This is a rare Wheels post that does not talk about either of the BMWs. Gabriele and I just sold our 2007 Hyundai Sonata, and purchased a 2005 Nissan Murano. So I thought I’d share some thoughts about how we tackled the process.
It all stems from doing your homework — financial, vehicle, trade-in. Arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible, and stick to your budget.
- Arrange financing first
Doing this really gives you superior leverage for negotiating. If you are going to a dealership, there are three ways for the dealer to profit on the transaction — the vehicle itself, the trade-in, and the financing. Usually, you’ll get a better percentage rate from a bank or credit union. There are exceptions, such as special zero rate financing and other promotional offers. So be flexible to a better offer, but have it all done first, especially if shopping for a used car. This removes a big extra negotiating step, keeping the focus on getting the best deal possible for the car.
- Sell your trade-in private party
Some people trade in their old car without considering selling it themselves. Others like the convenience of making the trade-in part of the new purchase. The convenience is nice, but if the car is in good shape you’ll almost always be leaving money of the table. Our Hyundai was a 2007 with only 18K miles and a full warranty good until 2012 or 60K miles. But multiple dealers quoted us thousands less than our research said it was worth.
CarMax can be a useful reality check when pricing your used vehicle. They also gave us a low offer, but it was higher than other dealers. And of course CarMax will buy cars without you buying from them, so it can be a last resort if necessary. Their quotes are only good for seven days, however.
We used Craigslist and Autotrader listings. Autotrader introduced us to the Sonata’s new owners. We sold it for $1,500 over the CarMax offer to a very nice couple from the Fredricksburg area. Thanks Skip and Liz, happy motoring!
The other nice thing about the sale was it truly was win/win. We got what we wanted for the car, and the new owners paid a very fair price, lower than the major car sites said it was worth, and far less than they would have paid at a dealer. What do you know, this process doesn’t have to be adversarial!
With this and the financing done, now all the focus was on finding the right car at the right price, with no other distractions.
- Research your target
Know all the important information about your desired vehicle before you go see any. The two sites that worked best for us were Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book: www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com. You can price the vehicle with options and read reviews from both the site owners and actual owners.
Edmunds does a better job of letting you price out all the various trim levels. For the Murano, there are three levels, S, SE and SL. Gabe was able to price it all out and decide on the features that were must haves, nice to haves and don’t cares.
Buying private party is a good option. But there were almost no Muranos being sold private party in the area, so we went to a number of dealerships. It took three weeks, but we found the right one. Under 30K miles, Arctic Pearl, AWD and lots of the options Gabe wanted. We got a really good price from Mike Pallone Chevrolet in Springfield, who until last year also owned a Nissan dealership. Pallone also stood behind the sale and fixed a problem that popped up right after purchase, so if you’re in the market check them out.
Gabe’s New Crossover
None of this is rocket science, but many don’t put all the pieces together prior to shopping. Doing the prep work is the way to put the right car at the right price in your driveway.