I love new car smell, but HATE new car shopping!

I LOVE buying new cars. I usually go by myself, get the deal I want, and leave. I just got my newest car in March. Had a FUN day, and took myself to Biltmore House for lunch. Hubby and I are car people and have tons of fun with it. I know most don't enjoy it though. We are just weird. LOL!

LOL!

I guess I should add that I would love *acquiring* a new car. But I hate the whole atmosphere of car sales people. Even worse are the used car sales people. ugh. This is why we only buy used cars from our local Honda dealer, the one we've dealt with for 25 years now.

Exactly. I average one new car about every 15 years so I'm quite excited to do it.

Hahaha! Nice! Well done!

I trade every 2 years and have been doing this for the last 23 years, so I have some experience at it. The main reason is because I have a drive to and from work that is extemely hard on a vehicle, so I buy new and trade before the warranty goes out. I only trade for what I can pay cash for the difference and don't ever have a car payment. With that being said I always make sure I am well prepared before I go to make the deal. I am very clear on how I deal and that I'm not going to sit in your dealership while you go "present my deal to the sales manager" while you are really discussing your upcoming tee time. I am always prepared to walk away. I don't care what you are giving me for my trade in and I don't care what you are selling me my new car for - I only want the final out the door price. I shop different dealerships, including online, and I tell them going in. It's amazing how well this works. I always get a better deal than most because I've done my homework and prepared to walk away. 

How do you know what kind of car you want?

We talked about getting a specific car. I sat in it and felt like I was sitting in a fish bowl. So that ruled that one out.

Another car was super comfortable, but had the worst blind spot I have ever encountered in a car. So, nixed that one.

Part of the problem is, previously, we had a specific salesperson, at the Ford dealership, we liked and always purchased from. We have 5 Fords. But, I refuse to give Ford anymore business, because of the manner in which the company (Ford, not the dealership) has handled an issue with the last vehicle.

So we are rather lost as to what kind of vehicle to buy. Plus, we can't agree on a vehicle for anything.

Honestly, if someone told us they were buying us a vehicle, we could not pick one out.

Also, if you want to talk bad sales person...about two years ago, we looked at a car that I was rather obsessed with. I swear I sat in the driver's seat, looked at my son and told him I wanted it. The salesman was talking to my husband while this was going on. The guy refused to allow us to test drive the car. We had to agree to buy the vehicle first. This was not a high priced car, either. We walked. How are you supposed to make a decision without driving the vehicle? Past experience, driving a vehicle has told me the car was not for me.

It IS a minumental waste of time, but, oh so worth it in the end!

Oh dear, that is a tough question. It's really different depending on the car we have to sell, the dealer, what happens, etc. But some things we always do is look up the Kelly Blue Book AND the Edmunds value of the car we are trading. We look at the high/low, and what we will reasonably accept for the trade. This is something I do not budge on unless they come down the appropriate amount on the sale of the new car. Also we know what we will accept for the price of a car. If it's not accepted, we walk. I did that when buying one of my daughter's cars last year. I told them what I would pay. They refused. I left. I then started talking to other dealerships in the state. One dealership was willing to give me my price, drive the car to my house, and take care of everything here instead of me going there. The dealer here kept continuing to call me, and I told him "Look, this is the offer I have from a dealer a couple of hours away. Break that offer, and I will buy the car from you." He talked to his manager, called me within 10 minutes, and made me a better offer. All of these dealers knew I was looking at several other dealers. They wanted the sale and were willing to do what it took for them to get the sale. We also never tell them what we are willing to pay--ever. Hope some of that helps.

And MsKnit, we just always know what we want pretty much. We buy from specific manufacturers, and we know what we want within that manufacturer. We will do a lot of "build your own" on the website before we go to a dealer. Also, test driving is a big deciding factor for me because I am 5 feet "tall." I cannot reach the pedals in a lot of cars without being on top of the steering wheel. That bothers me tremendously so I have to fit comfortably, see comfortably, etc., before I ever consider a car. So while I might build one and love it with the options I have tried, it still may not work for me. Have fun looking. It's always fun to build them on the web!

We've purchased 2 cars from Carmax and have no complaints.  I love knowing exactly what price I'll be paying, no haggling and wondering if I got a good deal.  This weekend, I looked online at the inventory of the location near my house, narrowed it down to 2 that I liked, went in this morning at 11AM and was home by 1PM with my new car.

I really think the internet has made car buying a little less annoying.  When I bought my minivan last year, I just looked online at various dealerships until I found exactly what I was looking for.  I went there, test drove it, and then told them what price I wanted.  They ended up giving me $1000 for my trade in and I didn't even expect that.  But I think that if you don't know what kind of car you want, it is much harder because there's really so much to consider.  I think knowing exactly what you want and what you are willing to pay for it makes it much easier to pin point your vehicle.  And like others, I do hate the haggling.  But I go in knowing how much I have to spend and I always buy used so I do Kelley Blue Book the car too so I know what is a fair price.

Thanks for the info!  It does help!  I do a lot of building on the websites, too, it's fun to dream!  I guess I have a hard time knowing what constitutes a good deal, or how much I should expect them to come down from the MSRP.  I know it's different for different brands, but I'm not sure my idea of a deal is realistic.  Do you just go with your gut feeling, within your price parameters?