Work Life Tips

When it comes to calculating the value of your trade-in, it’s important to understand how dealers rate trade ins. Not to mention, knowing the trade-in value of a used car is a primary facet of knowing how much of new car you can afford. Trade-ins may leave ample room for car dealers to finagle fees and inflate the cost of a new model. Here are a few vital facts regarding trade ins:

1) The trade-in value is the amount a dealership will deduct from the purchase of a new car in exchange for a used vehicle.

2) Many dealers refer to the Internet based service, Black Book to set the value of a trade in.

3) Trade ins valuations are based on the “wholesale” value rather than by it retail value. The wholesale price will become the car dealership’s asking price one the car is placed on the lot).

4) Dealers are unable to offer more than the wholesale value for a car that does not have a good trade-in value.

5) Trade-in values are based on the present state of the car or ‘as is’.

In several states, car dealerships utilize state franchise laws to try to divert consumers from buying cars online to force them to make their purchase through the dealer. As a result, buying a car online is really making the appropriate arrangements and negotiations through a broker.

However, at online car dealers like Saturn, you can build your own vehicle and customize other features and incentives.

Do not expect to reap the same benefits from online car buying sites as the local car dealership. Depending on the location of a car dealership, dealer incentives vary by region. For instance, the national incentives posted on the Cars.com Website represent a wide scope of offers. As a result, consumers do not have a way of knowing if the precise incentives are extended at their local car dealership.

Quite often, manufacturers offer dealer incentives for the following reasons:

- To inspire car dealerships to compete against each other

- As a way of rewarding a car dealership for meeting a specific sales goal

- To move slower-selling models or stock

As a result all dealer incentives are not created equally; however they can benefit customers by leaving some room to bargain or negotiate the purchase price of the car. It’s a primary reason, online car buying research is very important.

For the auto enthusiast who wants to build their car from the inside out, manufacturer auto Websites are the best recommendation.

On the Internet, manufacturers will allow you to choose options to reserve special features. Then prices are acquired via e-mail quotes from local dealers. There are a few drawbacks associated with buying a car from a manufacturer’s auto website:

- The consumer does not have an analysis of the car’s features compared to other manufacturers

- The car buyer does not have a way of conducting a cost analysis with other dealerships

- Price negotiations must be made through the dealer

A wealth of auto Web sites feature online car dealer and vehicle research. You can enter the year, make and model of an automobile to determine if any recalls have been issued on any of the vehicle’s parts. The recall will identify the part and the year in which the recall was issued.

Remember thatnew car buying options are endless and requires comprehensive research.

Online Car Dealers require the same negotiation strategy used in the virtual world. The objective is to pit sellers or online car dealers against each other. In other words, lead the seller to believe that you have other options.

Use these quick negotiation tips to buy a car online:

- Research your local dealer’s invoice price of your ideal car

- Use the invoice price opposed to the retail as your benchmark to negotiate up

- Conduct comparative shopping at three comparative car bidding sites

- Let the competing sellers know that you are shopping around

- Review the terms of the final sales

- Acquire your asking price

If you have 10 or 15 minutes to spare and are ready to use a truly cool online new car selector tool, visit MyProductAdvisor.com. The site includes product selector tools for various consumer products, including cars, digital cameras, PDAs, and smartphones. The car selector tool is, without question, the most exhaustive, most fun, and most informative car selector tool on the Web.

Totally user-friendly, the tool walks you through every step of the process and there’s no typing involved. You simply use your mouse to position sliders from “least important” to “most important” or click radio buttons selecting which features you want. By the end, you get as many as five recommendations for vehicles that fit within your desired price range. You can select two or more of the recommended vehicles and get a print out of the comparison that covers everything from pricing to rear legroom.

*The one notable absence was a lack of safety and crash rating information.