Tips on Buying Cars: price negotiation - new car, price negotiation, 2008 camry


Question
hello, A very happy new year to you ! I am looking at buying a camry LE 2008; This is my first car and i do not know how to negotiate with a car dealer so as to get the best price - please advise - they say the invoice is 21,934; on this they add sales tax (975) + documentation ($100) + plates ($66)

Answer
You may not have to negotiate at all, as invoice for a 2008 Camry is a great deal to begin with.  What you need to do first is verify just what "invoice" is.  So, start by going to this website:

http://www.carsdirect.com/home

Under "NEW get a price," select the make and model and then click "GO."  You then enter your ZIP code and proceed to build a car that's identical to the one you're looking at.  You'll know you're there when the online MSRP or sticker price matches that of the one on the window of the car you're looking at.  No site is exact when it comes to invoice pricing, but CarsDirect.com is the most accurate; it should get you to within $25.00 of actual invoice.  The site will also tell you what Camrys are selling for in your area (good for comparing your price to other dealers), and if they have affiliated local dealers that will sell for that same price.  (BTW, "invoice" is not the final cost of the car to the dealer, but it's a good price to pay for a popular model like the Camry.)  You could also compare your dealer's price to those of other dealers advertising in your local paper; a dealer would have to be just plain stupid to publicly print a price that another dealer could easily beat, so advertised prices are almost always the lowest.  If taxes and fees are correct (not sure how they calculated the tax, but $166 certainly isn't outrageous for all the other stuff), you may not have to shop any further.  Yes, any price can be beaten, but is it worth it to drive an hour to save, say, $50 or $100?  For me, no, but that's a decision you have to make.