A year-end deal

SY and I decided to get a second car today. We had a couple reaons why:

1. It's better to have a second car available in case the wife needs it
2. It being December 31, we could get a good deal
3. We found a car that matched our needs for a price we could afford, and
4. We had a coupon (expiring that day).

I know that last one sounds a little strange, but it's true. A while back, I spent about $30 to become an AUSA member, and got a coupon book. Among them was a coupon for $500 worth of free gas when you buy a used car from Automax in Killeen.

We wanted something small, a couple years old, and had very good gas mileage so that I could use it to drive to work and leave the Elantra for long trips and family driving.

Our first pick was a $7,788 2007 white Kia Rio with a manual transmission. Unfortunately, it didn't have power steering and I wasn't sure the air conditioning worked, so we wrote this one out quickly.

Our second pick was a 2007 Hyundai Accent GS two-door-hatchback with 24,000 miles, an automatic transmission, and (most importantly) power steering. It didn't have power locks, power windows, or cruise control, but these weren't important to me anyway.

It wasn't an instant decision. We've been to that dealership about three or four times over the past four months, so we had an idea what kind of cars they've had in stock and what kinds of things went quickly compared to others. We also came in with a couple reasons not to buy:

1. SY hasn't yet gotten her U.S. license
2. We're still waiting for our first time home buyer's credit to come in, and
3. We didn't really need a car until about March.

I think we handled the negotiation well. I used our reasons not to buy to negotiate the price down about 12% from $9,995 to $8,750, and then brought up the matter of the coupon (which said "must present at time of purchase"). I could tell the sales manager was a little miffed about that, but I guess it wasn't too bad a deal for him -- they still accepted the final deal.

I think the whole situation worked out well. We got a great car with low mileage for a fair price and a low interest rate. By using the gas coupon, the money we would have spent on gas can go to the car payment, mitigaing the real cost of the loan payment until the raises I get this coming summer.

So here's my advice to potential car buyers:

• Know what you want to buy and why
• Know also why now is not the time to buy
• Don't get attached to any one particular car. Being flexible about particulars is a strength.
• Shop in December. Dealerships have to pay taxes on cars they still have on the lot on January 1, so you have more of an advantage.
• Know how much you can afford and what your limits are, and
• Shop around and over time. I don't know if it's better overall to buy a car when you don't abolutely need one, but buying a car at your own pace is definitely a good thing