Thinking about buying a car without a car … 🚘️
What came first? The first chicken or the first egg?
I’ve been watching videos on car buying strategy to get a fair price and good service when buying a new automobile. It has me thinking about what my strategy will now that Big Red is retired. I also have several books I’m getting out from the library on both the seller’s and buyer’s perspective on the transaction. While similar to when I bought Big Red, setting out a cash price, I also want to be much more informed about inventory and price, as I do think I may have overpaid a bit for the truck, not fully understanding the different 1/2 ton packages Chevy offered that year.
Buying a car gets a bit complicated as I don’t have a car, so I have really only a handful of options to getting to car dealerships – catch a bus and/or bike there – ask somebody for a ride – rent a car for a day. I probably want to do the first option, discretely as that gives me the most flexibility. I won’t ride my bike into the dealer’s lot, but instead walk over so they can’t see how I got to dealership except on my feet. When I asked if I have a trade, I will keep an open mind on that, but remind them it’s something to discuss in the finance office once we have a price. I certainly don’t want them to know I took a city bus there and want to be able to drive home at any costs.
Right now, I am dealing with the emotions of losing Big Red. And while I have used public transit and biked in the past to get around town, I want to get really experienced and comfortable with it, so I can walk into the dealerships with zero pressure. I want to spend the month of January researching as much as I can about trucks, though I am strongly leaning towards a basic SuperDuty 4×4 long bed regular cab truck. Not as much for price but for it’s Plain Jane but big nature. But that ignores the vast options you can get even of just those trucks regular cab long bed, especially if you are willing to consider both the F-250 and the F-350. My first mistake in researching trucks was thinking there was a significant difference between the two. There really ain’t.
Then come February, I want to test drive one of those trucks to confirm that is my choice of vehicles. Catch the bus up to Metro Ford and DePaula Ford, tell them I am looking at 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks. In advance, I’ll print out window stickers of vehicles I’m interested in. I don’t have to make clear I am not buying that day, but I do want to hear their sales pitch. Then leave without buying. I don’t want to buy a truck and get it salty, and I would rather have the pressure on dealer not me to buy when I want at a price I want. I am sure if I give them my phone number, they’ll be harassing me within minutes after I walk off the line. I have a feeling thought, they’ll be thinking I am into budget trucks and my budget stretched – but I want a basic configuration SuperDuty not just for price but also reliability, ease of maintenance, and fuel economy. No LED lights, please!
Obviously, if Metro Ford and DePaula treat me well, I will be more likely to consider purchasing from them even for a slight mark up. I have a feeling at least one or two of them will be trying to convince me what I want to a 1/2 ton with all the features or probably a Ford Ranger. You can get a top of line Ford Ranger for the price of a basic F-250/F-350. Don’t you want those high tech screens and self driving sensors? Heated seats? No! But I don’t want a little fancy truck. I want real truck, one that I can push hard, drive a lot of rough dirt roads, idle, and drive full days on the highway with no issues. Cheap bastard the dealership will probably say, or insist I must some kind of contractor or farmer.
Truth is once I’ve climbed into and driven a SuperDuty or whatever truck I end up deciding to buy, they’re all going to be pretty much alike, it’s just a matter of package and price, and I can pretty much buy sight unseen. If the dealer isn’t local but offers a good price, and agrees to honor such a price in writing, I can get bank check, and mail it to them, and when it clears pick the truck up. New vehicles in particular are going to be identical from the factory, bar the features that listed out on the window sticker and dealer write up.
When it comes down to it, I think the best strategy is to work the phones and emails to buy a vehicle. You can avoid answering questions to dealer on the phone. It’s easier to hang up then walk off a property. It is much better to investigate when you have full window sticker in front of you and can read the details carefully before paying. All of the major car dealers have websites, and you can call them up and email them asking for the out the door price on the vehicle – what you would cut the check for if you pay for cash, ask the bank to finance, or finance through the dealer. Ask the dealer for a written break down of the fees and taxes, which are mostly imaginary as dealers pay both of those things, but are part of the total out the door costs. Some dealers won’t give it to you remotely, but if they want your business and think your legitimate, they will. For example, if I don’t hear from a dealer in Syracuse there is no way in hell I’m going to get a ride or take a bus out there to visit in person just to get a total out the door cost.
Some people suggest searching dealers within a two state radius of your home state. Indeed, if you can come to an agreement that saves you thousands of dollars out the door, a plane, train or bus ticket is worth it. Seems a bit more traveling then I want to do but I will consider a radius from Glens Falls to Syracuse to Oneonta to Newburgh to North Pittsfield to Bennington. I will contact outlying dealers first, and if anything its practice in getting quotes for out the door prices for vehicles. But whatever info gets me is both a negotiating tool, and if they offer a good rate, I’ll buy from them. No reason you have to buy from the local dealer. It would be a fun adventure to take a train or bus to a remote town, get picked up by dealer at the train station, hand them the check and drive home in what will be the basis for my new rig.
Once I gather information on real costs – and not the imaginary numbers on window stickers and dealer websites – I’ll make a decision mid-to-late March. There are a few reasons for doing it this way – I don’t want to get the new truck covered with salt until after the autumn when I coat it with fluid film. Also, dealers are more motivated to sell at the end of both the month and the quarter so they can meet manufacturer quotas. And the more time you take, the more the odds tilt towards you. While finance is something you decide after you settle on a price and vehicle, I will keep my options open. I generally dislike loans, but depending on incentives it could make sense. People said it was a mistake to not take 0 percent financing last time, when I could have been allowing my cash to earn money in the markets. That said, I do like the finality of cutting one check and owning the vehicle in the clear.
Buying a truck without a vehicle poses it’s challenges, but if I am strategic and learn the games the dealers play, and find the truck I really want based on Internet research, I can buy the truck I really want at a fair price and not risk getting scammed like so many do at the auto dealer’s lot.