The e-mail from my 26 year old sister was frustrated and teary. After a well-deserved promotion and raise, she wanted to get rid of her clunky death-trap of a pick-up and upgrade to a hunkier, previously-owned ride. Unfortunately, when she went to her local dealer to see what truck she could take home on her budget, “the sales guys laughed.” She left bearing homicidal thoughts and wounded pride. 

I swallowed the urge to respond in caps: “Didn’t you read my book!!???” I empathized, called the dealers bad names, and sent her some useful car-buying tidbits. 

The tidbits remained unread as Blunder #2 in auto-shopping (from my otherwise very smart sister), came through a few days later. After planning to visit the Carmen Clan one weekend—a 240 mile drive from southern New Hampshire to our apartment in Brooklyn—and show off her new "honking" truck, my sister had to cancel her plans. “I forgot to factor in my insurance bill and gas. I just can’t afford the trip this month!” 

A fifteen-minute sit-down with my Chapter 6, and some expensive, embarrassing truck-buying headaches could have been avoided. Well, no one wants to hear, “I told you so.”  

But, had sis used me—as I’m happy to be used—before heading out to score a new ride, I would have told her this:

First, find out how much "car" you can afford. You may have a new BMW 3 series in mind, but your bank account is prepped for a Mazda3. The dirty truth is that your monthly loan payments are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how much your car is going to cost. Gas (especially these days) has to be factored in, as well as insurance, maintenance, warrantees, repairs, and interest on your loan. Get this total rung up for you quickly with Edmunds True Cost to Own^SM (TCO). Based on the make, model, and year, TCO will calculate what your potential new ride will actually cost you. And if you’re not about the need for speed but wallet-fit, scour possibilities and car-shop via price—used or new—at the very useful Kelley Blue Book. 

Next, never go to a dealer unarmed. I’m not talking water balloons and BB guns, but a cache of information. The car-buying landscape is no longer run by stinky guys named “Big Bob.” Now, it’s under the realm and power of the web. Harness it! Head to Edmunds.com again and let the dealers woo you without ever having to step foot in a potentially greasy, meathead showroom.  Their True Market Value (TMV) tool lets you choose make, model, year—even color (surely there’s a discount for ‘merlot’?). You get not just the manufacturer’s price (MSRP) and price with options, but what that particular car is selling for in your area. I looked up a silver ’07 hybrid Civic and got a local TMV over $1,000 less than MSRP. Follow the TMV tool to the next step and choose dealers in your area to contact you and place their offers. Note tone and response time if you’re split between deals.      

Last step—get your financing first. Shop for a car loan online before you head to the dealer. For some folks, this is actually the first step in the car-buying process, but however and whenever you do it, just make sure it’s before you get to the lot. This way, you walk in with the money in hand (free of their processing fees and possibly higher interest rates), their price and offer on paper, no haggling, and most importantly, no laughing!