★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/doitusef/success.html

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Money-Saving Stories From Edmund's Readers!

Below, we have listed a few of the many success stories and comments Edmund's receives each week.

If you have your own success story, drop us a line ! Or take a moment to post a report of your great deal in the Edmund's Town Hall Success Stories topic (that's topic 3 in the Smart Shopper conference). We love to read them!

Email from Thad B.
February 1, 2000
I had spent 3 months researching on the 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. I used Edmunds website to learn which options I wanted, what they cost, and if they required other options. I studied up on the tactics used by dealers, and most importantly, I read everything I could in the TOWNHALL section on Dakotas.

Last Wednesday I went into my local Dodge dealer (first time). Told the first salesperson I saw that I had been researching the Quad Cab on the INTERNET, that I wanted to order this truck, but that I had a few questions. After he answered my questions, he asked if I would like a price. I told him "I already knew what I was going to pay." He then told me that he could order it for INVOICE price. I had set my goal at 1% over invoice (popular truck), so I was a little stunned when his first offer was below mine. I told him that was fine with me, and in less than an hour we completed the paperwork to order my new truck. Thanks to Edmunds and everyone on the TOWNHALL pages.

Email from Jeanine H.
January 31, 2000
Thank you so much for providing information on how to negotiate and to purchase a car. My attorney recommended that I try your website before I went to the dealership and your information saved me a bundle. From the information on your website- I was well informed of all the dealers tricks; surely they tried them all.

The game was played, but I won! They are even mailing me a $1500 rebate within the next 30 days. Knowledge is truly is power. Thank you so much!

Email from Mike B.
January 28, 2000
Thanks for a great and USEFUL site. I was able to use the information for my target car and find out so many things that I hadn't even thought of checking. It allowed me to compile a list of questions for the seller and really eased my mind about both the car and the process of buying it.

Thanks again. You can be sure I will be telling my friends and family about this site!

Email from Denise K.
January 22, 2000
I wanted to thank you for everything! I used your Buyer's Guide for Buying / Selling Used Cars and wound up saving myself around $2500-3000. It actually got to be kind of fun waiting to see how many of the gimmicks the salesman used (I counted about 8 or 9). Thank you for making my first solo car buying adventure fun! I had used your advice on picking out the car I wanted, was prepared with print-outs of: prices (market and retail), options prices, and information on warranty prices, and had made extensive notes from the gimmicks section. I value your opinion and will recommend anyone and everyone to this site. Thank you again.

Email from David B.
January 21, 2000
This is just a note to tell you how much I appreciate your town hall. Through them I discovered an internet buying service which ended up saving me over $600 on a new car. The many messages in the forum filled me in on all the important issues and caveats.

Email from Vicki R.
January 18, 2000
My husband and I were in the market for a new car, and checked out the Mercedes C class, the Volvo s-40 and s-70, and the BMW 323 using the information published on your web site.

We finally decided on a BMW, and negotiated a very reasonable price using all the data (and negotiation tips) published on your web site.

Thanks so much for saving us many K's!!!

Email from Dave D.
January 18, 2000
Due to your site, I was able to intelligently negotiate with dealers and personal sellers. I found that dealers often cut their price down to dealer invoice without any haggling at all and were willing to lower their price even more to compete against other dealers. Armed with your pricing information, I saved over $3000 dollars on a late-model used vehicle and got it for below market value. I will never fear buying or leasing a vehicle ever again and in fact now enjoy it!

Remember the three things a dealer will try to get you on: price, financing, & trade-in price. If you are getting a bargain on one or two, the dealer will try to stick you on the other. Don't fall for these tricks - get what you want on all fronts.

Thanks Edmunds!

Email from J.S.
January 14, 2000
Last night, my daughter drove away from the dealership with her first new car purchase, a 2000 Ford Focus. She made the decision of make, model, color, etc., and only asked for my help in the buying process. When we walked in, we were able to tell the salesman that we knew what we wanted and they had the car; the only thing we were doing was "shopping price." With my Edmund.com printout of "how to" and prices, we were quickly able to negotiate a price that made me feel good, and saved my daughter about $1,500.00. We got the car at invoice and were able to negotiate a satisfactory trade for the "granny" car she had been driving. Thanks so much for all of the information you provide. For the first time, I came away from a car dealership feeling I had done my very best, but only with your help.

Email from J.B.
January 13, 2000
I just had to add myself to your list of successful, stress free car buying anecdotes. I heard about your website on WBBM Newsradio 78 in Chicago. I was just starting the search for a new company vehicle when I heard the ad on the radio. I had already tried Kelley Blue Book and was in the process of trying to find each dealership in my area online. Edmund's had so much more information then any other website I'd been to. I printed out the full reports for 5 SUV's I was interested in. Using those reports helped me narrow my search down to 2 makes. I read all your tips on how to purchase a new car and even printed a couple chapters to keep as a reference when I went to the dealers. I used Autobytel to make the contacts at the dealerships in my area and then I was off for a face-to-face meeting with both of the salesmen. I followed your steps when I went to visit both dealerships. Since I already had done the calculations for both vehicles I was interested in including all options it was easy to talk to the salesman about what I wanted. They both saw me flipping through my Edmund's notes and saw my calculations (I highlighted my numbers so they couldn't miss it). Both salesmen gave me prices at or below my estimations without me even giving these numbers to them. Now all it came down to was picking the vehicle I wanted. I wound up choosing a 2000 GMC Envoy and I love it! Thanks so much for your free help. You gave me the knowledge and confidence to go out and shop for a vehicle by myself. I'm telling everyone I know about Edmunds.com because it was so easy to get a great deal. Nobody needs to ever bicker with a salesman to get a good deal on a vehicle again as long as Edmund's is on the case. Keep up the great work!

Email from Todd A.
January 13, 2000
Kudos to your organization for putting out what is in my opinion the most informative, educational and objective source on the internet for almost everything relating to new and used car buying process. Only a few short weeks ago I entered into the realm of new car shopping knowing virtually nothing about how the process works, cost information and how to negotiate the best deal. In a matter of days I was transformed into a shrewd car shopper armed with the kind of information that makes car dealerships cringe. Furthermore, your town hall forums proved to be an invaluable resource of information as I learned a great deal from other car buyer's experiences and received valuable input from messages that I had posted myself. It was in these forums that I learned of some of the hottest on-line car buying services (i.e. Greenlight.com and Carorder.com) which ultimately led to an unbeatable deal for my new 4Runner.

I would like to say THANK YOU for helping me save thousands of dollars on my new car purchase!!!

Keep up the great work Edmunds!

Email from A.B.
January 13, 2000
Thanks to your web site we were able to research & compare the autos in which we were interested. Your information was excellent. I worked only with fleet managers, what a great tip. They saw we were prepared with the proper numbers from Edmunds and did not mess around. We felt good knowing we got a good price on our new 2000 Ford Explorer XLT w/ the sports package. Thanks again, I have been telling all of my family and friends about Edmunds. Also I got my extended warranty from Warranty Gold, thanks for the link.

Email from Pam
January 13, 2000
Thank you for helping us get the deal we needed. I totalled my car in Nov right after we started looking for a minivan. We had settled on a Plymouth Voyager SE but had to find the right price. After my sister told me about your site, I printed out information on both the vehicle and dealer costs/prices. We played one dealer against the other and ended up paying 3% plus $2 over dealer invoice. :) We are extremely pleased with the information your site provided on pricing guides. THANK YOU!

Email from Stacie P.
January 3, 2000
We took a ride to a local Toyota dealer Christmas Day and found the car I wanted. A beautiful 2000 Avalon XL. The MSRP was $25,195 and with options totaled out to $28,400. Edmunds.com listed the invoice price as $22,058, with options, invoice price came to $24,232. We went in, of course the salesman wanted us to test drive it first, he even brought the car around for us. We refused to test it until we came up with #'s we wanted to pay, $24,900. Within 15 minutes we agreed to $24,989. Then we took it for a test ride. What a beautiful car. Drove it home 3 hours later.

Email from Vladimir
December 7, 1999
Your Web pages are very helpful. I began to learn from the scratch and I followed all your steps to figure out car model,... When I figured out what I want and really need and I learned so enough I felt it is time to do shopping - then I used Autobytel. Those guys suggested me dealer that is near my town (Sunnyvale, CA). Then I was surprised how dealer's guys were professional. I did not have to prove my knowledge of things I learned. We were partners - they knew that I am informed and gave me offer of invoice price because of Thanksgiving weekend. I was called internet shopper and I purchased HONDA Accord 2000 EX (Cloth). I check your website again and again because there is a lot things to learn. Thank you for your Web pages and your help.

Email from D.L.
November 29, 1999
I have bought many new cars over my life and always got a good deal. However with the help of Edmunds.com I just got a GREAT DEAL on a '99 Isuzu VehiCross. The V-cross is a very limited production SUV, so in turn I found High dealer add ons and no one wanting to discuss price at all. After using your Web site and doing my research I went back armed to the hilt. To add, after the previous adventures I was determined not to even pay the 3% over invoice. Once the dealer realized I knew exactly where I stood they relented. I now have a '99 VehiCross in my drive way that I bought under invoice, and left them with only $200 dollars of their hold back. WOW what an experience, THANK-YOU Edmunds.com. I could not have done it without you.

Email from James B.
November 29, 1999
Well, it worked!! After looking, researching, studying options lists...the whole schmeer, I decided to buy a 2000 Honda Civic EX coupe (I'm single w/o kids and this is quite a step up from my '95 Geo Metro; I could have afforded a base Accord sedan, but who wants roll-down windows when you can finally afford power windows!!).

Anyway, after the test drive we talked price. Following the negotiating advice of the new car buying tutorial, we eventually arrived at 3% over invoice (I did not add any options or buy any sort of extended warranties so I saved over $1000!!!).

Even after this, the dealership was waffling over the APR percentage and didn't want to be specific about the rate they could get me (the guy was telling me mid 8)...after telling them the rate that my credit union could get me (7.99), they immediately came back with an even lower rate (7.95)!! Being prepared counts a lot!!

Email from Dave D.
November 24, 1999
Thanks for all the help! I just purchased a 2000 Accord EX (in my color!) for $800 over invoice. That was almost $3000 less than their initial offer!

Originally, they gave me the song and dance on how they weren't making much money on this car. I let them talk for a while and then dropped my Edmunds numbers on them. I was done negotiating within 30 minutes!

When I got to the finance manager, he didn't even attempt to throw in any extra fees. He knew I was informed. He just added the sales tax and licensing fee and I was done!

I also used Peoplefirst.com to get the lowest interest rate around. No one would beat the 7.15% they offered me.

Email from Dennis
November 23, 1999
Thank you, your site provided me with accurate and timely information that helped me to purchase a new 1999 Taurus SE for $4470 off MSRP (2970 dealer discount and 1500 rebate). How does one get a new car for 6 percent off invoice less rebates? You consult Edmunds, you scour the Internet for new car deals, find an honest and respectful dealership, and if circumstances like model selection and timing are favorable, you politely demand it

Thanks for your excellent Site.

Email from Debbie
November 9, 1999
I just wanted to let you know how great your website is. I just purchased my 1st NEW car ever and paid 3% over dealer invoice. I had researched the car extensively on your website and learned so much about how a dealer will mark up the price. I purchased a 2000 Honda Civic EX about 10 days ago and took delivery of the car on Thursday. I wish I would of had a camera so you could have seen the salesman's face when I started to negotiate the purchase price of the car. It was truly priceless. The salesman started to talk about the sticker price of the car and I completely went in another direction. The first thing I said to him was, "If I buy this car from you, how much over invoice am I going to pay?" He was completely shocked. I then pulled out my little print outs from the Edmunds.com website and sticker price was never mentioned again. Actually, I think he was a little miffed when I did that.

My dad was the one who actually told me about your website. Due to the fact that I had spent a little time checking everything out, I paid less than $15,000 for my car. (I even managed to have them throw in the floor mats and splash guards for FREE.) All together I paid $400 over invoice. (3%)

Thanks to you and everyone who works so hard to keep up this website. You guys are a godsend.

(Oh, by the way, most of my friends are looking for new cars and they have or will be visiting this website. They'd be crazy not to after I told them what a great deal I received due to your FREE information. You guys RULE!)

Email from Ken
October 22, 1999
Thank you for delivering such a fantastic service. I am a former car salesman (don't hold this against me) and have negotiating down pat. But the reason that I got out of the business is the unpleasantness of the process. I know that I could have negotiated a good deal on my own. However with your information and the help of Auto By Tel, I was able to buy a new Jeep Wrangler Sport with "all the trimmings" in record time, with NO unpleasantness for $100 over invoice including all of the "fees" that now everyone knows about.

I say that it was in record time because I received a phone call from the Autobytel dealer to confirm my options and then he faxed me a sales order. Yesterday I called him and told him I was coming in, when I arrived it took me 25 minutes from the time I walked in the door, to the time I finished with the "F&I" guy. I was amazed! Thanks again. Since yesterday, I have told 7 people to buy their cars this way.

Email from R.W.
October 11, 1999
THANKS EDMUNDS.COM.....for great deal on 2000 Honda Civic EX Coupe with Auto no ABS. All figures include 415 Destination Charge.

MSRP: 16750
INVOICE: 15186
MY PRICE: 15294
DRIVE OUT: 16435

Dealer included floormats; mudguards; touch-up paint; year's worth of car washes; one- year roadside assistance; tank of gas; coffee mug; first-aid kit; seal in freshness clip; gold-plated key-chain at N/C. I am mentioning these items only because extras (floormats & mudguards) are sometimes hard to get, especially when dealers make minimal profit. Credit goes to you for preparing me for battle!

Email from Brian B.
October 8, 1999
EDMUNDS ROCKS!

I can't believe I'm writing this! I have immersed myself in your website over the past couple of weeks. I have gone over your step by step procedure for buying a car, but until I actually used the information...who would have thought! It really is true that knowledge is power. I just bought a 2000 Mazda 626 LXV6 for 1.5% over dealer invoice! I got exactly what I needed for my trade and the sales manager ended up coming into the office to finalize the deal. EVERY bit of information that I used to make this transaction came from you guys. Thanks Edmunds for teaching us regular folks that MSRP is for fools who won't spend some time researching.

Email from Asher
October 6, 1999
I am very pleased to announce that you guys have put a really useful website for consumers like me who otherwise would not have a lot of knowledge when we go out and purchase car. The information that I got from your site really helped me a lot in, not only looking for the right car, but to buy it at a good price. I end up getting a Toyota Corolla 1999.

Email from Lisa
October 6, 1999
First of all, I would like to thank you for such a detailed and totally comprehensive site. Everything I wanted to know about the purchase of my next new auto has been found in the pages of Edmunds. I just ordered a new 2000 Pontiac Firebird Convertible, thanks to Edmunds, I got the car at TRUE Dealer's Invoice price. With Edmund's the dealers could not hide this actual published price. Thank you.

Now the reason for my communication, since the new Firebird will arrive in a few weeks, I am investigating extended warranties, I would not have given this a second thought, but again thanks to Edmunds, I received a proactive Edmunds e-mail that told me to look into these warranties and that currently Edmunds recommends the Warranty Gold program. Since I do all my own research, I did that here, sure enough Edmunds was right again, based on simple stats like plan coverage, customer satisfaction, courteous reps when calling with questions, and of course price and length of coverage. Warranty gold again got my vote. With Edmunds, why do I bother. You seem to always be RIGHT!

Thank you so much for your time, feel free to publish the first part of my success story above if you would like on the site. I have been recommending this site to everyone and anyone. It is that GREAT !

Email from Ziggy
September 30, 1999
Thank you so very very much for saving me over 2 thousand dollars on my brand new 2000 Toyota Tacoma. Using your techniques really saved me a lot of hassle and time. I purchased my truck over the internet, and was able to get it for only 50 dollars over invoice. WOW!!!!!! The dealer showed me the "actual" price they were gonna charge, and it was just over 19,500. I got mine fully loaded for only 17,500 --- that's the price of a Ford Ranger!!!!

And to top it all off, I didn't have to haggle with a dealer (I used a fleet manager as you suggested). When I drove to the dealership to pick up my new truck, it only took 90 minutes to do the paperwork!!!!! It was actually an enjoyable experience --- and that's a first I've felt at ANY dealership I've been to!! This is the most stress free large purchase I have ever made, thanks to you and your information. You also have tons more info than other new car sites on the web.

Email from Al
September 30, 1999
I just want everyone to know that I just bought the car of my dreams yesterday. Thanks to Edmunds I walked in with all the ammunition I needed. I knew what I wanted, I knew how much they paid for it, and I knew what to offer the salesman.

I just bought a Pontiac Formula Ram Air for just $750 over invoice. What a deal!!!! You're hearing from the happiest Edmunds customer in the world. Thanks Edmunds for the information you provide to your readers. I recommend all car shoppers to at least give Edmunds.com a look before possibly making a drastic mistake.

Email from Dan F.
September 29, 1999
I had been looking into a new Jetta, but was not happy with the interior space. I then discovered that the slightly older models were more spacious and affordable. Thanks to Edmunds used car pricing information and my girlfriends' strict adherence to Edmunds step by step instructions on how to buy a used car, we came in over $300.00 under the fair market value on a Top of The Line 1996 Jetta GLX VR6 with Leather seats, power moon roof, 6-disc CD changer and more!!! I also used E-Loan for my financing and the dealership could not beat it! Thank you Edmunds for giving me the peace of mind that I bought this beautiful car for a fair price.

Email from Jamie
September 29, 1999
Thank you so much for your truly easy to use and informative web site. I spent countless hours reading and researching my next new car purchase. I didn't need to print out the dealer cost prices for a 99 Mazda lx-v6 when I went to the dealership because I had already memorized them. I was in and out of the dealership in less than an hour and paid only 400 dollars over dealer cost. Once the salesperson realized that I was well informed she just asked what my purchasing price would be. It was just that easy.

Don't forget to email us or post a report of your Success Story in the Edmund's Town Hall Success Stories topic (that's topic 3 in the Smart Shopper conference). If we get yours, you'll probably see it here soon!