Yeah I don't know a lot about cars I wouldn't know either.

Have you heard anything about Nissan Xterras?

do you really believe you got 6-10k off?

Not personally, but here's a couple threads about them you can peruse:

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=197526

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=158194

Thanks. Some good tips in there too.

What should I do in negotiations? What's the best way to get them down? Any tricks anyone?

Eh, I was never very good at the negotiation part. I do my research and then wait until I find something that I think is priced fairly and just buy it. Car salesman love me.

Hey dude, my wife and I just bought a new Ford, and we bough it from a CPer. It's sweet. So stuff that LMAO at Ford BS.

i actually got $11000 off and yeah I have all my paperwork and I know what I got off, my trade in needed lots of work to pass state inspection at the end of the month I traded it and i planned on junking it anyways.

Here's the trick:

DON'T BUY FROM A STEALERSHIP. EVER.

You can get the same car from a private party sale for at LEAST 10% less (if not more). Plus, you can usually get some kind of maintenance records from a private party, which a dealership 999999/1000000 times won't have.

There are literally thousands of great used cars out there. Buy one of those and it will last you forever.

As for it costing you more to get a used car than a new one -- there's no way, unless you get a complete lemon. But then, that would mean you didn't really do your homework. I mean, no car payment + budget of $100/mo in repairs is still WAY less than a new car, and you won't have to even dip into that repair budget.

So, go to autotrader, find some cars you like in that price range. Contact the sellers for more pictures and see if they have maintenance records. If so, proceed. Get it to a mechanic, and they'll charge you about $100 to do a Pre-Purchase Inspection. That will save you a ton of money, potentially. I'm looking for a car for my wife, and so far, of the two we found, they both had significant problems that would cost about $5k to fix. No thanks. OTOH, my car came out with a clean PPI.

Don't hesitate to look out of state or far away. I bought my last car sight unseen from Alabama. You're going to take it to a mechanic, anyway. So, I had them drive it to a local Honda dealership, and I paid the dealership over the phone to do the PPI. Came out clean, and I bought the car. I'm very happy with it.

You don't necessarily have to stay within that 9k range, but something you can realistically and easily pay off within 2 years is probably good. Buying new cars and from dealerships is for suckers. Let someone else take the depreciation hit, and let someone else overpay a dealership for the same car.

I heard that going in and telling them what you'll pay is effective. That way no one's time is wasted.

I think you're going to get rolled. But I'll try and help you out here. First off, do your homework. Know what the car you want is worth, and what it's going for everywhere around you. I'd even check out Ebay auto auctions.

2nd make sure you already know what you want before you walk in anywhere, because they'll get you off your car and into something else that you know nothing about if you're not paying attention.

You should line your financing up before you walk into a dealership. Have a check in hand that you just need to fill out the amount to purchase and be firm. Decide what you're not willing to pay more than, and start off below that number. Considerably below that number if it's reasonable.

Finally, DON'T GET THE ****ING CAR HOTS. Don't get yourself stuck on one vehicle to the point that you forget there are literally thousands of others that are just like it. It's your money, you're in control. Don't be one of the thousands of people that forget that fact during the buying process. Don't be a pushover.

Good luck dude. And you should definitely buy privately if you can find what you want. The negotiation process is much easier. Chances are someone wants out of the payment you're trying to get into.

I bought my last car off Ebay. It's awesome.

If you're willing to make your offer and walk if they don't accept it, sure. That still takes some time though, and if you're going to make an absurdly low offer you're wasting that time. The thing with Toyotas and Hondas is that they sell pretty good, so dealers are rarely desperate to get rid of them and you're likely not going to get a significant price break on one.

^^^^ Excellent Post

This really cannot be emphasized enough. Negotiate a cash price, not a monthly payment.