We gone over quite a few points in the first two articles (Car Buying Review part one, Car Buying Review part two).

It’s important to remember here, that as a car buyer you are in control of your own best car deal destiny as it were.

With so much information available to you today (especially right here on this website!), getting the best possible car deal really is up to you.

But, doing all of the necessary research does you no good if once you get to the car dealership and you get weak and cave in! You must treat buying a car as a business transaction not an afternoon of fun.

• Not a time to schmooze with a car salesperson. You want to work with a salesperson that is interested in working hard to put a deal together. So, before we finish up, let’s review what we’ve gone over to this point.
• Know your credit score.
• Buying a car is NOT a single transaction.
• Never, never, never negotiate based on a monthly payment.
• The sticker on the window of the car is the “asking price.”
• Holdback.
• Get yourself pre-qualified for your loan.
• The… ‘we’ll pay off your current car loan’ and get you in this shinny new car smoke and mirrors marketing.

I mean c’mon. Do you really think a car dealer is going to pay off your current loan just so they can sell you a new car?

This doesn’t happen.

What does happen is the amount of money you have remaining on your current car get added to what you’ll now owe on your new car. This just isn’t good money management even if your credit and your budget allows for it.

Think about it.

If you still owe $3,000 on your current car and you move that debt to your new car, you are now (as they say in the car business) upside down in your new car. And you know what happens as soon as you turn the key in your new car right?

Depreciation… and even more upside down.

And down the road when you want to trade this car in on your next new one you will be (as they say in the car business) buried in this car. And the only way out, if you are determined to do so, will be to write a BIG down payment check.

Keep these points in mind as you begin to take a look at your entire car buying options and possibilities. Perform due diligence in your research and self education. Approach getting your very best car deal as a serious business process because it is; you can bet the car dealer, the new car sales manager, the used car sales manager, the finance manage, and car salesperson do.

They all have to make a living just as you do and the most from each deal is their job.