flinger, i think i looked at truecar when i got my last car, but i also read all the forums on edmunds, kbb, etc to figure out what other people were paying for cars. i didn’t read flu’s car buying guide at the time, but i did basically what he outlined based on previous research i’d done.
my advice is do as much internet research as possible on actual buyers and what they paid, as well as current manufacture rebates, incentives, etc. also, if you plan to ever lease a car, you need to read what the money factor rates are and whether you can get an employee rate, and the residuals. do not lease or buy a car based on the monthly amount, you need to ask for MSRP, the price they are offering you, any other fees in the quote and a detailed breakdown of the cars costs by features ( IE how much are they charging you for the color you chose, trim, packages, etc). in a lease, also money factor, residual, lease term. the more knowledgeable you are, the less likely the salesperson is going to dick around with you and you’ll quickly figure out which sales guys will play ball versus ones who just want to screw with you like you don’t know what’s going on.
if you ever plan to finance a car through a dealership, you need to ask for the rate, and then check it against what’s nationally available. also you need to check the bank fee. dealers love to mark up the bank fee or the best available finance rate that you qualify for. if your credit is stellar, no reason you should not get what is nationally advertised, IE 0% or 1%, etc.
there were a few dealers who’s internet sales department in LA refused to deal with me unless i came in- fletcher jones in LA so i just dropped them. some LA dealers will even drive a car down to you if you don’t feel like going up there. IE House of Imports. also if you have time, you should start a few months before the 2012 cars come out, and then keep checking deals every month. you’ll find the deals might get better and sometimes SD dealers who couldn’t beat the LA prices, start looking more competitive as they get more interested in getting those 2011 cars out, you might find the best deals AFTER 2012 cars are out, but keep in mind inventory gets lower, so you may not get the actual package you want. also, some dealers are willing to do dealer trades to get you the car you want via their dealer. so just because the dealer you want to buy from doesn’t have your car, doesn’t mean they can’t get it. also it might be coming via a new shipment of cars and a good sales guy will check it.
