Car

There are four steps in buying a car.

The first step, research, can take as long as you want, with 80% of it occurring on line ad 20% at various dealers.

The second, third and fourth steps take place at the dealer on the day you decide to buy. 

The third step is most variable among dealerships. This is almost a deal breaker for me but you may have no choice.

Research:

• make a checklist of questions that need to be asked and update it throughout the process!
• most important and lots of fun; could make a big difference in ultimate purchase
• start with what you want most, then research the models of different companies that compete directly with the car you want
• perhaps most important: a make (for example, Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM) that has record of being most dependable (fewest recalls, complaints on social media)
• second: don't buy more car than you need (there's a lot that goes into that; we'll discuss more later)
• third: research includes not only the dealership but also the salesperson; most folks don't do this, but highly recommend finding the salesperson first -- in person -- and then schedule an appointment for a few days later -- even as long as a week later --
• fourth: during the time between finding your salesperson and keeping the appointment to buy a car, get your finance plans in order
• don't feel rushed and don't feel bad about taking a few days or a week to do this; buying a car will be your biggest purchase, other than buying a house, which is becoming less and less frequent among first-time car buyers;
• fifth: start thinking about car insurance; who you will call when you sign the finance papers
• sixth: start thinking about where you will garage / park your new car
• seventh: list your deal-breakers. 
• for example: no Car Play is a deal breaker for many people
• lack of color selection may be a deal breaker
• lack of base model being available
  
• research includes common sense and looking around
• if you have selected a well-known make and well-known model, but you don't see many of them in the neighborhood in which you live or on the roads in which you drive, there may be a reason
  
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Sales:

• take your checklist with you; refer to it often; update it throughout the process!
  
• the most fun;
• if you don't find this step fun, you need to find a different salesperson or a different dealer;
• if you are a novice with regard to cars and/or car-buying, make sure you have a very knowledgeable salesperson; use word-of-mouth; social medial to help;
• find your salesperson during the research phase, not the day you plan to buy (we can discuss that further, later)
• always start with the base model -- never let the salesperson start with up-selling you. 
• the base model will be the same as the most expensive model except for "trim" in many cases
• test drive: if you've done your research well, this should be the least important step in the sales process; 
• in the big scheme of things, the only reason for the test drive is to make your body fit matches the fit of the car (we can discuss later)
• you might want to use this step to see how easy it is to set up Car Play
• any strange noises is an automatic deal-breaker no matter what the sales person tells you
• odometer readings trending toward 600 miles is a red flag; how many folks have test driven this car and then for some reason decided not to buy it;
• with an average of less than 10 miles per test drive, upwards of 60 people have test drove this car
  
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Pre-finance stage / negotiation stage:

• take your checklist with you; refer to it often; update it throughout the process!
  
• I prefer two steps at the dealer on the day I buy the car:
• sales process with the salesperson (one person)
• finance process immediately with no go-between
• least favorite way of accomplishing this stage, although it is very common, and probably historically set in stone for many "old school" deals, 
• but almost a deal-breaker
• salesperson becomes the go-between between the sales and signing with the finance officer
• in this case, the salesperson and the finance office are discussing things behind your back
• they know everything about you by now and you know nothing about their planned finance process
• comments:
• I learned this in Dallas:
• Mazda: sales person (awesome) and then finance guy (a big shady but everything was transparent; no go-between
• Toyota: awful experience; sales person showed me the paperwork; I had questions; he want back to finance guy; we had more questions; back to the finance guy; back and forth, back and forth; finally, signed papers with finance guy
• Outcome: in final analysis probably made no difference but it made a tense situation unnecessarily more tense, but if the dealer is "short" with finance guys this is most efficient for the dealer

Finance:

• take your checklist with you; refer to it often; update it throughout the process!
• absolutely, without question, the most difficult, the most tense step in buying a car
• the salesperson will lie to you and say the sales process is the most difficult
• that is from his perspective, not yours
  
• before you even begin this fourth step, during the research phase, you should know the bottom line of the "cash price" and then add 10% for sales tax, title, insurance, deal prep, etc
• note: if the salesperson shows you the bottom "cash price" line, commit it to memory or take a photo of it; commit it to penny -- if it's off by a penny when you see the contract, something changed
  
• know exactly how you plan to pay the entire amount before you meet the finance guy
• during the finance stage you can modify you plans but at least you know where you are starting
• repeating: when you walk from the car you plan to buy and walk to the "office" to close the deal (this occurs before you actually see the finance guy) either photograph the spec sheet with the dealer's price (often the MSRP); any dealer incentives posted on the car; and, anything else that might be important with regard to price -- like visible defects on the body. 
• If you feel uneasy about taking a photo, commit it to memory, down to the penny -- because that's the number you want to see on the dealer's "cash price" before you start dealing with the finance guy.
• while talking with the finance guy, continue to refine how you want to pay; we'll talk about this further later
• even if can pay full price in cash, maybe you want to finance part of it for various reasons
• even if you need to finance it, you may decide to change the amount you want to finance
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Final checklist before leaving dealer:

• two sets of keys, or fobs
• telephone call to insurance agent
• telephone numbers of dealer, salesperson, finance officer (including their first names)
  
• connect Car Play
• all paperwork
• check for owner's manual in car
• it might not hurt to look at spare tire and accoutrements to change flat tire
• know how to open the hood
  
• maintenance agreement in glove compartment
• photograph license plate, VIN, etc, and keep those photographs easily accessible on your phone
  

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Other Issues

Whether to finance and if so, to what degree?

• if desiring a need to build history of credit, especially looking towards buying first hour or rendign high-end apartment, finance at least to some degree;
• whether to finance or not finance depends to a great extend on monthly cash flow
• quality of life corresponds directly to monthly cash flow
  
• for first time car buyer: finance as much as possible, up to 50%
• for second-time car buyer: finance some, maybe 20%
• for third-time car buyer: pay in cash

Buy used or new?

• depends -- really, really depends
• dependability of the car: if this is really, really important, then one will skew towards a new car;
• if dealership servicing could be a challenge, then one will skew towards a new car;
  
• driver:
  
• first car, younger drive, inexperienced driver, being paid by parents: used car
• first car, younger drive, but somewhat older, somewhat more experienced, at least five years driving experience: used or new
• second or third car, older, lots of driving experience: new car