Negotiating Your New Car Purchase

2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS

According to AAA, the Sticker Price (MSRP) is marked up by an average of 13.5% from what the dealer actually paid for the vehicle.

What scares us about car negotiations? Our preconceived notions of “not getting a good deal” or being subjected to “slimy dealer tactics”? Could it be how infrequently we make large purchases and the costs associated with them? With double-digit markups, it seems like new car buyers would be more more diligent in their research and more aggressive with their negotiations.

Mrs. FinEngr and I first started talking about the idea of a new car back in August of 2009. Not really entering the market until early September of 2010, we worked with Geoff, the Car Negotiation Coach, on strategies to secure the best possible price.

New Year’s Eve Day, we purchased a 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

Based on checked and re-checked calculations we negotiated:

  • 19% below MSRP, over $3,000
  • 14% below Factory Invoice, over $2,000
  • 3.5% below Dealer Cost (averaged*)

*It’s hard for me to believe the dealer actually took a loss on our sale. At a minimum I know they got very little to no profit off us. Different sources and price profiles came back with savings from 0.5% to 6.0% under Dealer Cost.

As for the back story, here’s our situation…

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Gift Card Arbitrage: New Way to Save More

Gift Card Rack at Store

Skimming through Jan-Feb issue of Money, one snippet caught my attention:

Swap that Gift Card for Cash”.

Gift Card Rack

The write-up focused on two sites – PlasticJungle and GiftCardRescue. Both are services for offloading unwanted gift cards. While the article seemed only to consider the selling opportunities I was amazed they didn’t bring up the BUYING potential of these sites. Sure gift cards are limited to specific stores, but these cards are being sold for less than what’s on them – that’s an immediate discount!

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Get In The Game – Start Studying Finance Online

This guest post comes from Connor G. as he discusses online degree programs related to finance.

Breaking into the financial industry can seem daunting. A popular saying goes, it comes down to who you know, not what you know. While this holds some weight, the knowledge you have about finance is extremely important to finding a job in the industry. If you live a busy life or don’t have the resources available to make a big move, you may want to look into studying finance online. The top online finance schools are accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.  This accreditation takes into account a school’s history, the quality of teachers they provide, the quality of their masters in finance online programs, and any distinguished alumni that may have attended. Choosing to attend accredited online finance schools is a big step. It is best to take your time and do as much research as possible before deciding where to attend.

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Adaptu on Engineer Your Finances

Engineer Your Finances is all about helping readers increase and expand their financial education, work on improving and optimizing their own financial system, and continue towards the ultimate goal of financial security.  At Adaptu, we believe we can help you achieve your financial goals.

Adaptu is an online service, with tools, resources, and a community of connected users, that helps people make sense of and be in control of their financial lives.  We believe that by taking a more active role in your own finances, you’ll be able to adapt to life’s both planned and unplanned events. Like Engineer Your Finances says, optimization is all about “maximizing the good, minimizing the bad.”  There is always room for improvement.

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