Car Buying 101: Speed Up The Process

HOW TO LIMIT YOUR TIME IN THE DEALERSHIP

A vehicle purchase is usually the second largest investment of your life, right behind your home. Let's face it: You would probably rather go to the dentist than to go car shopping. It has just never been EASY>>> until now! I am developing a ton of resources to ensure that car buying isn't stressful anymore. I want to make car buying fun for everyone.  I have created this article to help you speed up the process of buying your next car. 


STEP ONE: Identify Your Needs

Probably one of the most important steps in the process is to identify your needs when it comes to a new vehicle. For example, if you have 3 kids, a new Mustang is probably not the best choice for you. Now, I want to be clear, needs and wants are two separate things. Just because you want leather, sunroof, and navigation, doesn't necessarily mean that you NEED those features. You need to identify your exact use for the vehicle. If you plan to use the vehicle as your daily commuter, something that has better than average fuel mileage is a probably a necessity.

STEP TWO: Set Your Budget

No one knows your finances better than you. Period. This step is as equally important as the first step. Being credit aware, it is very important to budget yourself based on all your current bills. If you wind up not being able to afford the vehicle, it ultimately leads to late payments and maybe even a repossession. This will affect how you are able to buy more things with your credit, such as a new home for your family. Most people believe that if you look for a less expensive automobile that you will have a lower payment. The crazy thing is, this is not always the case. Most less expensive vehicles are older and have more miles. The financial institutions that lend you the money for your loan, they lend on risk. If a vehicle is out of warranty and has more miles than a traditional used vehicle, the risk is higher for the bank. Of course, the bank is going to add less favorable financing terms to a vehicle of this nature. It just makes sense. The banks aren't non-profit organizations.

STEP THREE: Research

Research can meet a lot of things. Research the brand of vehicle you want to drive. Things to consider would be the length of warranties and if any maintenance is included with your purchase. Most dealers will offer at least one free oil change with a purchase of a new vehicle. This is pretty much industry standard, so I would not include that in my research. Also, research dealerships in your area. Google and Facebook are powerful tools. You can read reviews on the dealership as well as most salespeople located there. Usually the salesperson with the most positive reviews, is the top guy in the store. You want to make sure that you are visiting a reputable dealership. You wouldn't want a doctor diagnosing you if everyone that had been there had been misdiagnosed, would you? Why would you just go to a dealership without finding out what everyone else has to say about that place??? DealerRater.com has compiled tons of reviews. Do you self a favor and research everything. 

STEP FOUR: Make An Appointment

I can not stress this step enough. You wouldn't go to your doctor's office and expect to receive professional service without first calling to set an appointment. This ensures that the doctor can meet with each patient and give him/her the attention that they need. This also goes for car dealerships. Just showing up on a Saturday to buy a new car without an appointment means that you could be waiting around while the salespeople attend to the people that made appointments. This could mean countless hours inside a car dealership. Who wants that? By now you have done your research, so call the dealership you have picked out and ask for the salesman who's reviews you read, and set up an appointment with him/her. Let them know the car that you are interested in as well. This will speed up the time that you spend at the dealership. 

These four steps are not the ultimate buying guide. They are simple steps to help you speed up your vehicle purchase. Knowledge is power. Knowing how to handle the front end of the car buying process can help speed up the rest of the process, because I do not know anyone that wants to spend countless hours inside a dealership. I want to help you make the right decisions and inform you of the process to buy car so that you can feel more comfortable during the car buying process. I look forward to sharing more information with you in the future.