Advice for haggling on a used car?

[Yads]

Do not get a Volkswagen they are worse than domestics since they breakdown almost as often, but cost a hell of a lot more to fix.

[pirateboy]

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Do not get a Volkswagen they are worse than domestics since they breakdown almost as often, but cost a hell of a lot more to fix.

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Really? We had an older Jetta before and it was indestructable.

[z28dreams]

Some tips:
(1) Buy private if you can. Not only will the vehicle be cheaper, but you won't pay tax either. Typical example: A car for $10k privately you'll probably get for $12k from a dealer with good negotiating. Add tax and you're about at $13,000, or 30% more than the other price. That's A LOT.

(2) Someone mentioned carmax. Do NOT buy here. Prices are around 25-30% more than you should pay because they are "certified". Guess what - that price doesn't include any warranty. You're better off skipping the certified cars and just paying for a warranty if that's what you want.

(3) For pricing, I use Edmunds TMV (true market value), and set the condition to the "average". I find this to be more accurate than KBB.

(4) Do not choose a vehicle strictly on "domestic" or "foreign". In general, yes, the japanese auto makers tend to be more reliable than our domestic counterparts, but it's not true for every model.

Generally, just pick a vehicle with a rock solid engine and you'll be fine.
Examples of good GM (domestic) engines:
- 3800 series engine, no piston slap, been built since the 60's. Not much power for its displacement, but very reliable. Easily a 200k engine
- LS1,7,etc engine. Found in corvettes, fbodies, etc, this engine can do 400hp and hit 28mpg highway. Find me an import that can do that.

Check out Ward's Best Engine list and go with something from there. Safe bets for cars also include Accords, Camrys, Maximas if you want to go import. I like the maxima - it's VQ series engine has made Ward's best list for around 8-10 years (previously the 3.0VG, now the 3.5VQ).

[big D]

What year and model car are you looking for? This will make a big difference on where you should be looking. As others have said, the dealership can be much more expensive than buying from a private party, and is not any sort of guarantee with respect to the quality of the car. Knowing the actual history of the car is very valuable, and many cars at a dealership were purchased at auction making the vehicle's history questionable.

Also, I'm surprised nobody mentioned it, but DEFINITELY get a CARFAX report on any car you look at.

[David]

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They dont give a [censored] if you pay cash. The make more money if they get the loan (think kickbacks). If you really care about saving money, do your research first or I guarantee you will get [censored].

FYC

[/ QUOTE ] This is NOT necessarily true when buying a used car. Making money on the loan is much less prevalent with used cars than new ones and when they do it is usually a very marginal amount. I own a used car lot.