Bigger Deals and Incentives May Come Soon
Looking at sales figures, you would assume the new car market has begun to rebound.
Comparing September 2010 sales to sales in September of 2009, GM saw its new vehicle sales in the U.S. increase 12% to 173,031.
Ford saw its sales jump 46% to 160,375, and Chrysler sold 100,077 vehicles, up 61%.
But it may not all be good news.
Fleet sales - not retail sales - seems to be driving the market surge. (Fleet sales are vehicles that are sold to rental fleets and corporate clients).
Collectively, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Hyundai-Kia and Nissan sold 2.3 million units in the third quarter, up 1 percent.
But combined retail sales fell 4 percent to 1.8 million.
What does this mean for car shoppers? Fleet sales can only sustain the auto market for so long.
To boost retail sales, automakers will have to offer greater discounts and incentives.
Our recommendation is to consider waiting a few months before purchasing (unless you're considering a leftover model). You may end up saving thousands.
3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money
The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network
Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect
TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.Step 3 Complete my Checklist
Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.- Gregg Fidan
Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
About The Author
Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate
the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.
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