Looking for advice about buying a new Camaro.

[Blakout]

Hey all, I'm new here. I'm just posting this to get some advice from some people who have experience with buying new cars/haggling/ordering a custom made car like these new Camaros. Here's my situation.

I'm shipping off to the Air Force at the end of this year. I'm 20 years old. Since I took an interest in cars (a very deep interest now, lol), I've always wanted a Camaro. I couldn't get my license until a few years after GM had quit making them. Money has always been tight in my family and I was lucky to even get my own car within two years of getting my drivers' license. Long story short, I've never bought a new car, and my family doesn't usually do that either.

I'm going to save up as much money as I can for the next two years to buy a brand new shiny Camaro of my own, and buy it right up front, with cash. I'm asking anyone who may be a current or former car salesman if there's a way to haggle the price of the car below MSRP if I have cash in hand ready to buy and drive? So far, almost all of you seem like really friendly, helpful people, so I figured this would be an excellent place to ask. All of us here love Camaros

Any insight would be appreciated.

[chicagojoe16]

well I'm no salesman but I went to truecar.com to gauge pricing before I bought.

[Brokinarrow]

In two years, definitely. What I would suggest though; IF you get sent overseas the military has an excellent program you can use to buy new cars. If its still the same (I used it in 07) you tell them how much you want to put towards the car and they will take however much $ out of each paycheck (totally up to you on the amount). This money goes into a savings account that can make anywhere from 5% - 10% interest, depending on the economy and such (mine was at 7%). Do this for a while and when it comes time to order your car, you can order it through them OR just take the money out and buy a car on your own. Their prices will always be MSRP, so you don't have to worry about gettin ripped off.

[KJS]

haggle its expected, and yes many on this forum have dealt with dealers who will go below MSRP. BUT it is not easy and probably the longer you wait the less the demand will be so it will be easier to get below MSRP. Make sure you seek out the military discounts.

[PQ]

Well, I'm not a car salesman but I can tell you if you show up with cash up front, you'll be in good shape to deal. By the time you're ready, the Camaro fever will be well over. Go to a dealer, tell them you want a Camaro for 500.00 over invoice and you have cash. Go to the next dealer and same thing. You'll eventually 'feel' the guy who can do the best deal. They'll try to slide other stuff on the back end but just say no.

Not 500.00 over sticker (msrp) but over invoice. Hard to tell what the market will be like 2 yrs from now.

You probably won't get the price but it will be a starting point and it'll let the dealer know, you aren't just throwing money around.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

In two years, definitely. What I would suggest though; IF you get sent overseas the military has an excellent program you can use to buy new cars. If its still the same (I used it in 07) you tell them how much you want to put towards the car and they will take however much $ out of each paycheck (totally up to you on the amount). This money goes into a savings account that can make anywhere from 5% - 10% interest, depending on the economy and such (mine was at 7%). Do this for a while and when it comes time to order your car, you can order it through them OR just take the money out and buy a car on your own. Their prices will always be MSRP, so you don't have to worry about gettin ripped off.

Great advice.

[Dr Jkel]

My advice to you is a simple one, make sure you can afford it. Find out how much the car will cost per month including gas and insurance, then for the next 6 months put that money in a savings account. 2 things will happen. 1. If you have to pull any money out of the account then you cannot afford it just yet, if you dont have to pull it out then it can increase the anount you can put down on the car lowering the payment. Just MHO

[Blakout]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just a few questions:

@Brokinarrow: Do you remember what this program you speak of is called? Can you provide any more details about it or maybe a link to some online literature? That program sounds right up my alley, since my plan is to save up the complete cost of the car so I have no financing to deal with.

@irpq11: I'm going to sound retarded here, but I don't know for sure what invoice is. Is that what the dealer pays to buy the car from GM?

@Dr Jekel: I'm a little confused about your method of saving. Sounds like a very good way to budget my spending for this car. Could you elaborate a little? I do have plans (albeit further down the road) to supercharge it, bumblebee-stripe it, etc. as well. It's hard to do any close calculations as of right now because so many things come into play with the money. Like gaining rank as time goes on, possibly becoming an officer, for all I know, I could also change my MOS and maybe get a signing bonus for the new MOS. I just have no clue what will happen at this point.

I like to do as much homework on things like this as I can so that I can be sure to take the best approach possible. Once again, any and all input is appreciated from you guys. Keep it coming!

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by Blakout

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just a few questions:

@Brokinarrow: Do you remember what this program you speak of is called? Can you provide any more details about it or maybe a link to some online literature? That program sounds right up my alley, since my plan is to save up the complete cost of the car so I have no financing to deal with.

@irpq11: I'm going to sound retarded here, but I don't know for sure what invoice is. Is that what the dealer pays to buy the car from GM?

@Dr Jekel: I'm a little confused about your method of saving. Sounds like a very good way to budget my spending for this car. Could you elaborate a little? I do have plans (albeit further down the road) to supercharge it, bumblebee-stripe it, etc. as well. It's hard to do any close calculations as of right now because so many things come into play with the money. Like gaining rank as time goes on, possibly becoming an officer, for all I know, I could also change my MOS and maybe get a signing bonus for the new MOS. I just have no clue what will happen at this point.

I like to do as much homework on things like this as I can so that I can be sure to take the best approach possible. Once again, any and all input is appreciated from you guys. Keep it coming!

Ok let me explain a little. I was in the Marine Corps and started as an E-1, Private. What you do is this go to a dealership and see what the car will cost you with TTL, Mine cost 37444.00 out the door. You have that number, then you go to a bank or financing company and find out how much your monthly payments will be for a loan of the amount of the car, how much they will require you to put down etc..., lastly you call your insurance company and find out how much insurance will cost you either monthly or every 6 months. So for the sake of arguement , the car will run you 575.00 a month, insurance 120.00 a month, now figure you fill the tank up once a week, 50.00 a fill up, this means you need 745.00 a month for the car. If you can put 745.00 a month in savings for six months without touching it, you either are doing well enough to afford this car, sacrificed some things for the car, or cannot afford it.

After the 6 months you will have saved 4470.00 which you can put down on the car lowering your payment.

But the real key here this, since you are joining the military, you will move alot in the first few years. Your insurance will change based on your duty station, could go real high dont know that. If I were you I would start saving money now, wait till I get to my permanent duty station before worrying about a car. I spent 5 years in the Marine Corps saved 500.00 a month, because it was very hard for someone in the military to get an auto loan with no credit, I just saved my money and waited till I got out and paid cash for my car, not really what I wanted at the time but transportation, and continued to save. I never wanted to be a slave to a car payment. In 10 years you will Thank Me if you do this. You may not get your Camaro right now, and may have to wait a little while, but good things come to those who wait. Just my opinion though.

[CWI]

Originally Posted by irpq11

Well, I'm not a car salesman but I can tell you if you show up with cash up front, you'll be in good shape to deal. By the time you're ready, the Camaro fever will be well over. .

Camaro fever is curable? I've had it for 34 years now, no sign of improvement.

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

In two years, definitely. What I would suggest though; IF you get sent overseas the military has an excellent program you can use to buy new cars. If its still the same (I used it in 07) you tell them how much you want to put towards the car and they will take however much $ out of each paycheck (totally up to you on the amount). This money goes into a savings account that can make anywhere from 5% - 10% interest, depending on the economy and such (mine was at 7%). Do this for a while and when it comes time to order your car, you can order it through them OR just take the money out and buy a car on your own. Their prices will always be MSRP, so you don't have to worry about gettin ripped off.

Sounds like a great program for a young person. He could save a lot in two years that way.

[Blakout]

@Dr Jekel:

Cool, I understand what you mean now. I do plan on saving up for two years, and paying cash out the door for the cost of the car. I am aware I'll still have (probably through the roof high) insurance because I plan on getting a 2SS/RS M6, and modding it a little. Gas will be a pretty penny too, but I'm prepared for this. Do you have any kind of general idea from talking to other members of the service about how long it will take to kind of settle down at one base for a while? I've been curious about this and a lot of other things about the military ever since I made the decision to join. While saving I plan on accruing interest as well, so it's hard to say just how much I'll be able to save up two years from now. Especially knowing that I'll be ranking up quickly.

PS - My price when I did the online build of the car was $35,710, or $37,975 with ground effects. I haven't decided if I want them or not yet. I also may do some custom silver bumblebee-style stripes as well. I did some relative, rough estimates last night with the numbers and I can save anywhere from $35,000-$42,000 from what I got last night within two years' time. That's without factoring in ranking up.

[Brokinarrow]

AAFES new cars sales program: http://www.encs.com/

[Brokinarrow]

Remember though, you can only use this outside of the US. If you get a chance, I'd highly recommend goin for an overseas duty station. I was in Okinawa for two years, great times!

[Blakout]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

AAFES new cars sales program: http://www.encs.com/

WHY DON'T THEY HAVE CHEVY ON THERE?!?!?! My life has ended.