re: I'm about to purchase a new vehicle.

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I feel like the Dodge Challenger RT is calling my name. Maybe even a tag that says "2FAST4U" or something. Not really.

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Go see Nick Saban. He's handing them out like Halloween candy

I have been in the business for over 20 years and you are getting some good advice.

If you buy a Dodge, just remember it will depreciate quickly.

Drive anything you are considering for a long test drive. There are a lot of "Cool Looking" cars that drive horribly.

Manufacturer Sponsored Certified Pre-Owned Cars can offer a good bang for the buck. You can get a well-equipped 1-3 year car less than an basically equipped new car. Certified Cars will usually give extra warranty coverage that comes with the car. Also, the manufacturer will often offer special financing on these types of cars.

There is plenty of research online. Use it. Most new cars don't have a ton of march up and most dealers will sell them virtually at cost because in many cases they get incentives from the factory if they hit a certain quota..for example, would a dealer lose 20,000 selling 100 cars in a month if the factory will pay the 100,00 to hit that number?...yes.

Don't hurt yourself financially. When you pell away everything, a car is a tool to get your from one place to another. If you want to treat it like a piece of jewelry, impress chicks then you will likely pay more.

Buying from want rather than need usually costs you more unless you do your homework.

Do you have a trade in?

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Dodge Challenger RT

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Any Dodge product you buy will require almost immediate repair, and once the warranty has expired, that vehicle will cost you a fortune.

My kid is heading off to college in a few months so it's empty nest time. I downsized my house so I'm thinking about the Hellcat for my midlife crisis lol

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I am thinking of getting a new vehicle also but not sure how to get a payment or negotiate a price. I know I should not pay sticker price for a vehicle, but I am absolutely clueless about vehicle shopping/princing

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I recently bought a new Accord. I used a simple process.

First I decided on the car I wanted down to the model and everything. That was easy for me. I wanted something with great gas mileage (drive 30,000 miles or more a year) and a good reputation. I settled on the Accord Hybrid Touring model.

Then I went to Kelley Blue Book to see what people were paying. I don't want to spend all day haggling over a couple hundred dollars, but I also don't want to get screwed. So now I know about what an average person is paying.

The next step is the most important and it worked really well. I went to the website for all of the Honda dealers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas and looked at their inventory. Found 2 that had what I was looking for. My options were a little more limited because the Hybrids aren't in plentiful supply so it was hard to find the model and colors I wanted.

Then I emailed both dealers through their website with the same message. I told them exactly what I was looking for as far as model and colors and anything important. Then I asked them to give me their best price. At this point you're usually dealing with either a fleet manager or their internet sales manager.

Within a day I had email responses from both giving me a quote and asking me to schedule an appointment with them. Both quotes were within $200 of each other. Both quotes were well below what KBB said was a fair price and were under the invoice price. A little more searching told me it was a great deal compared to what others were paying. I probably could have negotiated a little more, but I felt it was a fair and painless price.

I live in New Orleans so I went with the Westbank location. I confirmed I would be eligible for the 0.9% financing with that price. I tried to get a rough quote on my trade in, but all they would do is tell me what KBB said it was worth and promised they were fair (which they ended holding true to).


That was my process. I've been wanting to try it out for awhile and it worked well. Other cars would probably net you many more options of dealerships.

For anyone interested in something along the lines of an Honda, Toyota or similar I would highly recommend Superior Honda on the Westbank. I dealt with Damien (their internet lead). The whole process was very quick and painless. The finance guy did his sales pitch on the warranty which I declined. He asked if I had a reason to which I said my driving volume would eat up that warranty quickly. I was banking on the Honda quality to cover that. Most places would have gone with a hard sell but he accepted my answer and we moved on to signing. Damien also spent a good half hour after walking me through all of the new bells and whistles and setting up things like Apple Play and syncing my phone and other stuff.

They were very fair with my trade. I had a loaded 2008 Mustang GT and 111,000 miles with a KBB trade in value of $5,900 to $8,000. It was in pretty good condition (did have a crack on the windshield and a small tear on the driver's seat). I thought I would get an offer of around $6500 and was hoping for $7000. They gave me $7500 so I was happy. I could have got a lot more on my own (and I saw they're asking for almost $12K) but I don't want the hassle or worry of something going wrong on that car a month after I sold it.

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Useful tips by WC. Might be using them soon

We just bought a Subaru Legacy and love it. Buy one slightly used that is certified, get the 100k warranty, drive it till the wheels fall off. We found a 2017 with 1,500 miles that was 2k cheaper than new.

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