Save Money on Your Next New Car Purchase

My husband was hunched over the computer again. "Are you looking at car stuff again?" My tone belied a growing lack of interest in browsing the Internet looking for more information about Honda Pilots, the new car we were considering buying. Although initially we had found some reviews and comparisons that were helpful, my husband was insistent that shopping online for prices was going to pay off at the dealers. I was skeptical - "There's no way they are going to come down that much," was my claim! He finally emerged with a couple of sheets he had printed from the Internet. Armed with his Internet pricing ammunition, we headed for the Honda dealer.

Upon arrival we were greeted with the usual hopeful, although surprisingly pleasant and not-at-all pushy, salesman. We looked at the car and were as impressed with the car in person as we had been by the information we had read on the Internet. The salesman invited us to sit down at his desk, and we began what turned out to be a short discussion on what we would pay for the car. My husband pulled out his "inside information," and the salesman said he'd sell it to us for $400 over invoice ("they have to pay the electric bills") and would honor the incentives offered. Surprisingly, he would match the "target price" listed on the website we had used to research pricing. I was relieved by a quick, painless price discussion that ended up with us feeling we were given a good price. With the information available on the internet, gone are the questions of "what can you do for me?" Welcome to a new era of car price negotiating - "I know you paid this much for the car and I realize you have to make some money, but according to these figures you can sell it to me for x dollars and still make money."

Give it a try for your next new car purchase. The website that we found helpful was www.carsdirect.com . I am not employed or connected in any way to carsdirect.com, just offering the results of the many hours my husband spent scouring the web so you can save the time yourself! Or go ahead and look, maybe you'll find something even better!