, open advice. Next time I'm in the market, I know where I'll go.
 
Be careful with that approach. What they may just do is tack on some extra months on the term or tweak the apr. You will find your best success by negotiating from the bottom line. That said if you know what apr you qualify for (go to credit karma, find your credit score, then see what rates are at your local credit union, see if the dealer has a lender can beat that rate), and you are certain they are not going up on term you can negotiate using the monthly payment.

Just remember on a 60 month term, $20 dollars a month roughly works out to $1000 financed. So if you want them to lower the payment by $40 a month, they would need to cut the price by $2000.

I agree - best for you (Kat) to figure out what your monthly payments will be rather than setting a target for the dealer.

A site like Bankrate has a loan calculator - you can enter the price (final price with taxes and fees - your down payment or trade value), loan length and interest rate to get a price.

Likewise, you can simply put $1000 in the price field then the loan length and rate to get the $/1000 amount.

So if you had a 60 month loan at 3% interest the monthly payment would be $17.97 for every 1000 in price. So if were financing $20k of a car price the monthly payment would be $359.40.

Nerd your $20 month per 1000 seems like a pretty crappy interest rate (almost 8%)
 
I agree - best for you (Kat) to figure out what your monthly payments will be rather than setting a target for the dealer.

A site like Bankrate has a loan calculator - you can enter the price (final price with taxes and fees - your down payment or trade value), loan length and interest rate to get a price.

Likewise, you can simply put $1000 in the price field then the loan length and rate to get the $/1000 amount.

So if you had a 60 month loan at 3% interest the monthly payment would be $17.97 for every 1000 in price. So if were financing $20k of a car price the monthly payment would be $359.40.

Nerd your $20 month per 1000 seems like a pretty crappy interest rate (almost 8%)

You are correct. The 20 per 1000 is high. I just use that in the field as a rule of thumb. A lot cleaner and easier to digest. I absolutely agree the number is closer to 18 per 1000.

As far as calculators go, I am a fan of the one on cars.com. It allows for the user to input taxes as well.
 
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This has been fantastic, honest advice.


I genuinely appreciate you putting it out there for people. Working parts at a dealership really jaded me to a lot of the business, so it's nice to see legit, open advice. Next time I'm in the market, I know where I'll go.

Many thanks. If I were to stay in this industry, I would love to be a purchasing consultant.
 
Just for future reference: credit Karma is a fako score. It is not a true representation of your score.

Myfico.com is the only place you can pull your true scores (transunion and equifax)
 
Thanks nerd. Like I said I'm good paying full sticker. I appreciate all your help. I'm a little nervous.

I can understand if you are nervous. What in particular has you concerned?


Thanks obsessed. I was not aware of that. Do you feel like credit karma is a useful tool for customers?
 
I can understand if you are nervous. What in particular has you concerned?


Thanks obsessed. I was not aware of that. Do you feel like credit karma is a useful tool for customers?

It can give them a basic principle of understanding where they are finically. (Debt to income)

But the scores,for all practical purposes, is useless.

Myfico is the only legit place to get your true scores. Usually 20 bucks each for the two available. (Experian is not yet)

Unless a customer has a discover or cap one card that offers it free with their credit cards.

Most credit unions use a internal scoring algorithm as well. IMO, which may not be popular, is to finance with a credit union. Don't let the dealer shop you around. You will end up with 10-12 inquiries which in return will drop your score drastically until they are recoded with the credit reporting agency's.
 
I'm ok with the price it's at now. Drove it yesterday and am in love. I'm ok paying the sticker price, but after they run the numbers would like to be able to say, that's xx more than I want to pay a month just to see if they'll come off the sticker.

at least haggle on the price, and save some dollars

what are you getting
 
Just for future reference: credit Karma is a fako score. It is not a true representation of your score.

Myfico.com is the only place you can pull your true scores (transunion and equifax)

This. It's a wonderful resource that will provide all eight of your credit scores for each bureau and tell you which ones are likely to be used for an auto loan.
 
Took the X3 to BMW this morning for service. First time I've had to do it and was pretty surprised by the low cost. It alerted me last week that the coolant level was low (cold weather, typical), so I went ahead and scheduled an oil change. I got there this morning and they told me that I still had 6,000 miles to go and that I didn't need one, but I told them to do it anyways. Also said it was time to do a brake flush, so I did that as well. Rotated the tires, miscellaneous inspection, topped the fluids, and car wash (interior and exterior). $285 but they sent me a $50 off service coupon last week, so it came out to $235.

That seems pretty reasonable in my opinion..
 
Took the X3 to BMW this morning for service. First time I've had to do it and was pretty surprised by the low cost. It alerted me last week that the coolant level was low (cold weather, typical), so I went ahead and scheduled an oil change. I got there this morning and they told me that I still had 6,000 miles to go and that I didn't need one, but I told them to do it anyways. Also said it was time to do a brake flush, so I did that as well. Rotated the tires, miscellaneous inspection, topped the fluids, and car wash (interior and exterior). $285 but they sent me a $50 off service coupon last week, so it came out to $235.

That seems pretty reasonable in my opinion..

I've always been puzzled by the frequency of which BMW wants brake fluid flushed.
 
I've always been puzzled by the frequency of which BMW wants brake fluid flushed.

One side of our group was BMW.

They always said some of it has to do with the late models being over-sensored and it keeps the check lights down. But the tech swore some of it was that it's an easy sell/easy work so they tend to over-suggest it (that's all the Tech's opinion, so TIFWIW)...
 
One side of our group was BMW.

They always said some of it has to do with the late models being over-sensored and it keeps the check lights down. But the tech swore some of it was that it's an easy sell/easy work so they tend to over-suggest it (that's all the Tech's opinion, so TIFWIW)...

It very well could be an upsell, but I think most stuff is lol. I thought it was weird they said I DIDN'T need an oil change yet. I was like....uhhh....take my money!
 
It very well could be an upsell, but I think most stuff is lol. I thought it was weird they said I DIDN'T need an oil change yet. I was like....uhhh....take my money!

Those 10k or 15k oil change intervals still amaze me. I know the oil is capable of it, but man, it seems so long.
 
Those 10k or 15k oil change intervals still amaze me. I know the oil is capable of it, but man, it seems so long.

Yea dude, me too. I plan on trading it in when the warranty is up in 18 and at this rate, I'll probably only have to get the oil changed one more time. If nothing changes for us financially between now and then, we'll probably get an X5 or 6.
 
Drove a 2014 mustang 5.0. Nice car! I wasn't blown away though. I do get why people like them.

I also can't believe they only put a 235 width tire on those things. You would think a 400+ hp, 3500lb car would need and deserve wider tires. For reference my Honda with 240hp and 163ftlb of torque wears 245s on the rear.
 
So the factory catalytic converter on my Honda is on the way out. Decided to replace it with a high flow unit. Not excited to go away from factory specifications, but I don't want to shell out $800 for a factory oem unit.

BT1601-HFC-MET.jpg


Hopefully I pick up a few hp and wake up the exhaust note. The factory exhaust is so quiet. All you hear is engine noise.
 
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Drove a 2014 mustang 5.0. Nice car! I wasn't blown away though. I do get why people like them.

I also can't believe they only put a 235 width tire on those things. You would think a 400+ hp, 3500lb car would need and deserve wider tires. For reference my Honda with 240hp and 163ftlb of torque wears 245s on the rear.

you driving a mustang, has Yank smiling
 
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Nerd, if a dealership has their "internet price" as the lowest price how much wiggle room is there to try to talk them down?

There isnt a set answer to this. Internet price could be the same price on the lot. Dealers use different pricing strategies.
 
Nerd, last question, for now. Yesterday on the test drive he asked what I wanted to be at each month and I just hedged and redirected. I feel like I shouldn't offer that number up front today, either, right? Let them run the numbers and then use that as leverage to negotiate on the sticker price?
Really? You don't want by our salesman to know what budget you're working with. How about knowing your budget and finding a car that fits in it.
 

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