You will almost always be better off buying from a private party than a used car lot. As others have said in this thread, going into a dealership with the "I need to buy a used car today" is like going to the supermarket hungry, cubed. Here's a few tips, though.
- Use
www.edmunds.com for reviews of vehicles, and accurate values of cars.
- Go to
www.motleyfool.com and search "cars" for some good advice on buying cars.
- Dealers don't care if you are paying cash. All that tells them is you are ready to buy NOW, which does not really work in your favor. As a matter of fact, they prefer you finance, so they have yet another way to make $$$ off of you.
- Answer the phone when your friend Daliman calls.