Originally Posted by cummins cowboy

your an awesome wife, its impressive you are putting this much thought into something like this, here is my .02 carmax is a rip off, when I looked at toyota siennas there last year they wanted more for a 3 yr old used ones than I could buy a new one for, all other cars were extremely over priced as well, honestly I think they suck

ok with that out of the way, the first rule of used car buying is to know what a new one costs, so you can weigh how good a deal you are getting. I would suggest looking at new ones, as most of the guys on here are too proud of their cars to get realistic on price. the other day some guy wanted 19k for his '05 model GT, look around and if you are willing to travel a bit, this car can be had for 13,500 or maybe even less.

I would suggest looking at brand new '09 models, the current incentive is 3500 last time I looked, If you find something you want, do all negotiations over the phone with the salesman, this way they can't bully you, also invoice price is 10.5 % off window sticker price, DONOT pay more than invoice price LESS incentives!!!!!!!! here is where doing it over the phone is your ace card, you will get alot less arm twisting,

last time I looked the 09 5 speed trans premium GT's( I have actually never been able to even find a base GT) stickered locally around here for right at 32k,

32k sticker = invoice of 28640
less $3500 incentive
=max sales price of $25140
this is for a decently loaded brand new '09, so whoever posted 21k for their 06, dude there is no way.
if you can find an '08 model still left over on the lot, $6500 is what I hear the latest incentive is on that.

I would most likely start out $500 below invoice and incentive price, if they say no, and you want the car make um throw in some oil changes or something, I love making salesman squirm, next watch out for the finance manager, he is the next layer of money grabbing after you have worked them over on price, basically don't agree to anything he wants, watch for dealer fees, no on gap insurance and no extended warranties, check with your bank to make sure the rate is competitive.

most people do not buy their new cars right as a result they need too much money to sell them anytime within the first 3 yrs or so, I can't tell you how many times I see 1-2 yr old cars on lots for considerably more than a new one could be bought for.

there you go, steve's book on buying a new car, and yes I learned all of that over the years unfortunately without even a little Vaseline, if you have any more questions PM me, the guide above also works for other makes, including honda and yotas

Originally Posted by evily

I'm not that great, he is and he deserves it Like I said before I've learned some hard car buying lessons in the past and will not settle for less than exactly what I (he) want(s). I've done quite a bit of research in the past couple of days and have found a lot of great information thanks to you all!!

So, he may not get it by father's day but the ball is at least rolling now.