Buying A New Car

Can your PC help with a new auto purchase? Most certainly it will make you less a victim of the automobile saleperson. Not that all auto sales persons are bad, but autos seem to cost a lot more than than we expect when it comes to signing on the bottom line. When buying a new car, the Internet helps. Every auto manufacturer has a web site that shows their new models in a every interior and exterior color they manufacture. They help you select exactly what your wish and then have it delivered to a dealer near you.

Most dealers have an Internet sales group. I have purchased cars using the www.MileOne.com and the www.MillerBrothersAutomotive.com local Internet sales groups. In both cases I knew exactly what I wanted and purchased the car at a fair (not a bargain basement) price with minimum effort. There was little or no negotiation and the transaction was conducted in a business like manner, not the usual bull when you walk into a dealer and try to purchase a car.

My most recent experience was with buying a used Saturn to replace my old family 1994 Saturn that had 150,000 miles, a “chicken little” falling interior, manageable overheating heating problem, and more making it a good car for a young person. I went directly to a Saturn dealer and found a low milage 2004 Saturn. It was good, but my budget was $5,000 and they wanted $6,280. For me it is very hard to get that extra $1,280, so I passed on the deal. Next I visited a highly advertised local used car marketer. They had nothing good to purchase in my price range. Further, they would only give me $250 cash for the old car. In my opinion, I could get more for the parts at a junk yard than the $250. The Saturn dealer had offered me $300. The capper was the sales person saying to me that the payments on a $7,000 car loan were nothing, so I should borrow money and get a more expensive car from them. If I were to borrow money for a car, I would get a brand new car, not one of their used ones. So my girl convinced me to call the Saturn dealer and pay the $6,280. In typical fashion, the response was that the car had been sold.

Now panic ensues. No car. Cost for new used or new new car well beyond budget. So I went to www.cars.com and searched for vehicles that got high MPG. I want something that hits 40 MPG if possible, but no hybrid (long term maintenance costs are are yet to be determined). I found several small cars including a Saturn with low milage for my budget. The best deal looked like a used Saturn at Miller Brothers Chevrolet. I contacted them by email and laid out my budget and what I wanted. The good thing about buying from a dealer is that they recondition a car. This does not mean that everything is made perfect, but if a car needs tires they likely give you 4 cheap new ones. The email response encouraged me to come in and see if we could make a deal. Being close to the end of the month, helps negotiage auto deals. Well, they met my goal of a $5,000 budget. Actually, rolling on the road, it came to $4,900 with a caveate – the car had a broken sun roof that was not repaired. This was fine with me because on my other vehicle with a sun roof, the sun roof is never opened. After driving it a month, I have had two repairs to make – a cracked side mirror ($30) and a malfunctioning knock sensor ($60) which I replaced myself.

The knock sensor was diagnosed by borrowing a OBD-II tool at AutoZone, plugging it into a connector on the Saturn, running a test, and having AutoZone print out the results. Computers just make my day. They ordered the knock sensor, and I installed it. Installation was bolt on, once I was able to get under the car to reach it. The old age tummy was the most significant problem in replacing the knock sensor. Speaking many French words loudly helped.

Buying a new car is easiest when you buy at the end of the month, know exactly what you want, and use the Internet to find it. I hate owing money for a car, so using the Internet to find a excellent match for my budget worked well.