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No. 21486
ID: c5dfe3
File
148330996066.jpg
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, car, Chevrolet Sonic LS 2017 1.jpg
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If you are going to buy a car from a dealer, then go to multiple dealers in the same day and play them off of each other for the best deal.
Remember that dealerships tack on $500 or more as a special rip-off fee, so their hurt feelings and indignant protestations of "I thought we had a deal" should mean nothing to you.
I was looking for a cheap, domestic compact commuter to replace my 1999 Saturn SL sedan. I bought that Saturn new and it has served me very well, but at 172,000 miles, it's just showing its age and things are breaking down. Searching around for used car deals on various places like the newspaper and online sources like Craig's List and TrueCar, I selected the Chevy Sonic as the one I wanted (as Saturn is no longer in business at GM after the 2008 auto industry catastrophe). The Sonic is like a more compact version of the Chevy Malibu, cheap features (hard plastic interior, 15" steel wheels, roll-up manual windows, few frills) but a solid drivetrain. Not as dinky as the Chevy Spark (98 horsepower, 31 city / 41 highway MPG, $13,000). I was considering getting a vehicle with all wheel drive to better handle the icy winter Colorado roads, but cars like the Chevy Trax and Ford Escape were a bit too expensive for me ($21,000 to $24,000).
I was first going to get a Sonic that was only a few years old. You can find some good deals on 2013 & 2014 models under 40,000 miles, around $7000 or so and I had that much cash on hand to buy them outright. Looking further, I found 2015 Sonics with very low miles (around 5000 miles) for around $10,000. I wanted to trade in my Saturn on the purchase, but the Chevy dealer said it was only worth $200. I told them the new tires and battery was worth far more than that. The dealer's 5000-mile 2015 Sonic was tempting, but I drove off to another Chevy dealer to see what they offered. They would give me $1500 for my Saturn, but their selection of used cars was limited. They said I could buy a new 2017 Sonic for $14,000 after the trade-in, discounts and rebates. I called the first dealership and told them that and they said they could sell me a 2017 Sonic for $13,750. The second dealer said they would match that, so I went with them.
This is an example of getting sucked in incrementally. I first wanted a slightly used car for $7,000, but liked the recent low-mileage ones for $10,000 but concluded that I could just buy a new one for $14,000. Double what I wanted to spend, but I get the full warranty.
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