Buying/Leasing a New Car - Strategy

Entirely dependent on what type of car and brand. What are you in the market for?

I would recommend looking up all the dealerships in your area and looking at their inventory and see what fits your criteria. From there, you can send an email to each dealership with a link to each car that you are interested in on their lot and ask for the final out the door price (you need this number because certain areas have different taxes and certain dealers have hidden fees). Let them know the date you would like to buy (ie Saturday). From there you can pit the dealerships against each other from the comfort of you couch and stroll in on Saturday without any stressors. It also helps if you can plan to do this near the end of a month, quarter or year. Do not let them do a dealer transfer. Also, negotiate each term one at a time, price first, then trade in, then interest rate/loan.

I did this a few years ago starting on 12/27 and purchased my car on 12/30 for about 15% below MSRP.

My only advice is to look out of market to purchase if you live in an expensive area. Regional inflation is still out of hand. You can easily save thousands and get the car you want delivered to your front door.

I've been shopping around now as well.

The one thing I would say is you may want to look at cars above your original price target. I had a few conversations with a variety of dealers who were considering moving 2023 inventory at a significant discount, to the point where I could be driving BMW/Audi/MB/Maserati etc at the same price as Honda / Toyota leases. 

The purchase price is the main factor, and if leasing, make sure you are comparing apples to apples across dealers on Money Factor (just ask for it, it won't be public) and yearly mileage. 

Do all your shopping online aside from going in to test drive or see the car for the first time.

Heard pre owned certified vehicles usually at a good bargain discount, know a lot of guys who bought one back in university and high school

I bought my last car from out of state and saved a good chunk compared to local dealers in my area. Prices can vary by region, and with a Hybrid like the Highlander, supply can be tight depending on where you are. I emailed a few dealerships in Nevada and Arizona and got offers that were way below what local dealers here in SoCal were quoting me. I flew in for pickup, but it was worth the savings.

If you go that route, consider how you’ll get it home. I went with a service specialising in a vehicle transport, which made the whole thing stress-free.