I went with a friend of mine to buy a new truck a few years ago, fresh off of reading one of these articles from a former salesman.

 

I mentioned the dealer kickback or reserve when they were claiming they couldn't budge off the price anymore, and I think the two of them almost spit out their coffee. They claimed they didn't negotiate the kickback, and so we walked out. Thirty minutes later they called us back and magically found a way to knock another two grand off the MSRP.

 

If you read some of the articles, and take the advice, they really can work...

I do. An old beater of a pontiac sunfire that my fiance has had since college. It's got some dents and dings, so I'm not expecting much. KBB says $1200-1600, so I'll be happy with $1500.

 

CarMax will give you a free estimate on it and they'll print it out, so if the new car dealership lowballs you, you can just tell them you'll sell at CarMax then.

So now that I finally have a job it's time for a new car. I'm looking at a 2009 or maybe 2010 Ford Escape, but have never gone car shopping before. Anyone

Have them show you the Car Fox.

 

So I ended up getting a 2010 Ford Escape XLT (v6, 4x4, moonroof/sync, cargo package and 17" rims) priced at $29,650 for $24,250. They took off about 3k and gave me 2k for my old beater (shocked by that). 0% for 60 months too. We got everything we wanted, so I feel like it was a pretty good deal, except for the 5 hours spent inside that dealership. Al Pielmonte Ford in Melrose Park is where we went. Nice guys there. If they know what your price is they'll basically do anything to get you to buy it. The only "sell" was to try and get us to extend out to a 72 month deal but at 3.7% to lower our payments. I said thanks but not thanks and that was the end of it. All and all a pretty cool experience.