It doesn’t matter what make or model car you have. Every car is going to eventually have a check engine light come on. The best way to save money here is to simply know why it’s on. 

Our Example Code P0455

What’s A Check Engine Light?

Truthfully a check engine light can come on for thousands of reasons. It can be something as simple as your gas cap is loose. Or something super complicated that it can baffle some of the best mechanics. But Let’s go over a quick way on how you can save a ton of money on costly unnecessary auto repairs. 

Learn Why It’s On

I have been a mechanic for over 15 years now and I will admit that Check Engine Lights can scar a lot of people. People will sometimes panic and begin thinking that this will instantly cost them hundreds or thousands of dollars. But there are two simple methods that you can use to learn what’s wrong with your car. 

Method #1 – (Free One)

Nowadays you can go to just about any chain auto parts store and get your car scanned for free. All you do is drive up to your local auto parts store (I prefer Advance Auto Parts, you can read on how to save money there HERE) and ask the store associate if they can scan your car. I have never seen any of these chains charge for this. After the associates connects a scanner to your car, the associate will give you the code/s the car has on its computer. Most of the associates at these stores will usually give you possible causes and possible solutions. 

Method #2 – (Your Own Scanner)

Over the years I have gone through many different vehicle scanners (OBDI Scanner) and I have to say that the best one I found is one of the lower cost ones. You can find some for as low as $30 but they usually have very limited capabilities and you can spend thousands on specialized scanner. But, Blue Driver has been my favorite. It’s usually $99 dollars. The greatest part of this scanner is that it is frequently updated by the manufacture through your phone and actually has great customer service (The updates are free!). This scanner will usually be better than any of the chain stores usually use and you can simply rescan your cars computer in seconds and at anytime.

Link To Scanner

Quick Note –

The Blue Driver is super easy to use. You simply download the app and connect this little device to your cars OBDI port. Every modern car has this port. This port is usually located driver side just below the dashboard below the steering wheel. On the app you press scan and it tells you what issues the cars computer has detected.  

Sample Problem

As we stated above we are going to use the code P0455 for our sample problem here.

Using method #1 or #2 you will be given this code. This code is extremely common and usually super easy to fix.

What Does P0455 Mean?

P0455 means Large Leak in the Evaporative emissions Control System, or Large EVAP Leak. To find what these codes mean is actually super easy. You simply google any code you receive and you will begin getting possible causes.

Now What Do I Do?

If you google P0455, you will be shown a ton of pages and information about this specific code. Most of these pages will direct you to first inspect your gas cap. If your gas Cap is loose voilá, you “most likely” fixed the issue. If it seems fastened properly a very likely cause for this issue is your gas cap is probably bad. 

What Would a Mechanic Do?

In many instances many mechanics will tell you to just replace your gas cap. But if your car is at the mechanics there are a few different routes that this can go, even though they end with the same problem. 

Route #1

1. 1. You will receive a charge to scan and read the cars computer (usually the same as we did above).
   2. Depending on the order the mechanic shop takes. The mechanic shop will perform a smoke test (this can get a bit pricy)
   3. There is a method test the gas cap (should be before the smoke test but not always done in this order)
   4. Finally you will most likely be sold a gas cap with an up charge. (should be expected)

Route #2

1. 1. You will receive a charge to scan and read the cars computer.
   2. If the mechanic is attempting to save you money at the chance the light will come back. The mechanic will simply replace your gas cap and just tell you to let them know if the light comes back.  

What Should I Do?

From being a mechanic for the last 15 years, here is my suggestion. 

First, I would ask you to make sure your gas cap is tighten properly. Secondly, only if you where a bit more savvy in repairing your car. I would ask you to visually inspect the fuel lines. Just make sure nothing looks broken or cut (but if you weren’t I would say skip this). 

If you told me the gas cap looks fine I would simply tell you to replace your gas cap. Clear the codes and see if the light comes back after a few days. I do recommend using dealer parts when possible but just try to never pay dealer prices. 

How Do I Save Money On Dealer Parts?

One of my favorite sources to purchase parts for my cars is through RockAuto.com. Using their site may seem a bit intimidating at first, but once you try it’s actually really easy. You will many times find that original parts for your car will be less expensive than after market parts. Also Original are usually easier to work with because they are usually identical to the ones the factory installed.

Conclusion

If your Check Engine Light is on and you don’t have a OBDI scanner, simply take your car over to one of the chain auto parts stores and get it scanned for free. The associate that scans your car will at least be able to give you free advice on the most likely possible causes. In this instance this issue can be fixed with a $15 dollar gas cap, when you would have most likely spent a few hundred at a mechanic shop.

I recommend purchasing original manufactures brands on line. But also know that you can get deep discounts at Advance Auto Parts. Find out how (HERE) 

Get Your Own Scanner

I use this scanner all the time and I recommend it to everyone. It has over 7k reviews on Amazon!

The post Check Engine Light On? appeared first on How To Save A Penny.

I wanted to share this tip because it has really saved me a lot of money over the years. Even though you can regularly save money at most of the major autoparts brands. I have found that Advance Auto Parts offers the greatest discounts for the least amount of effort.

How Much Savings?

I have never really Shopped at Advance Auto Parts and paid full price. It has become so easy to just save a significant amount of money here.

Personally I can’t recall a time that I couldn’t find a discount here. The discounts range from 15% to 40%+. And here we are going to show you how to make sure you never pay full price for parts on your car.

How?

This first part is just learning how to use AdvanceAutoParts.com, You can skip ahead to the Second part to learn how to get the discounts

Truthfully I find getting discounts at Advance Auto Parts easier and faster than most auto parts stores. Here Im going to go over how to get them.

First – Learn Their Website!

Over the years I have found Advance Auto Parts has the best and easiest website to use. Both for actually finding what I need and just the ease at which I can get discounts. I would recommend setting up a free account online. This way it becomes so easy to make purchases and find out which stores have your items in stock. 

Their Loyalty Program!

All the major Auto Part Brands have their version of loyalty programs and truthfully they are pretty similar. But recently Advance Auto Parts has revamped their program to include all purchases. It use to be that your purchase would have to reach certain thresholds to earn the most. But, when you sign up for their free account you will also begin to earn rewards dollars that are extremely easy to use. They will usually show up at check out.

How To Find What You Need!

There are a few ways to find the parts that you need. Here we will cover two of them.

First – Do it Yourself 

First – When you sign into your free account on AdvanceAutoParts.com, you will be able to enter your vehicle or vehicles (you add and remove as many as your want). After entering your vehicle information you simply search the part you’re looking for. Whether it be a simple “wiper blade” or a new “alternator”, you can just type it in the search box. You will then be given a list of items, and it will actually give you live inventor availability. Even though I have had rare instances of this being incorrect, you will receive an email notifications. 

This is the best part. For those times you need your parts right away for you or your customer. #1 You can see who has the part you need in stock. And, second when you place an order you can usually pick up within minutes. The store usually gets your order with in 10 minutes or so.

Second – Calling In

Over the years I have found finding the parts yourself much easier now that I have done it so much. But, Let’s say you’re looking for a part you have no clue how to find on their site. This can be for a few reasons, you may not know what the item you are looking for is called or you just need a bit of assistance looking for it.

All I do when I need a bit of help is I call my local Advance Auto Parts and ask for the part that I am looking for. Once we find the part all I ask is for the part number, I then just put this number in the search box on AdvanceAutoParts.com. This actually helps in more than one way. First you can see if this is the part you are looking for, there’s usually good quality pictures online that you can match to the item you have. Second by having the part number you can easily just purchase the item on their site and get all the discounts.

Now Let’s Get To The Money Saving Part!

Now that you have your free AdvanceAutoParts.com account and have the part that you are wanting to buy (this works over and over again). Lets go over a few super easy steps to get the discounts of as much as 40% on almost any item. 

Step One –

This is really the only bummer, but really minimal inconvenience. You have to purchase the part online for in store pickup or delivery. Just to be clear of how little inconvenience this is. I have purchased online while being in the store. The store usually receives your order with in 10 minutes, but know that it can take up to 30 minutes ( I have only had to wait about 20 minutes probably only once over the last few years).

Step Two  (15% to 25%)

Now that you know that you have to make the purchase online (really easy on your phone), you just have to get the discount code. To get this all you have to do is go to their website. At the top you will usually have a discount code there that shows 15-20% and most of the time you will get a popup on their website that asks if you want to “activate” a 25% discount. Here you can simply put your email and the discount code at the top will turn to 25% and give you 6 digit code. Just by simply going to their website and paying online vs in store, you just saved 25%. This isn’t bad at all. BUT WAIT, THER’S MORE!!

Step Three  (+ 5% to 10%)

Now if you’re like me and you try to save as much as you can, let’s take this even further and save even more! Hopefully you have heard of this company before because you can really save money with almost no extra effort at all. And, the best part of them is, this company works with tons of other stores and brands. 

This company use to go by the name of Ebates and now has changed their name to Rakuten. To simply get this extra discount all you do is make an account with them. Every 3 months Rakuten will mail you a check with all the money you have saved with them. It’s pretty cool when you get a check for almost no effort. After starting your free account all you have to do is simply use their app or website to make the purchases.

The App

I use my phone for just about everything, and their app is super easy to use. After setting up free account (On the App or Online) All you have to do is down load the app from the Apple or Google Play store and login.

Click Here to Get it!

Even though Rakuten works for tons of other store that you will find super easy, just search AdvanceAutoParts and you will see a “ShopNow” button. Here you will be taken to the AdvanceAutoParts.com website in the app. All you do is just shop like normal. The first thing I do is login to my Advance Auto Parts account. This will load all my shopping cart items and vehicles. And really all you have to do is make the purchase. Rakuten will then track the purchase, usually within a few hours you will receive your credit of 5-10%. Seriously all you do is make the purchase and Rakuten will mail you a check of all the money you have saved up during the current 3 month period. 

The WebSite

To Save the same money on there website just log into your Rakuten account and search Advance Auto Parts and Click the “Shop Now” button. And, just like the app. Rakuten will track the order with Advance Auto Parts and ensure you get 5% to 10% of your order as a check. 

Step Four (+10%and up)

You know we have to make sure that we save every penny we can. This one is just making sure you don’t forget to use the saved up rewards. The Advance Auto Parts Loyalty Program will issue you 5$ certificates for every $50 you spend this works out to 10% on all your purchases. But just be sure not to let them expire!

Step Five (TIP! Maximize Your Savings!)

When using the 15%-25% off discount codes online. Remember that it has a $50 max savings per purchase. On large purchases you can save much more by making several smaller purchases.

Lets See How Much I Can Save On My Brakes For My Truck!

For our Example we are going to go over the savings of purchasing the brakes and rotors for my 2016 F-150. We won’t even include the FREE $10 that Rakuten gives you if your use my Referral Link. (It’s really just a free $10 after making your first purchase of $25+ theres nothing to lose seriously) Rakuten currently has a promo code you can reuse as many times as you want for 25% off most items on AdvanceAutoParts.com. So here we go!

Discounts I am using

• 25% off promo code
  • Rakuten has this code till August By using my link you get this code and $10
• 5% Cash Back on Rakuten
  • For Advance Auto Parts it has always been at least 5% and will sometimes be 10% 
  • Heres My Link
• 10% Speed Perks Rewards Program
  • This can be increased as you make more purchases
• 1.5% Cash Back 
  • I have tried several cards and I find my Capital One Quick Silver my favorite

Quick Over View of Totals

Pre Discount Total $597.00

Total Discounts & Rewards $221.57

Thats 37.1% Savings!

The post Save Money At Advance Auto Parts appeared first on How To Save A Penny.

First I want to start by saying that I am in no way affiliated with TruCar and receive no compensation from TruCar. Here I am going to share my experience with TruCar and how you can use it to save thousands on a new car. 

Quickly My Thoughts on Saving Money

I don’t argue the fact that I must pay for something that I want to buy. But, I refuse to over pay on anything that I can get for a better price. Please understand that I find this different from cheap. If a premium item fetches a premium price so be it. But, if that item can be acquired for a better price I intend to take advantage of that.

What Is TruCar Pricing?

This can really confuse people for one simple reason. It really seems way too easy to save thousands on a new car! 

Quick Disclaimer

This is really the only thing I don’t like about TruCar. But it is one of the ways that they earn their money. If you ever put in your information to their site ie, phone number and email. Just about every dealership in a huge radius around you will have your number and you will begin receiving phone calls about the car you are looking at, within seconds. If you don’t believe me just try it. They sometimes call so much that it can get annoying. But, if you are looking at buying a new car this bit of annoying can save you a ton of money.  I will tell you in a bit how to stop them.

The way to using TruCar is really straightforward. You simply go to their site and put in the car you are wanting to buy. TruCar will then give you a price that is an average of what other people tend to pay for that particular car. You can even customize the exact car you are looking at. From Color to features the car has you can customize so much of it.

Is The Discount Real?

YES! The discounts you find on TruCar are real and you should take this number as the max you will ever pay for the particular car you’re looking at. Certain types of cars like Pickup Truck will tend to have massive discounts. So if you see something telling you that your TruCar Price is $10,000 + below the MSRP. You simply saved $10,000 + that easy. 

My First Experience With TruCar!

The first time I heard about TruCar I will admit I was pretty skeptical. I thought to myself “how can this be so easy”. So, I decided I would go and put this to the test over at a local Nissan dealership. At the time my father was looking at purchasing a Nissan Rouge. It’s a great looking car and we wanted to know what it actually costs. (We believe sticker is rarely a price, it’s just a starting point)

So after test driving and deciding that this particular car fit what we were looking for. We decided to sit down and talk about price. I wish all cars would just have a price of take it or leave it like Tesla, but negotiations are a must at car dealerships. When we sat down the salesman started to talk to my father as if he had already bought the car.

Maybe I was rude?

I literally had to interrupted him (he just kept going, he acted like he already sold the car) I told him we haven’t talked about price yet. He literally went silent then turned quite serious. Without speaking a word he shuffled through the papers in front of him and pulled out a copy of the monroney sticker (window sticker). He looked directly at me and said “what do you mean? Heres the price of the car”. I of course said “Thats the window sticker there’s always negations”, this must have been a gut push or something because he seemed quite agitated. He said “What are you expecting 1-200 dollars?” If you have read any of my other experiences at dealerships, you would know that we were way off on pricing. 

I really didn’t do much research on this car because we really wanted to see it in person vs just online. But, we knew that most dealers around the area offered the car for $2,000-$4,000 off the MSRP. So I just told him that I was expecting about $3,500 off. He literally asked me if I was serious, of course I said “Yes”. This is where my father asked me to show him the “TruCar Thing”. This was my first time with using TruCar at a dealer and it was AWESOME.

The Power Of TruCar (Seriously!)

Our salesman really seemed like he wasn’t like us, and at this point what can we lose right. I pulled the TruCar website on my Ipad and showed him a car that was Identical in features, color and trim.  It was showing “Your TruCar discount of $3,500”. He looked at the Ipad and said if we can take the car now its a deal. This was without him even going to the manager, he simply accepted this price. 

I don’t recommend ever wasting anyones time. We had only gone into this dealership to look at the car and if you have ever done this you know once a salesman gets you. It can be pretty tough to leave without “talking numbers”(in my salesman’s case selling a car at sticker) 

Is TruCar the Lowest Price?

I will start by simply saying you can definitely get a lower price than the one TruCar gives. When you are shopping for a new car I would recommend that the price you get off TruCar to be your absolute max price. You can take this price to just about any dealership and get a discount with no haggling. A perfect example is with Pickups. At just about any time you will be able to usually get $10,000 off the MSRP. But, TruCar can sometimes drop in the $6,000 and $8,000 range.

Number One Tip In Car Buying

Addendums = Dealer added fees and add ons. Many of which can be extremely over priced. 

The number one Tip I would recommend to anyone looking for a new car is don’t pay price addendums. Dealerships will tell you without a flinch that all dealerships charge this. Look around and you will be able to find one without it. If you find a dealership with the car you want but has addendums on their cars. You should know that this can usually be discounted.

Conclusion

Make sure you always check TruCar before ever make a new car purchase. IT IS FREE!

Side Tip – I would recommend allowing dealers to contact you to contact you through TruCar. It may be annoying for a little while but these dealers know they are competing for your business with other dealers on the same car and the same discount you saw on TruCar. So theres not much to lose here. 

The post Does TruCar Really Work? appeared first on How To Save A Penny.

Unless you are driving a race car AND driving it at very high speeds or just wanting to spend spare income, nitrogen filled tires are not necessary for the regular driver.

Should You Get Nitrogen Filled Tires?

This question can also be answered a bit quickly because the answer is: For most people No. But, if you just heard of nitrogen filled tires the you probably heard about it from one of four sources.

1. • Car Shopping
   • Tire Shopping
   • Learning about race cars
   • Maybe you just watched a documentary on tires?

Why Is Nitrogen Used in Tires

There are three main reasons nitrogen is used in tires. Tire pressure fluctuations, air permeation, and tire degradation. 

First – PSI

No matter the tire manufacture or kind of tire you use, tire pressures will fluctuate. This is simply because of the properties of air. As air heats up it will expand and the air cools it contracts. This causes the pressure of the air in the tire to fluctuate up or down. 

There are several things that can impact the temperature of your tires. The ambient temperature outside can effect your PSI. Many people will notice that as winter approaches and the temperatures began to drop you will many times find that your tire pressure will also drop. Another reason tire temperature changes relates to driving. If you have a car that displays tire pressure on the dash you can actually go test this out your self. As you drive the friction the tires have on the ground will cause the tires to heat up and increase the pressure to increase. You will see the faster you drive the more the pressure will increase. 

It is true that nitrogen in tires will help minimize the difference in pressure changes. This is why race cars and track cars use nitrogen. In the racing world, tire pressure is very important and even the minimal difference nitrogen has can make a big difference.

Second – Air permeation

No matter the tire manufacture you use air will escapes the tire. The main difference between air and nitrogen is that nitrogen will escape the tire at a slower rate. This means that over an extended time you would need to top off your tires a minimal amount of times less over the entire life of the tires. 

Third – Tire Degradation

This is one of the big selling points of nitrogen in tires. It has been proven that tires do degrade slower when filled with nitrogen. But, most tires were designed to degrade slower than the useable life of its tread. So, for most instances degradation has minimal effect for most people. 

So Are Nitrogen Filled Tires Better?

The very simple answer here is “Yes”. But for the average person the cost out weigh the benefits. The NHTSA produced a 50 page report about this and did agree that Nitrogen is better than air in tires. But you can look at the results and decide if the added costs are worth it. 

Should I Get Nitrogen In My Tires?

Even though we have gone over this  a few times. The answer still is, “If you have a race car AND driving it very high speeds And/Or you have extra expendable income to spend. You will usually come across being sold nitrogen in your tires usually from two sources. Car dealerships and Tire shops. Many car dealerships add nitrogen to the tires to all cars they sell to be part of an “addendum”. If you came over from our “New Car Buying Guide” you will know all about these. Nitrogen filled tires can be pretty expensive and to actually take advantage of these benefits, you will need to pay for more nitrogen every time your tires need a top off (usually every few months).

Average Costs

Now that you received the average costs and are aware of its benefits, you can make the informed decision if you really want nitrogen filled tires. If you came over here from one of our New Car Buying Guides, be sure your understand what you are being charged. Some dealerships when selling you a car will many times pre fill all their cars with nitrogen and automatically charge you theses fees. A simple way around paying this is simply finding a dealership that doesn’t automatically sell every new customer nitrogen filled tires. Or you can just ask for them to remove these charges. You would be surprised that this can work many times. 

Conclusion

So, unless you are a race car driver,  Nitrogen Filled tires are usually not worth the extra costs. Unless you are getting the nitrogen for free and the maintenance for free. It is better for most to go with good ol’ air. And remember, rarely is something really free. 

The post Are Nitrogen Filled Tires Worth It appeared first on How To Save A Penny.

This is Part of “How to Save Thousands On a New Car Purchase” Link Below if you would like to read it.

Over the years I have purchased multiple Fords in three different states: Illinois, North Carolina and Florida and the process was very similar in all three. Here I want to share my experience when purchasing my cars and help you save money. I am not affiliated with any of the services that are in the “Car Buying Guides”. I am sharing these posts in the hope that they can help someone save thousands and not be over charged.

Just to clarify all dealerships and sales people the same. There can be great companies and I have come across many fantastic salespeople that I would enjoy doing business again. 

When ever someone tells you something it is always a good idea to research it. Even with the information that you get here on HowToSaveAPenny I say research the heck out of it. If you find a better way to save money I say AWESOME! And, if you feel that you have a way to help someone save even more money and want me to share it, you can send me over a message (Here) 

Note:

You should know that prices change and can change often. Above all, know that Pickups are known to be heavily discounted (usually $10,000 or 25% much more than cars). So when you do your shopping pricing and discounts will vary. I recommend reading our “New Car Buying Guide” to help find the price on your car and one that is up to date.

The Best price Lie

Even though my Nissan experience was a bit more of an instantaneous shock. The experience that I received at a few Ford dealerships has to be some of the biggest shows of unfair pricing that I have encountered. To make clear, I currently own two Fords and enjoy them. I believe they are great cars and have nothing against the car, just the buying process.

Just like always I make sure I always go to multiple dealerships. Shopping around can be the biggest way to save many thousands. After going to 3 dealerships I decided to stop and lock Ford that we have used for service and was quite surprised on the pricing we were offered.

Price?

At that time TruCar was showing that the average F-150 was selling at about $10,000 below sticker (They are always about $10,000+ off of sticker). When I decide to purchase a car I always aim for the best deal. Clearly here I find TruCar a fantastic tool, but I always aim for a price even below that. After visiting a few dealerships I decided the minimum discount that I could accept would be $10,500 off the MSRP. This discount was pretty standard across most of the F-150’s.

No Negotiations…?

Basically Wow, is the only word to describe it. As normal, the salesman will offer you a bottle of water and sit you down at their desk. Here the salesman asks if we liked the car, and of course we said yes. The salesman then just started to sell the car. As if we already agreed to this. “I sometimes think back and think Maybe I looked like I wanted it too bad?” Anyways I had to stop the salesman he was already wanting me to just sign and go talk to the finance office. Seriously we were at his desk for about 10 minutes. This Included the time it took him to go get the paperwork on the car. I literally had to interrupt him and say we haven’t even spoken about price. 

I Offended Him! (Maybe?)

This was almost comical in the way it happened. The salesman said that he thought we liked the car. Of course we did, we just first have to go over pricing. Agin acting like I just called him obscene name, he asked us what do we expect. First, I asked what is the price he is offering. Finally after dancing around the price we would pay, the salesman tells us our number. It was about $2,500 above Sticker! To clarify, this truck is stock (no lift kits/tires). Truthfully this was becoming a bit bizarre. Of course it became quite clear I was not going to be buying this truck. But I just had to find out what they are trying to sell me!

These are the numbers that the dealer gave me. The discount was for almost every F-150 even lower priced trims.

The Dreaded addendums…(just for starters)

Let’s continue. The Salesman asked us what are we expecting he already discounted the truck $500 (not $5,000).  First, I told him I have purchased multiple cars and I have never paid over sticker. Second I wasn’t paying anywhere near sticker. Finally for the first time he tells us about the addendums that all dealers add to their vehicles (THIS IS NOT TRUE). Granted the addendum wasn’t $5,000, but it was still $3,000. It included nitrogen filled tires, extra detail, and a $150 bed liner. If you would like to read more about unnecessary addendums click the Link Below.

Learn About Over Priced Addendums!

Terrible Price!

The Lost battle

At this point I had already given up, and I told my father, lets just go somewhere else. But, just like any other dealer they asked what kind of pricing was I looking at. Expecting to be sort of thrown out, I just told him (what can I lose right). First I said that I have never paid an addendum (he said all dealers charge. THIS IS NOT TRUE). Second, my max price for the truck was $10,000 under sticker. Again like any dealership, the salesman says just let him talk to his manager.

I Must Be Wrong Right? (I will place what I paid a few days below)

This is the truth. The manager sits down in front of us and asks us how are we expecting to get this price and where did we even come up with these numbers. Of course I told him that just about every dealer is currently offering $10,000 off nearly every F-150. He seemed to be offended by this and told me that its just impossible. No Dealership would give $10,000 off a brand new F-150. I said most dealerships have the $10,000 off. He plainly just told us sorry they couldn’t sell us the car. 

What Happened?

This really was a bizarre experience. I can still only come up with two scenarios of what really happened here. I must have really looked like I was going to buy this Truck at any cost. Or everyone at the dealer just had no clue of the prices being offered at just about every other dealer in the area.

Without jumping to any conclusions. If I had been an uneducated customer (easy target) I could have lost many thousands, very simply.

Was I Wrong and What Did I Really End Up Paying?

I will start by saying that I could have possibly gotten a better deal at the time. But I found the Exact truck I was looking for. The next one was out of state or I could order one that would arrive a few months later. So the question is, was the dealer above right and I was wrong? Here is my purchase below.

What I Paid

Conclusion

The best thing you can do is shop around and are sure you do you research. As you can see in just this one example I could have paid $15,905.15 Dollars more.

This page is an example I talk about from another post. If you would like to find out how much you should be paying for your car read our guide on How To Save Thousands On A New Car  

Side note: You should know that you can still get better deals than I got. Prices can fluctuate and just know that pickups usually have big discounts on them.

The post Buying A Ford and Saving Money appeared first on How To Save A Penny.

Do you think buying a new car is easy? If you do you should think again. From experience I can tell you that the buying process can be one of the most stressful and truthfully the most annoying part of owning a car. Here I’m going to go over a few pointers that should save you a ton of money on your new car purchase. Just know that everything on this site is completely free, so with possible thousands of dollars to save and nothing to lose read on. I will try and keep this in a simple 3 step approach to save you time and money.

I have gone through the buying process with Ford, Dodge and Nissan, and I can say the process was very similar with all three.

Please understand that I know car dealerships are businesses and they also have to make money on selling cars. But, there are a few practices that I find borderline unethical about the process. I believe that everyone, no matter their age, sex, situation or just experience in the whole car buying process should be treated fairly.

I’ll give a quick example of why you should take the extra 4 minutes to read this page.

Example:

Two people can walk into the same dealership at the same time and day, and look at two identical pickups (I mean exact: msrp, color, model, and options). One person can literally pay over $15,000 more than the other just because they don’t know how to get a lower price. Truthfully this can get even more extreme in certain situations. So just read below and find out how.

(click here to read where I saw this)

Process outline

• 1 – Understand patience
• 2 – Find your car before going to the dealership
• 3 – Find your price and The negotiations
• 4 – Know when to go

1 – Understand Patience

Patience can be one of your biggest advantages here. Even if you need a car ASAP even a few hours or an extra day can be extremely helpful. But just because you need a car fast doesn’t mean you should over pay thousands. There are options here that you will be able to use even if you’re at the car dealership buying the car right now.

One of the best things you can do is shop around. This can literally take just a few hours in total. Unlike shopping for just about anything else. Car dealerships don’t usually advertise their “out the door pice”. This number sadly many times depends on who is asking. Understand that all dealerships are not the same. There are many dealerships out there that have business models that revolve around inflating your purchase price by massive amounts. These price inflating practices can really add up, and sometimes even be hard to spot in the buying process. These “add ons” can be just about anything and you should only pay for what you want and are getting. Theses fees really can be anything and can go by different names but usually are called addendums or just a fee only shown when signing for the loan

Common fees

• New car cleaning fee
• prep fee
• advertising fee
• service fee
• “free” oil changes (click here to read about the truth of “free” oil changes)
• stickers (click here to see what stickers)
• a fee to fuel up your car (not the actual fuel, manufactures usually already included this in your MSRP)
• even air to inflate your tires (seriously…). (click here to learn about this expensive unnecessary air)

(Click here to find out more about these fees)

While these usually are around $2,000, they can get well beyond $5,000. The most important thing to know is that all dealerships DO NOT CHARGE THIS. On several occasions I have been told that all car dealerships charge this, again NOT TRUE. Even after telling one I have bought cars in the past and never paid this. The salesman would go even further and say that this auto brand did (AGAIN THIS IS NOT TRUE). I usually make it a priority to avoid these dealerships because they usually want to start negotiating at the inflated price. But these are sometimes taken off without much hassle. The main giveaways these prices will be added to your purchase price is #1 Next to the monroney sticker showing the original MSRP sometimes there is a small paper with dealer added options called an addendum #2 dealerships like to add a tiny white line around your shinny new car. There is no issue liking this line but just know this $15.00 sticker usually adds $500+ to the addendum and can be gotten for free. #3 This one can be a bit tougher. After going though the process of negotiating the purchase price “fees” are thrown in at the very end, just before signing, and said to be fees charged to all auto purchases.

The Monroney Sticker is a paper required to be displayed on new cars showing information and original MSRP and factory installed options (click here for an example)

Just because these two “add ons” are added so often I will go over them briefly here. But if you would like to read more about them (Click Here). The first is Nitrogen filled tires. Dealerships and just about anyone else that sells it will say that this air will help with so much. From gas mileage to tire longevity, but Nitrogen in tires was meant to be used in race and track cars where tires can experience extreme conditions. The second are pin stripes that go around your new car (click here to see an example). If you like this pin stripe there is nothing wrong. But these are usually $15 stickers that some dealerships will charge up to $1,500 just for the stickers, not including other add ons.

(Click here to learn more about these add ons)

Back to that patience thing again. If you shop around to different dealerships (even in the same brand) you will find some don’t add these add ons, sometimes called addendums. And some will have them priced significantly different. I will go over this more under step 3 but even if you try and negotiate a few minutes you can get a sense of pricing and see who can give you a better deal.

This biggest benefit of patience when looking for your new car, is having the ability to walk away from a deal if you aren’t getting the car or price you want.

this is like my Nissan experience (click here to read about it)

2 – Find your car before going to the dealership.

Finding the car can be much easier for some than others. But I find knowing how much you can afford is more important than just wanting a car. One of the tools I like to use that is completely free and has no effect to your credit. (I am not sponsored by and receive no compensation from Capital One but I find Capital One Auto Navigator extremely useful). Capital One Auto Navigator is a service that can tell you how much you are approved for and the interest rates you can expect to pay on an exact car. On Capital One’s Auto Navigator site you can even put the Vin number of the car you’re looking at to get accurate interest and monthly payment. Here you can configure term, down payment, and intended price. Know that different cars can have different interest amounts ie a Mercedes vs a Ford. Even if you don’t end up using Capital One as your loan issuer, you can use this service to help you look for a car and know your options. This can also drastically help you when negotiating, I’ll explain more in step 3. I will place a link to this service but make sure it specifically says this will have no impacton your credit before filling anything out. Just know if you have good credit, local credit unions can sometimes have the best rates. These are sometimes good places to check for loans.

(Click here to learn more about Capital One Navigator)

Just make sure before inserting any information that you insure that it clearly states that there will be no impact to your credit.

You have to understand that a car dealership is filled with salesmen. I am not saying that car salesmen are bad, but some are really good and getting you into a car. Sometimes if you aren’t careful these car salesmen do too good of a job of getting you into an overpriced car that you didn’t really want.

After finding how much you can afford the next step is find the car. If you know great, but it’s also great to look around if you can. I use the custom car builders on most manufacturers website to pick exactly what I want. There I can pick things such as: trim, sunroof, interior options, wheels, and color (some colors can cost over a thousand dollars more). Here you can use the MSRP (Manufacture’s Suggested Retail Price) the manufacture gives just as a guide. There are few cars that can sell at and even above MSRP but most will sell for several thousand under.

Now that you picked the car you want, it’s time to find it. Understand that the auto industry is an extremely competitive. There are 16,753 dealer franchises in the United States (enter link nada)and all these dealerships are competing for your business even Ford vs Ford or Nissan vs Nissan. In an attempt to showcase their inventories, car dealerships place their cars on sites like AutoTrader.com and Cars.com (Click here for a list of useful sites). Here you the customer can get a chance to see pictures and options of all the individual cars without going through the hassle of trying to be sold the car before knowing your options. This drastically helps in negotiating a good price which we will cover that in step 3. But, here you will be able to see that when a car dealership tells you that you should buy it because it’s the only one. You know that is truthfully the only one that is technically in front of you at that second.

(click here for a list of these sites)

3 – Find You Max Price and Negotiating.

The Money Part…

This is the most important part because its your money and you’re going to have to pay on what every you signed for. I believe knowing your max price and Negotiating belong together because they can become very lost in the buying process. If you go in without knowing your max price your actual price can become sorta of a mystery. May seem odd but it really can get lost. A way your price can become this mystery, is by working by monthly payments instead of purchase price. There are a few reasons why car salesmen like working with car payments instead of purchase price. #1 Customers are usually limited to what they can purchase due to the amount they can afford monthly. By knowing this amount this allows the salesmen to know what price range to look around and this usually lets them try a pick a car for you (see my Nissan experience)#2 When a car salesmen knows your max car payment amount they work as hard as they can to work around that number. Remember car salesmen usually work on commission. This lets them try and sell you a car that maximizes your budget for a possible longer term loan. It’s OK to let see your options, but know what you really want. This is where patience helps. If you are shown a car you were only dreaming of and you can actually afford it because of great discounts. Take your time and understand what you’re paying for. If you expected to to have a 3 or 5 year loan and offer you something “better” make sure you’re not being quietly given a 6-7-8 year loan instead. #3 Now the one that makes how much you paid a mystery. If you work with just your payment amount. Your purchase price can become very vague. You can easily lose thousands here just look at the example below.

Example:

Sometimes details about your loan can be pretty vague so know them!

For this example we are going to say you want to borrow $30,000 for 5 years and know your interest rate is 5%. This is where Capital One’s Auto Navigator can help (click here to find out more).

$30,000 at 5% interest for 5 years has a payment around $566.14

But lets say they can’t do $30,000

If they can’t meet your offer and tell you that they can stay at or lower your payment understand the money still has to come out of somewhere.

Here your loan term will most likely be extended, and know this can change your loan amount significantly. Lets say they extend your loan just one year and kept the same payment. your original offer just turned into $35,153

Note this is just a one year extension and $30,000. Loans can very from 3,5,6 and even over 7 years. So know your numbers!

Find Your Price

Finally, you found the car you want. Now to find out how much you should pay for this car. This can have a few answers. #1 A max price this is the number you consider the car is just not worth and willing to walk away and not look back. #2 A “OK” price. At this price you would be willing to come back for, in hopes that you will get a call back from the dealer with a lower price. #3 This number can sometimes be below what you expect to pay in attempts to get a great deal. #4 Warranty Price. Many people don’t know this, but the extended warranties that you can get at the dealer are usually negotiable. If you should get the warranty is really up to you and a different topic all together. One that you can read about here (Are car Warranties Worth It?). One way to negotiate your extended warranty is call around before going to the dealer. There are many other companies around that offer extended warranties. These many times are less expensive than the ones offered at the dealer. By knowing the prices, the dealership will sometimes discount there’s in an attempt to sell you theirs. (under negotiating I’ll explain about this.)

Now to find those numbers

Personally this is how I get my numbers and it has worked pretty well.

#1 The max price is the price listed on TrueCar’s website. TrueCar has done a great job at getting people really good deals. Just with a TrueCar print out dealerships usually just fold and tell you that if you purchase the car now they will match it. This can almost feel fake that it changes the deal so quickly. Many dealers will honor the TrueCar price usually with out haggling back and fourth. (remember to watch or for those add ons) Read my Nissan experience here.

Know that if you put your number on TrueCar you will receive a TON of calls from dealerships all over the place!

(Click Here to learn more about TrueCar)

#2 Finding Target price. This is where some research comes into effect. I usually start looking around car selling websites like AutoTrader.com and Car.com(Click here for a list of them). On these sites you can find the dealers with the car you want. Theres usually several dealers that have an exact car you’re looking for so you will have some options. When just starting you can start your search even 500 miles away this way you can start getting some pricing. Because you aren’t sitting in their showroom, dealerships sometimes try much harder to sell you a car and price is usually a really good motivator. The prices you see on sites like Auto trader usually state that they include all offers and incentives which are nearly impossible to qualify for all of them. They usually require you to be currently enrolled in college, in the military, active member in the farm bureau, and a first responder. But if this price is still lower than TrueCar I aim for this one. Dealerships sometimes match these prices to make the sale, even though they seemed too low.

Negotiating your target price

Target Price Step 1 – Here you extend your search pretty far on sites like AutoTrader to 250-500 miles. Find a few dealers that have the car that you are looking for.

Target Price Step 2 – Once you have your list of dealers, look at their sites and check out the discounts they have listed there. Most dealers websites will show the picture of the car and have a “Best Price” listed. Next to their “Best Price” there is usually a box, button, or phone number to get the “Internet Price”. You will most likely have to put in your email and phone number and you will most likely receive a call very quickly. You can make a new email for the buying process that you can delete later because dealers will send you updates constantly for years.

Target Price Step 3 – This “Internet Price” will many times be even better than most people that walk into the dealership get. But, probably still higher than the TrueCar price. Here is where the first negotiations come into effect. You should receive a call from the dealership asking you if you would like to come in and buy the car or test drive it. In the unlikely event you don’t receive that phone call. You can call the dealership and ask to speak to the internet sales department. Here you can simply say you were expecting a lower price. Because the price you saw on AutoTrader or TrueCar (which ever is lower) was x amount of dollars. Here the dealership will do one of four things. #1 They will tell you that they can do anything better than the internet price. #2 They will match the price. Ask if they can send the details/price through email, this way you have it in writing. #3 They may beat the price saying they can offer the price for a very short time. Again ask for an email. #4 They will ask you to come in and “we can talk numbers”. Here you can say you were wanted to narrow down the price and car before driving around. Usually 1 or 2 days after the first time you talk to a dealer you will get a follow up call from the dealer first asking if you were still interested, then after telling them “we are still just a bit off on price” they then give you their new offer.

Target Price Step 4 – Here you can work your way towards your local dealerships and follow steps 2 and 3. But, now you have a price from an other dealership for X amount of dollars. Here you can tell the next dealer if they can beat the other dealer. It is best to take your time here because dealerships usually do follow up calls 1 or 2 days later.

#3Now this number can really depend on how much you want and need the car. I usually put this number well below my target. I personally make this number something I’m willing to purchase the car nearly on the spot and not look back.

The Negotiations

(Click here to read about my Nissan experience)

This can sometimes be pretty simple and then sometimes be pretty annoying. Theres just a few steps to stick to and you can usually get a good deal. I will first give a few things to keep in mind then list how to put them into affect.

This I have learned from experience. Be very cautious about filling out ANY paperwork or signatures. I have been to a dealership that I believe wrongfully tried to mislead me and my mother. I walked into the dealership and told them I was looking for a car for my mother and wanted to look at a specific car. The salesman asked us to sit at his desk so he can pull up some information. The salesman then handed a paper to my mother to fill out. He said this way he can have our contact information. When I saw what was on the paper I Was a bit shocked. It was asking for all of our contact information and social security number. At the bottom of the page it asked for a signature and would authorized them to pull our credit. When I told him I secured my own financing and didn’t want them to pull my credit. The salesman continued to say that this paper explained they will not sell or share my information, not what I asked. The salesman was really persistent telling me everyone fills it out, it’s just their procedure. It took a while but he gave up and continued with the rest of the process (Click here to read about this experience). I also make it clear throughout the entire process for them not to run my credit. The first time I bought a car the dealership ran my credit 24 times and it doesn’t help your credit.

A couple things to keep in mind

• #1 – Don’t Be Discouraged When Told NO
• #2 – Know Your Numbers
• #3 -Take Your Time
• #4 – Know Your Expected Payments and interest
  • (Click Here to learn how to get this information)
• #5 -Know Your Warranty Options (if you want it)
• #6 -Know the Financing Side

#1 – Don’t be discouraged if you are quite rudely told no. Just see how good of a deal you can still get and then move on to the next dealer. There’s tons out there. I like to start with a dealership I’m pretty sure I didn’t want to deal with anyways. (Click here to read about my experience)

I don’t encourage wasting peoples time but shopping around isn’t wasting peoples time

(Click here to read more on this)

#2 – Know Your Numbers. Not all fees are wrong. Car dealerships usually charge a “dealer fee”. This is pretty standard and you can expect to pay this almost anywhere. But know that this can also very significantly from one dealership to the next. There are some dealers that don’t charge one at all and others can charge over $1,000. This usually isn’t negotiable but if you have a dealership around that doesn’t charge one. It’s good to start at a dealer that is $500 or less. I have been able to get this taken off as a discount. So its worth a try at the end of negotiating. Know the price of the car you are looking at. The MSRP without the addendums if the dealer has them.

#3 – Take your time. After going for a test drive and sitting down at your salesman’s desk. The salesman will most likely have a paper with generic information of estimated payments and a breakdown of the price. When ever you ask for a discount above the advertised price. The salesman will probably bring out a paper showing the invoice price. This is the price the dealer usually pays for the car not including incentives they receive from the manufacture for selling a number of cars. (The more cars a dealer sells the more and better incentives they usually receive from the manufacture) Dealers will often tell you they are losing money to sell you a car but they count on these incentives to make up discounts. It will be rare a dealer will truly lose money to sell someone a car. In these instances Dealerships are attempting to meet quotas for the month, year, or just move older inventory. When ever you want a moment to think it over or if you are with someone, DON’T be afraid to ask the salesman to give you a few minutes. Remember when ever asking anything about pricing the salesman will constantly go back and fourth to the sales manager. So you do the same it’s your money and spend it wisely. I am not saying make anyone upset, but if someone looks offended that you are asking for discounts don’t take it personal. Again it’s your money and if you offered full sticker price with addendum, the process would be very fast and any dealership would gladly sell you a car.

#4 – Know Your Payment. When you know your payment you wont have to count on anyone estimating things for you. Read our Auto Navigator article to learn how to get your interest rate and payment information IT’S FREE (Click Here to learn more)It helps a lot when financing!

#5 – The Warranties. I have had experience with both Manufacture and third party extended warranties and I personally prefer the manufactures. The time this comes up is usually at the very end of negotiating the finally price and right before signing for the loan. This is usually done with the finance mangers, and usually in back away from the showroom. This $1,000-$5,000+ addition is usually done really fast. It is good to know your options here because there are many. There are several lengths of years and number of miles the warranty will last. Example: If you expect to dive the car 12,000 miles a year a 120,000 mile / 3 year warranty will probably not serve you well because it expires at which ever comes first. Most cars have at least 3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper (covers most things but has exclusions) with longer powertrain warranties (the motor and transmission components). There are also different levels in regards to deductibles, again this is up to you and you can read more about it here (Extended Warranties). When the finance manger goes over pricing with you this is where you can say that company X has it for this price, could you match it? Your answer maybe that the manufactures is better and you can explain that you did a bit of research on company X and it seemed pretty good. Hopefully you get a discount or close to the third party price. You can decide which warranty you prefer. When you get through this step you want to make sure you know what warranty you’re getting. Some dealerships sell third party warranties that may not be what you were looking for. Some of these warranties may force you to only work with this dealer and may not be accepted at many places. Also there are warranties that can actually expire with the free factory warranty. This usually is the powertrain or for people that drive very few and stay within the 3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper. Extended warranties can usually be purchased even after the purchase with in a certain time frame, usually with in the bumper to bumper time frame. But if purchased later you may not be able to finance the warranty.

#5 – The Financing. Here is another spot that it is easy to lose track of numbers because everything here moves really quick. The great thing about using a services such as Capital One’s Auto Navigator you know exactly where to start. Dealerships also have multiple methods to make money with financing. Knowing these can maximize your savings even more. Dealerships make money by referring you over to certain banks, and they can also make money on the interest side. The dealership will be sent interest rates and offer you what they can sell you. I have been told dealerships don’t prefer to go through Capital One’s Auto Navigator because Capital One pays the dealership less. This has worked in my favor well. When I sit with the finance manger I tell them “I currently have finance secured with bank X (in my case I used Capital One). I currently have a loan with them and wouldn’t mind staying with them. But, if you can beat it significantly I wouldn’t mind trying a different bank.” Do know that the finance manger can see your complete credit. This includes credit cards and loans, past and present. So you can say a family member had that bank if you never had it. At the time Capital One was giving my a rate of about 4% and in an attempt to beat my rate the dealership was able to lower this to 3% and saved me another 1%. So win-win, I got to save another $16.26 a month. Thats $195.12 a year or about $1,170 on your loan of 6 years.

I know I will receive some angry comments on this post. So, I would like to make a few things clear. I know that all car dealerships are not the same, some are great businesses. I believe this to be true with salesman and saleswomen as well. I have worked with some salesmen and saleswomen that were great to work with and wouldn’t mind doing so again. I started this blog to help people with some practices I personally find very unethical. If the process of buying a car was used in any other setting it would show just how wrong it is. Imagine your mother walking into an Apple store and being sold an Apple watch significantly more expensive than you. All just because she didn’t know she could negotiate with the cashier or apple representative. I’m pretty sure Apple would be in the news for over charging people that didn’t know better. I don’t argue the fact car dealerships should make money, even a lot is completely ok. But just because a person may be an “easy target” or just not know how to negotiate a lower price doesn’t mean they should pay so much more for the exact same product.

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