What is the best way to negotiate when buying a used car from a dealership?

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~~Foshizzl

They are asking $6000. I have done the kelly blue book value which the suggested retail price is 6700. and the edmunds true market value is 4700. I want to negotiate the price but not sure how to go about it and what to say and what is fair......Any help would be great!!

Answer
yeah the second answer will get you ripped off in a heart beat, people who walk into a dealership like that either walk out without a car or get jacked because they want to be tough guy negotiator. claiming that you know they paid alot less, news flash sometimes they didnt pay alot less, sometimes they just want that junker that someone traded in and demanded way to much money for to go away.

$4,700 is probably pretty fair for the car, having no idea what kind of car it is I cannot tell you what kind of price they should have or what they should have paid for it.

Judging by an asking price of $6,000 they should have about $3,000 to $3,500 in it. average overhead per car is probably around 400-600, again having no idea what type of dealer i cant really know this but thats about average, they will also pay the salesman, probably about $100. so they will probably make between $400-$900 which is fine, most dealers hope to walk away with $1,500 on a used car.

So that being said without knowing what the car is I cant really tell what you should pay but it you get it for $4,700 you have probably done well, just remember not to buy any of the way overpriced accesories and junk from the finance manager. and the dealer should not have a fee that isnt from the DMV or state that costs you more than $100.

What is a good website to look at older used car values?

Everest

Trying to look at what my old cars are worth and cant find a good website for it. Some don't go back as old as I have and some want you to give information so dealers can contact you.

Answer
I use three sites pretty regularly and go back and forth cross checking to see whats up. You can try auto trader.com for 90s and newer, or autotrader classics.com for older cars, NADA www.nada.com has new, new used, classics, boats, motor homes tranvel trailers, motorcycles, there is a free consumer section that covers the bases well. Another place on the web is hemmings motor news. www.hemmings.com is an old time online car magazine with deep world wide roots to the car lovers world, there are thousands of links to almost anything car related. there is a want ad section , last months ads are free online, if you wish to view current ads, then you need to pay for the online subscription, or buy the hard copy and have it mailed to your home address. last but not least Edmunds.com is more geared towards new, or almost new cars, but there is a lot of information available. and if you are interested in learning how to go look for and how to inspect used cars, www.samarins.com is packed full of information on how to buy a used car, what to look for, repair histories on used cars and plenty of other links.

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what are the advantages and disadvantages of a electric poered car?

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LaurenLove

are they likely to become the car of the future in the United States?

Answer
I think we'll be hearing about a lot of electric cars in the near future. Electric cars are clean, very inexpensive to operate, and someday they'll be cheap, too.
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Here's a site with about a thousand EV owners and their cars:
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http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/
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Thanks to new battery research, there are lots of new EVs in development, mostly in Asia. Here's a partial list:
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From China: The Happy Messenger - only costs $10000, goes 150 miles per charge:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/12/chinese_ev_comp.html

Also from China: the BYD car, designed to be affordable, with a 250-mile range:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=106930

The GEO EV, from Korea. It goes 155 miles on a three hour charge:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200505/18/200505182238171109900090609062.html

Also from Korea. The ENERGINE Electric-Pneumatic hybrid.
It runs on air and electricity. No gasoline:
http://www.energine.com/e_main.php

From Japan. The Subaru R1E. Charges to 90% in 5 minutes, costs under $18000:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8995780

Also from Japan. The Mitsubishi Colt EV. It can charge in 20 minutes, and is priced under $20k.
http://aftermarket.autoblog.com/2006/10/12/mitsubishi-looks-ahead-with-an-electric-i/

A chinese EV slated for import to the USA next year. It gets 200 miles/charge, and costs $28,500.
http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html

The Tesla sports car:
http://www.teslamotors.com
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And if you don't want to wait - and if you don't mind not having the very latest technology, there are many small entrepreneurs doing electric car conversions right now, that you can buy for as little as $5000. Details are on this page:
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http://www.squidoo.com/cheap-electric-car/
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Even better technology is in the works. Supercapacitors, for instance will enable charging in as little as 5 minutes. That technology may be ready as soon as next year.
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Also, don't believe what you read about polluting EVs. It's not true. Electric vehicles are many times more efficient than gas cars. That means they make far less pollution per mile even when power plants burn dirty fuel (and don't forget that gasoline refineries spew pollution. And refineries use lots of electricity too!) Plus the EV is the only car that refuels by wire (the electric grid is 95% efficient.) Other cars must have fuel shipped by inefficient and polluting trucks.

What years of 3 series are best for convertibles?

j w

Thinking of getting a 3 series convertible for a second car to drive on weekends etc.
I'm going to look for a 1999 thru 2004 with 60k+ mileage with a manual trans (although I would consider auto).

Any years better or worse than others as far as safety and reliability?

Answer
Definitely buy a 2004 Bmw 3 series convertible. The 2004 BMW 3 series coupe and convertible where given a major facelift at the front fascia and also minor touch ups at the rear of the car. The 1999-2003 models are a bit outdated, they look like the older generation of the 3 series despite the fact they are still "handsome" used cars. Cons on buying a 2004 3 series convertible is it will obviously be sold for a higher price then then its 1999-2003 models. In 2004 the coupe and convertible had a facelift which included new headlights, new front wings and bumpers, new selections in exterior colors, and redesigned sidemarker lights and LED tail lights. Over all the more attractive of the 3 series convertibles would lie within the years 2004-2006 opposed to the 1999-2003 3 series convertible models, but in all "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Of course no one can denie that the 2007-2010 BMW 3 series covertibles are good looking but the MSRP price for a used or new 3 series is way beyond being comparable with 2004 models. Basically, I would take the 04. Hope this helps.

::::Pictures:::
(1999-2003 BMW 3 series convertible)
http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/03images/det2_bmw3_1.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/vehicle-pictures/2001/bmw/3-series/0572-046-front-angle-480.jpg
(2004-2006 BMW 3 series convertible)
http://www.edmunds.com/media/reviews/top10/04.luxury.under.45K/04.bmw.3-series.500.jpg
http://www.autotropolis.com/wiki/images/1/19/2004_BMW_330Ci_Convertible_Large.jpg

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When should I buy a new hybrid car?

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Jordan H

I am in the market to buy a new car in the up coming year or two. I want a hyprid becuase of the gas milage ect... I don't really want a super small car Honda insight or Toyota Prius more of a standard size, unless it will get wicked good gas milage. Does anyone know if there will be any new hybrids coming out within the next year or so that I should look for?

Answer
Unfortunately, most manufacturers so not announce their upcoming hybrid release plans. Not all hybrids are created alike (some are more geared towards performance (acceleration and available power) than to fuel economy), and some have more hybrid features than others (full hybrid vs. mild hybrid). So, just because it says hybrid doesn't mean that it has "wicked good gas mileage."

So, you would be best to find the best fuel economy vehicle in the vehicle class that you are looking at. For your choices in the US, I'd suggest:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/

I'm not entirely sure what size of vehicle that you are looking for. The Honda Insight was discontinued in the 2006 model year, so you'll only find that 2-seater in the used market. Meanwhile, the Toyota Prius is currently a midsize hatchback, which is the same size class as the popular Toyota Camry, or Nissan Altima, or Chevy Malibu, or Saturn Aura (all of which also have hybrid versions available) or the also popular Honda Accord (which had a performance-tuned hybrid option available in the past, but is now discontinued and only available used). In fact, of the currently available hybrid vehicles in the US for the 2008 model year, the only ones that are smaller than a Toyota Prius are the compact-sized Honda Civic Hybrid and the Lexus GS450h.

If you are planning on the US Federal income tax credit for your hybrid purchase, the sooner you purchase, the better, as there is a sunset phaseout provision set for after a manufacturer has sold a certain number of hybrids. The Toyota/Lexus credits have passed this sunset already (so no more credits), and Honda is currently in the phaseout period...
More info:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157557,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157632,00.html
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax_hybrid.shtml


Hybrids do cost less in the long term than their conventional counterparts. (Intellichoice used a 5 year ownership comparison in 2006) See http://www.intellichoice.com/press/Hybrid-Survey-2006 and http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/HypeOverHybrids )

While Consumer Reports in 2006 only found the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid would pay off within the same 5 year frame. The Honda Accord Hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Lexus RX400h, and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid were also studied. (I'll note that there was a mathematical error in the initial publication of Consumer Reports' hybrid vehicle cost analysis, which a retraction was published later... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11637968/ ) Since this publication, many more hybrid models have become available, so I can't use this to say about hybrids "in general." However, in the US, the Toyota hybrids have sold so many that they no longer qualify for the US Federal hybrid vehicle income tax credit, but Honda and others still have theirs.

Check out the April issue of Consumer Reports if you want reliability information. Here are their top picks for both new and used vehicles:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/top-picks-for-2007-4-07/overview/0704_top-picks-2007.htm
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/used-cars/used-cars-best-and-worst-406/index.htm
and the Prius was just rated top Green Car for the 5th year in a row: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2007/04/top-picks-for-2007-4-07/overview/0704_top-picks-2007.htm

The Prius is also in edmunds' used cars best bets list as well, and their lowest true cost to own list (2007 and 2008).
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/bestbet/articles/index.html
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/tco/2007/index.html
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/tco/2008/index.html


Announced hybrids to keep an eye out for are the upcoming plug-in hybrids due out in 2010, a plug-in capable version of the Toyota Prius and the new Chevy Volt.


The hybrid batteries are typically placed behind the rear seat/above the rear axle, and are not prone to damage in a vehicular accident. (Nor is it easy to cut the bright orange HV cables that run under the car, either.) The hybrid battery is disconnected from the rest of the car when the vehicle is off (SOP for first responders is to turn off/remove key to disable vehicle in an accident) and also when the air bags are deployed. Only a poorly-trained emergency department will not approach your vehicle in an accident. (Emergency Responder guides are available from all hybrid manufacturers for free, and most manufacturers also provide free training sessions when asked.)

The hybrid batteries are warrantied (Full, not pro-rated) for at least 8 years/80,000 miles or longer, depending on manufacturer, out to 10 years/150,000 miles if an AT-PZEV model in a CA emissions state.

How and when did Hyundai start improving their car?

david

If someone to link me to a page or explain the evolution of the Hyundai cars and how they slowly improved their cars that would be great

thanks

Answer
Here's a couple nice links, essentially the company took on new leadership around 1999 and made a rapid turnaround in quality from that point forward. A rare case of a son taking over a company and actually improving upon it.
http://www.qualitydigest.com/july05/news.shtml
http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/2010/09/face-off-best-brand-turnaround-hyundai-vs-ford.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_Company

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