Utah Car Dealerships, like dealerships anywhere, have mastered the art of high-pressure sales tactics and convincing you need things you don't. It isn't necessarily a matter of dishonesty. You are, after all, looking to buy a car. Most car salespeople genuinely believe that they have the best car fro you, and know what your best interests are, and that they are merely being helpful. What you have to understand is that no one is in as good of a position to understand your needs and requirements as you are.
The most important element of getting the car that suits you best at any Utah Car Dealerships is to prepare. Do your homework before you set foot in any Utah car dealerships and you will greatly increase the odds that you will get the car you want at the price you can live with. You will be able to enter the dealership and negotiate effectively with the dealer.
The very first thing you need to do is establish how much you can really afford to pay. Go over your budget and think realistically about the additional financial burden. If you don't have a budget, track your expenses for a month or two to determine how much you actually spend, and keep track of everything, including snacks, and hobbies. Little things can add up.
Once you know what you can afford to spend and how it will impact your budget, then you can begin to shop for a car. Do you think this means running of to one or more Utah car dealerships? Don't be in a hurry. Starting the car buying process begins with research, not test drives. Remember, when you set foot in a car dealership, they are primed to sell you a car, the most expensive, tricked out car they can. You, in turn, need to be prepared not only by knowing your budget limits, but by knowing what car models fall in your price range and knowing what you can expect to afford.
You should also be aware of the list prices and actual prices for the cars you are actually interested in. On one hand, you don't want to pay anywhere near the list price when you buy a new car. On the other hand, you cannot realistically expect to get a car for less than the dealer pad for it.
You should know exactly which car you want to buy before you ever step into Utah Car Dealerships, or at least have a very short list. You should know also how much you could expect these cars to cost. There are many ways to tart the comparison shopping process outside of Utah car dealerships. For example, you can start with the Consumer Reports annual car buying issue. It offers a comparison of features, estimates of reliability and likelihood your car will need servicing, and resale values for many makes and models of automobile. You don't even have to buy this; you can find it at your local public library.
Motor Magazine and the Car Buyer's Art, a book by Darrell Parrish, also have useful information on how to compare vehicles. The Internet has many useful sites for comparing car prices and features, such as www.carprices.com. Use these resources and figure out exactly what you need, make a checklist of features you want, features you need, and features you like but can live without. In other words, make an A list, a B list and a C list, and know what the optional features you're interested in could cost.
If you've done your homework, you are almost prepared to visit Utah car dealerships. First, however, you should be prepared to understand how Utah car dealers talk so that you can interpret what they are telling you. Utah car dealerships are likely to throw some unfamiliar terms at you. You need to be prepared to understand what the different prices that they quote really mean and how to interpret them.
The first term you need to know is invoice price. Invoice price is what the manufacturer charges the dealer when the car is first delivered to the Utah car dealerships. The invoice price is typically higher than the dealer's actual cost. This may seem odd at first, but you have to bear in mind that dealers receive rebates, allowances and incentive awards.
The next term to understand is base price. This is the price of the car without any options included. It is just standard base equipment plus the factory warranty. This base price will be printed on the Monroney sticker, which will be visible on the car.
Monroney sticker price is the base price plus the manufacturers installed options with the manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) for the options in question, and also the manufacturer's transportation charge. This Monroney sticker must be affixed to the car window by law and can only be removed by the car's purchaser. It also includes the fuel economy, in miles per gallon (MPG).
The Monroney sticker also includes the suggested retail price of the dealer-installed options with any dealer markup. If you are a good negotiator, you can expect to pay considerably less than this number. It is just the starting point for negotiations in the purchase of a new car.
Thus equipped with this knowledge, you are ready to investigate actual cars and test drive at actual dealerships.
