How to know what a new car costs the dealer

If you want to save money on buying a new vehicle you will be in for quite the negotiation.  The car dealerships have some slick salesperson trained in the art of talking you out of your dollars.  But arming yourself with knowledge of the playing field ahead of time can give you the advantage.

Never pay sticker price for a vehicle, even if the salesperson insists.  Do your research ahead of time using apps like TrueCar or Autotrader to find what others are paying in your area.  Also, find out the invoice cost of the vehicle that the dealers actually pay for it.  This may take some digging but you can find these numbers online.  Finally, figure out what kind of rebates or incentives car manufacturers are offering dealerships that buy their vehicles.  For example:

A dealer is selling a car for $25,000.  The invoice price to the dealer is $20,000 (which is what they pay), but the car manufacturer offered them a $1,500 rebate during purchase.  This means the dealer paid only $18,500!  That is quite the markup.  Knowing this, you can easily get them down below invoice if you are savy, patient and know where to look.

Start saving money when buying cars starting today!