Information Gathering, Part III:

Through this research portion of the auto-buying process I've shown you what site to go to, www.kbb.com, and why. I walked you step-by-step to obtain the Trade-In Value of your vehicle. Now, what you'll want to do is go back to the kbb.com main page. Only this time you'll want to input your data to obtain the Retail Value of your vehicle. This is accomplished by following the same steps in Research, Part II (the previous post) only instead of clicking on the "Trade-In Value" link you'll click on the "Suggested Retail Value" link at the bottom. Following this, you'll input the same data you did for the trade-in value prompts. Once completed, you'll establish the figure a dealership will reasonably price your vehicle at on their lot. Take note that when you do this kbb.com rates your vehicle in "Excellent" condition for the suggested retail value. It is assumed the dealership will take care of all repairs and cosmetic blemishes to get the automobile into tip-top retail condition.

THE SUGGESTED RETAIL VALUE AND THE TRADE-IN VALUE BECOME YOUR NEGOTIATING TOOLS! Can you see how having this knowledge up-front could help you in the auto-buying process? Without these two figures you go into the beginning of the negotiating process like a deer in the headlights. Many potential customers have made many salespeople truckloads of cash because they didn't know these two simple figures which are easy to obtain in about 10 minutes. That 10 minutes alone could save you thousands and thousands on your next purchase along with future purchases.

An example I used for my own research purposes showed the trade-in value of my automobile to be $7,930 and the suggested retail value of the same automobile to be nearly $14,000. That's about $6,000 of "room" for the dealership to negotiate with on this particular transaction. Of course, the dealership is in a position to try to make as much money as possible while you, the consumer, are looking to pay as little as possible. You're looking for the "best deal" you can possibly get. Without the two figures of suggested retail value and trade-in value you will never get that "best deal."

Knowing what your vehicle is worth and knowing what the dealership will potentially re-sell it for is pivotal in your research. This will save you much time later in the negotiating step. Next post I'll discuss what you need to know about YOURSELF in the auto-buying, information gathering, process.

Ok, by now you've had a chance to familiarize yourself with www.kbb.com and hopefully found a trade-in value for your vehicle. Once at the site you moused over to the right of the page where it reads "Used Car Values." From here it is self-explanatory that you find your particular vehicle's category on this page, click it and then you're prompted on each successive page to select a make, model, year, etc., until you reach a page that prompts you to select the Kelley Blue Book value. On that page you want to select "Trade In Value." This will begin the prompts to find out the starting figure most dealers will use to value your vehicle towards your next purchase. After selecting the trade-in value button you will input the vehicle's trim (such as LX, EX, SLT, SE, etc.) and equipment (to inlcude miles on the odometer). Don't just guess on these items. Inputting your vehicle as an LX rather than an EX while mistakenly guessing at the miles and forgetting to include something as simple as a roof rack, could cost you hundreds, if not thousands, in trade-in value. After these prompts you'll be directed to the page where you select the vehicle's condition. This is where you want to rate your vehicle as "Good." Most vehicles fall into this category and once you select it you'll still be able to see the comparison price between Excellent, Good, and Fair on the final "Trade-In Value" page. And that figure, your trade-in value, is the starting point for negotiations that will ensue once you start the auto-buying process.

One note to remember is all the money you may have spent on aftermarket products for your vehicle may not equate to added value to your vehicle when it comes to trading it in. Why? Think about it-everybody has different tastes. What you thought was cool or slick may have worked for you but may not work for the dealership. It's easier for a salesperson to sell to everybody than to find the right person for that one vehicle. So, the less aftermarket gadgets that aren't from the original trim package or auto maker and that are on the vehicle the more of a headache to re-sell for the dealer. Bottom line: aftermarket gadgets don't mean squat to a dealership.

This is the first step in the Research part of the "knowledge battle" between you and the sales force you'll be going up against. Just knowing what your vehicle is worth up-front will save you time and money in the long run. For now we're discussing the research part of the auto-buying process so print out or save the "Trade In Value" somewhere because you'll need to reference it later.

So, now you've spent this time defining how much your automobile is worth. In my next post I'll point out how you can find out how much YOU are worth. That's right, knowing this and knowing before you embark on the auto-buying journey is critical to your success. I'll show you what I mean. Until then, happy information gathering.

Research: Picking up where I left off we'll first discuss the first step of the automobile purchase process...RESEARCH! Information overload will be the first thing you'll experience in the process. Just typing in the information "automobile purchase help" into the search engine will result in over 6 million hits. That's why it's important to have a plan and to work that plan. Following my plan could save you lots of money once you do decide to purchase that next vehicle. Let's get started on the first step:

1) Research:
John had a difficult time when he sat down in front of the computer figuring out where to start. The good thing is, though, he tried to start by doing some research. It is essential in the auto-buying process. Once again, KNOWING IS ALL THE BATTLE, and that begins with researching everything from the vehicle you want, to how much you can expect for a trade in, and what are the best deals out there. You could spend countless hours sitting in front of the computer or going from dealership to dealership but all that would do is get you confused. You would come up with many different numbers and each site/dealership will compete with each other confusing you even more. There is only one site you need to go to and I’ll explain exactly why. That site is www.kbb.com. That is Kelley Blue Book.com. I’m not advocating the site and, no, they’re not paying me anything to promote them. I am simply telling you this for one reason: www.kbb.com favors the dealers! Now, you are probably angry with me for suggesting this site then, but, there is one main reason to use this site: You must be on the same playing field with the dealership. If kbb.com favors the dealership you are going to get the exact numbers the dealership will use. When you go there first you want to get a value for your trade in. Register it as “good condition” because this is what the dealership will rate it at. Make sure to include every feature your vehicle has and you will be given a figure for the “trade-in value” of your vehicle. Now you will have a good idea what the dealership will reasonably offer you for your vehicle. With this information you can then use this site to find the vehicle you want and get the “retail value” of your same vehicle. I will take you step-by-step in a minute but, first, just listen to the reasoning here that way once you do go to the site you’ll know exactly why you’re doing this and, basically, you’ll become your own best researcher. Go to www.kbb.com and get a feel for the site and figure out what your vehicle will retail for and what the trade-in value is for the same vehicle then I'll go into further detail on my next post. Until then, happy information gathering.