First time buyer

[Opt1mst]

Hey, I'm looking to buy a 14 Camaro 2LS or 1LT this Saturday... I'm a first time buyer and I'm not quite sure what to expect going in to this process. I'm hoping to get a good deal, but I'm not sure of the incentives in May. I was wondering if anyone had any tips. I'm not sure if this is the right thread though, if not my apologies.

[Indydriver]

Welcome to C5. You came to the right place. The main thing is to do your homework. Talk to lots of dealers because they are not all created equal. Present yourself as a serious buyer and remember, it's not personal, it's just business.

Read lots of threads here. You can start by reading the buy part of my story in the journal below.

[JimE]

No one will know the May incentives until they are announced.

[c-57d]

Check if you qualify for GM Supplier discount through your work. If not then check if someone you know qualifies and has purchased a car using the discount, they can 'sponsor' you.
It helps a little.
-s

[PinLover]

I wish I found Camaro5 early like you. After buying 2 2013 Camaros in April (Apr 7 and Apr 26), I missed out on about $1,250 in extra savings on the first Camaro ($750 USAA and $500 GM Card Earnings) as I was in the same boat as you, uninformed of what was out there. Thankfully the first dealer was willing to deal on the sticker price (got $500 below dealer invoice). The second dealer was not moving from MSRP. The rebates and incentives are different on the 2013/2014 models so my situation won't fully apply to you. However, look into things such as:

Initial Discounts off MSRP (Usually only one of these can apply):
- Dealer may give you below MSRP or below Dealer Invoice price
- Credit Union Member Discount
- Military Discount (Active Duty, Reserves, Veterans within 1 year of discharge date, or Retirees)
- GM Family First (Employes and eligible family members and possible friends)
- College Discount (if you're in college or have graduated in the last 2 years, it is $800-$1200 off MSRP)
- Supplier Discount
- Costco Auto - If you're a member of Costco (or Sam's too I believe), they have vehicle discounts.

A lucky few can get a limited GM Private Offer ($1,000 pop-up that comes on GM's website now and then).

Also think of things that you may qualify for like:
- GM Card Earnings (your own or someone else's to get $1,500 off - see this thread: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349086 ) - Can't use with Employee discount
- USAA ($750 off if you are a USAA member - you DON'T need to have their insurancy anymore to get the discount) - I signed up 4 days before and got the discount.
- Farm Bureau - $500 off for members of participating state Farm Bureau

You can find out about other qualifying discounts by having the salesman pull up the vehicle and the list of discounts available and have him ask you each one. He/she will ask "Did you work for the railroads, were you in the military", etc. Some are very obscure and you wouldn't think to ask, but you may qualify for.

Some incentives, offers, and rebates cancel out others so it's good to find out ahead of time.

Don't expect the dealer to know or tell you about all the incentives. At the second dealer, I had to have the salesman go to Chevy's website and lookup the current offers for the 2013 Camaros ($2,000 rebate or 0% financing offered in April) because they had no idea about the 0% offer. He argued with me until he saw it on the website and then said "huh, I guess so". Don't think if your credit isn't that great that you won't qualify for the 0% or 3.9% or whatever. My score is 608, my wife's is 640, and we got 0% on BOTH Camaros. It was better than the $2,000 rebate because 0% saved us at least $6,000 on interest.

I also had to argue and get him to print the page for the College Discount. He kept saying "It's College Grad discount and I haven't graduated yet". I said that's not true, all I need is a valid current college ID if I'm in college, or diploma dated within the last 2 years.

Make up a spreadsheet so you know what your bottom-line number would be approximately for each scenario (I'll try to post the one I made up when I get home for lunch). The dealer will try to show you that their price is better, but sometimes they already include the rebates when your starting number does not! Know EXACTLY what the dealer is showing you on the paper with numbers and DON'T hesitate to ask them to break everything out line by line of each section, such as tax, tag, dealer fees, doc fees, etc. Sometimes they lump it all together and you think most of it is tax, when half of it is dealer fees!

If you have a trade-in, know what it's worth ahead of time by going to Kelley Blue Book, Black Book, or edmunds.com (or all 3 to get a good estimate). Try to get them to come close to the trade-in value. Don't let them give you a load of crap, unless your car looks/runs like crap!

That should cover the basics of what to look for when buying a Camaro and some things to expect, but by all means is not the bible to buying one. There are so many other factors for getting a great deal (time of month, day of the week, model, dealer, etc) that play into the final price! Hope this helps get you started. Good luck!

[enzia35]

College student discount? I might go get my student id replaced just for that.

[Opt1mst]

Originally Posted by PinLover

I wish I found Camaro5 early like you. After buying 2 2013 Camaros in April (Apr 7 and Apr 26), I missed out on about $1,250 in extra savings on the first Camaro ($750 USAA and $500 GM Card Earnings) as I was in the same boat as you, uninformed of what was out there. Thankfully the first dealer was willing to deal on the sticker price (got $500 below dealer invoice). The second dealer was not moving from MSRP. The rebates and incentives are different on the 2013/2014 models so my situation won't fully apply to you. However, look into things such as:

Initial Discounts off MSRP (Usually only one of these can apply):
- Dealer may give you below MSRP or below Dealer Invoice price
- Credit Union Member Discount
- Military Discount (Active Duty, Reserves, Veterans within 1 year of discharge date, or Retirees)
- GM Family First (Employes and eligible family members and possible friends)
- College Discount (if you're in college or have graduated in the last 2 years, it is $800-$1200 off MSRP)
- Supplier Discount
- Costco Auto - If you're a member of Costco (or Sam's too I believe), they have vehicle discounts.

A lucky few can get a limited GM Private Offer ($1,000 pop-up that comes on GM's website now and then).

Also think of things that you may qualify for like:
- GM Card Earnings (your own or someone else's to get $1,500 off - see this thread: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349086 ) - Can't use with Employee discount
- USAA ($750 off if you are a USAA member - you DON'T need to have their insurancy anymore to get the discount) - I signed up 4 days before and got the discount.
- Farm Bureau - $500 off for members of participating state Farm Bureau

You can find out about other qualifying discounts by having the salesman pull up the vehicle and the list of discounts available and have him ask you each one. He/she will ask "Did you work for the railroads, were you in the military", etc. Some are very obscure and you wouldn't think to ask, but you may qualify for.

Some incentives, offers, and rebates cancel out others so it's good to find out ahead of time.

Don't expect the dealer to know or tell you about all the incentives. At the second dealer, I had to have the salesman go to Chevy's website and lookup the current offers for the 2013 Camaros ($2,000 rebate or 0% financing offered in April) because they had no idea about the 0% offer. He argued with me until he saw it on the website and then said "huh, I guess so". Don't think if your credit isn't that great that you won't qualify for the 0% or 3.9% or whatever. My score is 608, my wife's is 640, and we got 0% on BOTH Camaros. It was better than the $2,000 rebate because 0% saved us at least $6,000 on interest.

I also had to argue and get him to print the page for the College Discount. He kept saying "It's College Grad discount and I haven't graduated yet". I said that's not true, all I need is a valid current college ID if I'm in college, or diploma dated within the last 2 years.

Make up a spreadsheet so you know what your bottom-line number would be approximately for each scenario (I'll try to post the one I made up when I get home for lunch). The dealer will try to show you that their price is better, but sometimes they already include the rebates when your starting number does not! Know EXACTLY what the dealer is showing you on the paper with numbers and DON'T hesitate to ask them to break everything out line by line of each section, such as tax, tag, dealer fees, doc fees, etc. Sometimes they lump it all together and you think most of it is tax, when half of it is dealer fees!

If you have a trade-in, know what it's worth ahead of time by going to Kelley Blue Book, Black Book, or edmunds.com (or all 3 to get a good estimate). Try to get them to come close to the trade-in value. Don't let them give you a load of crap, unless your car looks/runs like crap!

That should cover the basics of what to look for when buying a Camaro and some things to expect, but by all means is not the bible to buying one. There are so many other factors for getting a great deal (time of month, day of the week, model, dealer, etc) that play into the final price! Hope this helps get you started. Good luck!

Man! You're a life saver! Thanks so much! I was wondering a about if I was eligible for that college discount since I graduated last year. Thanks! This is great

[The_Blur]

I think I'm going to write a book about this. I've given way too much car-buying advice.

When you go to the dealer, dress respectably. Be confident. Do your math in advance.

Here's what you need to do your math:

• a complete, honest budget on your finances
• insurance estimate (aim high)
• gas estimate (aim high)
• interest rate
• down payment
• total months
• invoice price (new cars)

Aim low on the monthly payment. Every $1,000 in price is roughly $15-20 on the payment. Figure out what the cost will realistically be, and aim about $50 lower per month.

The most important thing is to stay emotionally unattached to the car you're buying. That car is going to sell to someone, and there's another car waiting for you if you don't buy this one. Bring a buddy. Buy them lunch. Have them keep you on an even keel. The hardest part is saying "no" after your test drive, so get someone who you trust with your finances. Let them see your negotiating position and participate in the sales process. It gives the dealer the challenge of selling them the car, as well as selling you the car.

[PinLover]

I have attached the spreadsheet I used to compare pricing and vehicle options. You will need to go to each of the websites for the discount pricing you qualify for to get the exact pricing of the model you are looking at. Be sure to compare apples to apples and include all options that are on the window sticker. I had the dealer remove the $6,500 21" rims/tires option so I had to compare with a 2LS that didn't have the option installed. Discount pricing includes discounts on ALL options installed. You want to start with the same MSRP for ALL comparisons otherwise one option will look better than another even though it isn't. You can still build 2013 models if that's what you're trying to get.

Here are 3 GM discount websites:

GM Employee/Family First Pricing Website
https://www.gmfamilyfirst.com/ip-vpp/

GM Military Pricing Website
https://www.gmmilitarydiscount.com/ip-vpp/

GM College Discount Pricing Website
http://www.chevrolet.com/college-student-discounts.html
NOTE: If you will use the college discount in the end, you will need to sign up to get the discount offer code to print and bring to the dealership.

If you have a credit union or other discount like costco auto, you will have to find out where those sites are to give you the discount pricing.

In the spreadsheet, I have made many notes and put in simple cell references and formulas to make things easy. There are 2 tabs. The first tab is the first printout I handed to the salesman to give to his finance guy to say "This is where you need to be with the price before we go any further". I had an over the phone quick writeup, but after doing the spreadsheet I found out he was $1,800 too high without tires. I had to make sure we were on the same page before throwing everything else at them! I didn't want to show them all of the other discounts, or the price I was looking for on the trade (all of which are on the second sheet).

Have the second sheet handy so you know where your expected bottom line should be (near). If their numbers are wrong for any reason (such as them sneaking in GAP insurance, warranty, adjust the trade-in value in their favor, etc) then you will know!

As The_Blur stated, be willing to walk out if you don't get the warm fuzzies on the deal. Don't impulse buy or think the dealer is giving you "the best" deal. "The best" deal is something you need to fight for! If they aren't meeting your numbers, walking away can sometimes change their mind if they really want the sale (and they do!).

[MLAZ1990]

If you don't have credit, your interest rate is going to suck! Just like mine does! Try not to show too much interest in the one you really want! If they know you really like it, they won't give you a deal!

[MLAZ1990]

Also, make it clear that you will, at any point, walk out the door! If they think you won't leave or have any other dealership to go to, they will not give you a deal!

[cadyshac]

Get on the internet, look at several dealers in your area that have cars that are acceptable to you. Contact those dealerships and make a low (but reasonable) offer to them via email. See who is willing to deal and who isn't. Try to work out as much as you can before you go to the dealer, once you get in the door you lose some of your advantage. Don't be afraid to make a low offer, you might be surprised at what they will accept. Most of all don't be in a hurry if you don't have to be. They won't budge on price if they know you need to buy a car, good luck!

[NYCamOwner]

Originally Posted by MLAZ1990

Also, make it clear that you will, at any point, walk out the door! If they think you won't leave or have any other dealership to go to, they will not give you a deal!

This is very true, 3 dealerships I went to let me walk, the 4th did not. I told them all what I wanted to pay "Out the Door", and when they said no, I walked away. The 4th did not let me get away from my chair. I told them all that "I can get that same car anywhere, I can order it if I want, why should I buy it from you?"

Don't forget about "Hold Back" fee's, or otherwise called "Lot" fee's. The dealerships also make money on that.

[PinLover]

Current offers updated on Chevrolet.com:

2014 Camaro:
$2,000 Total Cash Allowance
or
3.9% for 72 months Plus $1,000 Bonus Cash

2013 Camaro:
$3,000 Total Cash Allowance
or
0% for 72 months Plus $1,000 Bonus Cash

Offers good through 6-2-2014.