Has anyone else seen the Tik Toks of girls asking to borrow someone’s dad or husband to help them buy a car? I have seen so many of these on my for you page so decided to help everyone out! I recently went through the car buying process for the first time and was determined to do it all by myself. I don’t think it’s a secret that there’s a certain reputation that comes along with salesmen, and unfortunately, I think that negative connotation is what intimidates a lot of first time buyers. From experience, I can say that yeah there are some slimy salesmen out there. However, my positive experiences far outweigh the few negative encounters I had throughout my process.
My biggest fear was to be taken advantage of, which is why I decided to educate myself on all things car buying. I was not going to let anyone take advantage of me during such a stressful yet exciting time—I went into this process with the motto of “knowledge is power”, and damn that paid off. Also shout out to Alison’s boyfriend, Anthony—I could NOT have done this without him. I called him numerous times asking questions, giving updates, etc. He gave me invaluable advice throughout the process, which certainly made this a lot more seamless. For anyone else that is in the market for a new car, I wanted to provide some advice and outline how I tackled the process!
Figure out your budget:
One of the first things I did when I decided I was ready to pull the trigger and get a new car was decide what I could afford. I put together a monthly budget that outlined everything I spent my money on against my monthly paycheck. I did out my budget down to accounting for my Prime and Netflix accounts. This way I had a very clear idea of what I could afford and what I was willing to pay on a car each month. I knew exactly how much money I was going to put down so I had a very conservative estimate of what the bottom line price of the car would have to be in order to comfortably afford it. I would recommend starting here so you can narrow down your search to cars that are only within your budget. I definitely didn’t want to fall in love with a car only to figure out I couldn’t afford it.
Narrow down the cars that interest you:
I decided from the beginning that I wanted a crossover/SUV-sized car. I did a ton of research on cars that have the best reviews from the last few years. I knew I was going to buy used by a year or two so I made sure I had a couple years worth of reviews. After I pulled together a list of cars that met my needs, had all the safety features I wanted and had great consumer reviews, I narrowed down cars of interest to the Mazda CX-5, Toyota Rav-4, and the Lexus NX 300. Once I had an idea of the cars I thought I’d be interested in, I started looking up dealerships that had options I would be interested in test-driving. I started out with one car at a time and made a list on my phone of specific cars that were for sale in my price range, only a year or two old, and had a reasonable amount of miles for the year.
Prepping for dealership appointments:
Ahead of each trip to a dealership, I would call and make an appointment. I always stated that I was looking to test drive a few specific used cars and also asked for the name of the salesman I would be working with ahead of my visit. Before my appointment, I would look at my list of the specific cars on their lot that I was interested in. I made a list that included the car make and model, price as listed on the dealerships' website, miles, interior and exterior colors, and the stock number (which is just a number that specifically identifies the exact car). I highly recommend making an appointment and asking for the name of the employee you’ll be working with because you won’t get the run around when you walk in. There is someone already there and ready to work with you. I also recommend doing your research of the exact cars you’re interested in so you can provide the dealer with the stock numbers and test drive the cars that have already met your preliminary research. I also made sure that I scoured each car’s carfax report to ensure there weren’t any accident reports, recalls, or any other points of concern.
I discovered that the more I knew about the cars before getting to the dealership, the more seriously they took me. I think that unfortunately, when salesmen saw a 26-year-old female walk into their store, they either thought that I would be easy to take advantage of or they didn’t take me seriously. Let me just make a side note and say that during this entire process, I went to seven dealerships and there were only two salesmen that I felt didn't take me seriously so I walked right out. When you’re making such a large purchase, you want to feel like you trust the person you’re working with to some degree. At the end of the day, some of your money is going directly into the salesman’s pocket and I personally wasn’t willing to give my business to someone who didn’t treat me as if I were a potential client.
I also want to point out that I had close to no idea what I was doing my first few trips to the dealerships. I felt extremely out of my comfort zone at first. With that being said, the more and more dealerships you go to, the more you learn and the more comfortable you’ll feel. I started out at the Lexus dealership solely due to proximity. I was free one Sunday so decided to start looking and went to the Lexus dealership down the street from me to test drive a few NX 300’s. I fell in love with the car instantly. I was nervous that I wouldn't feel comfortable in a bigger car after driving a sedan my whole life, but I felt super comfortable in the NX. I will say that the first salesman I worked with was one of the bad experiences I had. I went up the road to the new car lot and asked if there was a sales person there that would be willing to work with me after being so off put down the road at the used car dealership. I was able to work with someone right away and he was great. Do not be afraid to request a change—don't work with someone you don’t feel comfortable around! At the end of the day, they should be trying to win you over.
I’ll be honest when I say that my plans went right out the window after test driving NX. I knew that was the car I wanted and I set my sights only on Lexus dealerships from that point on. I did research on all comparative Lexus NX 300s in the area and pulled together a comp list on each car. I compared price, year, mileage, features, and gathered a strong understanding of what these cars were going for in the area. All of this comparing made me extremely comfortable when I began negotiating since I had data backing up why I wanted the price to be at a certain point. Not only that but I had facts to leverage why a price could be lowered. This brings me to my next point—perhaps the most important.
Negotiating
Once I narrowed down two cars that I knew I would pull trigger on if the price was right, I entered the negotiation phase. This aligned about three weeks after I test drove the first car. For me, it just so happened that the two cars I narrowed my search down to were exactly the same. The interior and exterior colors were identical, mileage was almost exact, and both cars were 2018s. The cars were at two different dealerships so I used this to my advantage to pin the dealers against each other and get into a bidding war. My biggest piece of advice here is to not be afraid to walk away. If a dealer isn’t willing to give you what you want, within reason, walk away from the deal. They do come back to you. If you walk away to show that you aren’t willing to budge on your price point, the dealer will likely follow up with you a day or two later being more willing to negotiate. I however, walked away one too many times and lost both cars as they both sold shortly after.
Looking back, I do not regret this at all. I rather lose the car because I was overly aggressive than buy a car that was more than I wanted to spend. Once this happened, I was kind of back at square one. After the holidays I came back to the process with a clear mind and decided to go back to my original plan and test out the Mazda CX-5. I went to a Mazda dealership in the New Year and really liked the CX-5 I drove, however, I still couldn't stop thinking about the Lexus. I realized that if I was comparing a car to the NX, I should drive one right after to compare how I felt between the CX-5 and the NX. I decided to Google if there was a Lexus dealership near me and found one close by. I called and made an appointment and headed there about an hour before they closed. I went into a dealership for the first time without a plan. I just wanted to test drive any NX they had for comparison purposes only.
When I walked into the dealership, the salesman I was working with was hands down the best one I came across. He was extremely knowledgeable about the car, walked me through every single feature (even though at that point I knew most of them), and answered all of my questions no matter how silly, with a smile on his face. He put me in a 2019 Lexus NX 300 Sport just so I could test drive it against the Mazda CX-5. I came back and asked for the price on the car because of course, I fell in love with it. I was able to 100% confirm that was the car for me as it blew the Mazda out of the water. I went back and forth on price well after the dealership closed and ended up working out a deal. I walked out that night with a contract on the car I was randomly placed in.
I was so shocked that I walked in with zero intentions and left with the car of my dreams. The stars aligned in terms of the car itself, the dealer I got to work with, and most importantly, price. If I could give any piece of advice, I would say to not work out a “monthly price point.” Dealers will typically ask you what you want to spend per month on a car and work backwards to get you there. While you should very well know what you’re able/willing to spend per month, never divulge this information to the salesman. Stick to what you can pay for the bottom line number of the car. The finance group can make monthly payments seem desirable by extending out months of financing, trade ins, etc. At the end of the day, the more they finagle an “ideal” monthly payment, you’ll wind up paying more in the long run with interest. Stick to your guns with the overall total of the car (keeping tax in mind!!) and be clear with them that you’re not entertaining conversations regarding monthly payments, that you are only willing to negotiate bottom line price.
When I made this clear and outlined that I had truly done my homework on what I was willing to spend and why, they brought the manager in. The manager dropped the price to exactly what I was trying to get the other dealers to do on the two 2018s. So by walking away from those other two cars and being patient, I wound up with a car that was one year newer for the price I wanted. Slow and steady certainly wins the race, so do not give up when you’re feeling defeated! The right car and deal will come to fruition eventually. I definitely think it was absolute serendipity in the way everything played out for me.
Financing:
Unless you buy your car outright, you will have to work out financing. To complete this process, you’ll be working with a new employee at the dealership. A lot of people compare the financing office of a dealership to a shark tank. I definitely would have had the wool pulled over my eyes if I wasn't prepared for this important meeting. Before you go to complete your financing, I would recommend applying for an auto loan through a few banks and/or credit unions on your own. I applied through two credit unions, one of which I use as one of my financial institutions already.
I got interest rates from both banks the day before I went to my appointment at the Lexus dealership. I went into the meeting, they pulled my credit, did their pull of banks they use, and told me the best they could do for interest was 4.5%. So that is when I revealed I applied for loans on my own and got an interest rate of 2.89% so I then notified them that I would be financing on my own. Shortly after divulging that information another credit union magically popped up that could compete with 2.89% at 2.79%. I personally don't think that would have been brought up to me if I didn't show up with my homework assignment and thorough research.
Take Aways:
At every part of this process I decided that having as much information as I possibly could would be the best way to get through this successfully, with a great deal, and not getting taken advantage of. I made sure I was one step ahead of the dealership, the salesman, and the financing officer so if something they said or did didn’t align with my research, I knew exactly what to say, what questions to ask, and when to walk away if necessary. Trust your gut in this process. If you feel like you don't have a good relationship with the person you’re working with, ask for someone else. Be your own advocate in this process because at the end of the day YOU are the one taking on the financial responsibility, and most importantly you want to be happy with the car you’re driving every day.
I felt extremely proud of myself and liberated going through this process on my own. I got an extremely good deal on my car because I wouldn't take no for an answer. I did my research so I could play ball with every salesman I can across and to ensure I knew what I was talking about. This was my first big adult purchase and it felt so rewarding to go through this myself and then reap the benefits. I absolutely love my new car and would absolutely recommend a Lexus NX 300 to any of my friends or family. To anyone that is thinking about going for it—just do it! I am proof that someone with zero knowledge about cars can put in the work and successfully get the job done.