Car Buying Guide for New and Used Vehicles

Welcome to my 100% free online car buying guide for new and used vehicles. My name is Carlton Wolf and I've been in the retail car business for over 20 years. I created AutoCheatSheet.com to better educate buyers on the deceptive sales practices found in many dealerships across the country and to help them save the most money along the way. I'm not saying all car dealers and their personel are dishonest. However, it's always better to be prepared because you never know who you're going to run into when you walk through the door.

Would you like to buy a car, but worry about paying too much or being ripped off by a dealer? If you're like most people, you don't want to spend hours in a dealership haggling with a car salesman, but still want to get the best possible price and walk away confident you received the best possible deal. I'll show you how easy it is to accomplish that goal.

For almost two decades, my experience and insider secrets have helped thousands of people not only pay the absolute lowest price and get a great deal when buying a car. But also educate them on how to recognize and avoid costly car dealer scams.

Why is Buying a Car Such a Hassle?

In reality, manufacturers would love to get rid of the middleman (car dealerships) and let you buy a new car directly from them. However, back in the day, manufacturers only wanted to make cars and not hassle with selling them. They needed dealers to sell and service the vehicles they made all across the country. Dealers banded together decades ago and protected themselves with franchise laws.

With no internet available, it was very difficult to comparison shop or gather information. If you wanted to buy a new car you went to the nearest dealership and hoped you didn't get ripped off.

Since the birth of the Internet you can get all the pricing information you need. However, the franchise laws dealers put into place in the past is what still protects them today.

There have been several attempts to change the laws to benefit the consumer, but dealers are protected politically. The fact is, if you're going to buy a new car, you will always have to buy it from a franchise dealership. An example would be if you want a new Ford pickup you'll have to buy it from a licensed Ford dealership.

The Best Car Price May Not Be the Best Deal

Getting the best price on a vehicle is only one piece of the car buying process. There are several areas a dealer will attempt to make money on you. I cover all areas of the car buying process so you can have confidence when buying your next new or used car.

Just one of the topics above may save you thousands of dollars on your next vehicle purchase. My advice is you read through all the above topics to guarantee you have a general knowledge of the entire car buying process. Make sure you send me your success story and let me know how you did.

How to Buy a New or Used Car Cheap

A dealer knows every car sale is different and they look at every deal separately. However, they look at the total profit made on all the vehicles sold for the month as a whole and then average it out per sale.

For example: Customer A buys a Honda Accord for $500 under dealer cost. Customer B bought the same car for a $1,600 profit and customer C bought the same car at a $5,400 profit. From the above three car deals the dealer grossed a total of $6,500 or $2,166.66 PVR (per vehicle retailed).

My tips will not show you how to steal a car from a dealership, but I will teach you how to not be customer C in the example above. The car buying secrets I share with you will NOT make a dealer a lot of money, but they will still sell you a vehicle.

Why, you ask? Because after you, there will be another person stumble into the dealership, trying to buy a car like their parents did, uneducated and uninformed. I guarantee the dealer will make up any lost profit from your car deal on the next guy. Learn more about the new car buying process here.

The Car Buying Game is Rigged

Car dealers have an unfair advantage when it comes to negotiating the price of a new or used car. The average person will buy a car every four to six years, in this same time period a car dealership will sell around 4,500 cars. As you can see, the dealer has a little more experience selling cars than you do buying them.

As if this weren't enough, there's several different areas to the car buying process where a dealer can take advantage of you. Do you want new or used? Are you trading in a vehicle? Are you financing, leasing, or paying cash? How about protecting your investment with an extended warranty and insurance?

To make matters even worse, dealers are very good a wearing you down. They know if they drag out the car buying process long enough, you'll get tired and buy a car on their terms just to get out of there. It's a fact that some car purchases can take the entire day to complete. The sad thing is, even after taking all day to buy a vehicle you still won't know if you actually received a fair deal or not.

What's the Secret Formula to Buying a Car?

Car dealer's prey on the uninformed, just dropping in to buy a car without first doing your homework puts you at a severe disadvantage. I don't know how many times I'd hear a customer say, "When I came in, I wasn't planning on buying a car today," right before driving off in their new vehicle. The average gross profit made on these customers is much higher and is what makes if possible for a smart car buyer like yourself get such a great deal.

The secret formula to getting a great deal when buying a new or used car is "knowledge." The more you familiarize yourself with all aspects of the car buying process beforehand, the less chance you have of overpaying for your next vehicle.