First Time Car Buyer Advice....

[PeppyGPhiB]

I'm still driving my first car (a Honda Civic), more than 10 years after I bought it. Here's what I did:

- Researched a couple of cars hardcore online before I went to the first dealership. I knew exactly which car I wanted to test drive when I got to the dealership, and I told the sales guy that when he approached me. Go there with purpose.
- Find out what the dealer invoice is (what the dealer paid for the car). The dealership should get a profit, so you don't want to offer below dealer invoice, but try going for just a little above it. I got my car for a screamin' deal...just a few hundred dollars over invoice.
- Try buying during a time of the year when they're offloading the current year models. I bought mine in December, which is why it was on sale.
- Once you have an agreed price, go home and call a couple other dealerships to see if they can beat it. In my case, two dealerships told me they couldn't beat the offer I had from the other dealership, which convinced me I had a good deal.
- If you're looking at a Honda (and I'm going to guess the same goes for Acura), don't buy the extra warranty. Honda makes dependable cars and covers really anything that would go wrong as a fluke under standard manufacturer warranty. Chances are that anything that would go wrong will go wrong after even the extended warranty runs out. I didn't buy it, and I'm glad; I'm at more than 100,000 miles now, and the only non-standard maintenance I've had done was to replace the catalytic converter and exhaust manifold, which the manufacturer covered under warranty up to 80,000 miles. My friend got the extended warranty and it was a waste of money.

[adpi*violet]

Hondas are extremely dependable. Great cars. We have two. Actually, all the cars that my hubby's side of the family owns (has owned) are (were) Hondas. Every one. Never had a thing go wrong with any of them.

Acura is an affiliate of Honda- but they are more "high end" cars. I'm guessing the insurance and the car would be cheaper with the Honda, but not entirely sure.

[honeychile]

I want to agree with PeppyGPhiB about one thing: find out what the dealer paid for the car and refuse to go more than $1,000 over. My first car had a roof rack, I never use roof racks. We went back and forth because I felt I shouldn't be paying for an option I wouldn't use. A few more cars later, I'm the family go-to person for getting a deal. The most I've ever knocked down off of the list price is $5,200.

The latest car we bought does have crappy upholstery, though. That's one upgrade I wouldn't skimp on again, as you're forever worried about spilling something or doggie paw marks.