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Buying a New Car? Skip the Negotiations

In Save Money at the Pump [1] a reader, Jim, mentioned that he could sponsor my purchase of a new car. That reminded me of some great discounts that exist when buying a new car. Many are hard to beat if negotiation makes you queasy. If you are a great negotiator you can compare the discounts to the True Market Value at Edmunds.com [2] to see what your best route is.

Friends and Family Discounts

When we purchased our Dodge Durango in 2001 we were able to use a friends and family discount as we had a relative that works at Chrysler. We were able to get 2% below invoice plus the manufacturer rebates. Because car manufacturers employ so many people, you probably know someone at least indirectly who would be happy to help you out. Ask your friends, family, co-workers, etc.

Corporate Discounts

Our company has partnership programs with many companies for discount pricing. I usually remember to check for discounts with cell phones and restaurants, but forget some of the other benefits.

Here’s some of the car manufacturers that have corporate partnership programs:

GM supplier discount [3] which includes a search function to find out if your company is listed. Some popular models included are Chevy, Saturn, Buick, Pontiac, and GMC.

Ford partner program [4] includes discounts on Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Mazda.

Chrysler program. Check with your HR department for the appropriate code to take with you to the dealership.

Action Plan

We’re still trying to decide which car to get. We’re considering the Mazda5, but we’re torn between a used one and a new one. I wanted to try to buy used, but the 2008 model actually has a new package not available in prior years that we might want. With the corporate pricing, the new one is actually a reasonable cost.

Check out other articles in the car series:

This article is featured in: Festival of Frugality #116 [8].