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Which Dealer Add-Ons Should You Buy?

When buying a new car, you'll be presented with several add-ons that can be purchased for an additional price.

These items will be shown to you by the finance (or business) manager after you've agreed to purchase the vehicle.

Many dealers make a good portion of their profit selling these add-ons (such as extended warranties, service plans, gap insurance, and paint/fabric protection).

There are only a few add-ons that you should consider purchasing - all the rest are pretty much useless.

The ones worth considering are:

Extended Warranties
GAP Insurance

The following may be worthwhile for some, but not most:

Pre-paid Maintenance Plans
Wheel Protection
Low-Jack Anti-theft device

The following are completely useless:

Paint Protection
Fabric Protection
Rust-proofing
Window Etching
Car Alarms

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).

Select Vehicle to Get Local Pricing

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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