#Adventures of @DustyCPollyD: Car Drama – Almost TMZ But Really Just TMV.
#TalkNerdytoMeLover’s Polly Dixon
Okay , this is really just a Polly adventure...Dusty was involved solely for my bitching, moaning & then, celebration. Solid pal, that one is.
Anyways, I was forced to purchase (err, rather, lease) a new car because I totaled my other one. Insert me, kicking and screaming like a little baby. I absolutely hate car shopping. I hate feeling like I’m being swindled. I hate the hours negotiating at the dealership. I can’t stand the schmooze the salespeople try to convince me with. Ugh. It’s all very scary and daunting to me, especially as a female, because I can’t help but feel that they love to see a single, young girl with blond hair walk into a dealership. I can just see them jumping up and down in their little brains about what a fast one they are going to pull over on me. Drives. Me. Nuts.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Talk the sales guy to a price in between the MSRP (what the dealer marks it for sale as) and the Invoice price (what the dealer buys it for from the manufacturer). You can even find this type of info on Kelley Blue Book (dot) com. I was prepped and ready to take my pink little sunglasses down to the dealership and belly up for hours to come to a decent price for the vehicle.
Until I came across Edmunds.com and the term: TRUE MARKET VALUE (aka TMV).
WHAT I NOW KNOW: True Market Value. It’s what the car is selling for in your marketplace. And sometimes, it can be below the Invoice Price!!! The TMV is essentially the lowest that the dealership is willing to sell the car for. Knowing this price can be SUPER BENEFICIAL to you, as it was for me. In my case, the TMV was below the factory invoice price. I also learned how to calculate what my monthly payment will should be – including the price, any money down, trade-in value, interest rates, tax, title, registration, etc. All of this can be found on Edmunds.com. (It’s a little daunting but totally doable!!) Because I did this, I knew exactly what my payment was supposed to be and therefore, the dealer could not take advantage of me by insisting my interest rate should be higher.
WHAT I DID: Armed with this knowledge, I CALLED up the salesman from the day before when I had test driven a few cars and stated my PRICE (lower than the Invoice Price, thanks to TMV), my MONTHLY PAYMENT ($203 – thank you very much) and my MONEY DOWN (a big fat zero). No Ifs, Ands, or Buts. Ladies and Gentleman, I had a deal within 10 MINUTES over the phone. And after that, I was only at the dealership for an hour and a half before I drove away with a brand new 2011 Honda Civic LX!!
LESSONS LEARNED: A few hours of nerdly research, math calculations, Edmunds.com and TRUE MARKET VALUE can help save thousands of dollars. Oh. And my pink sunglasses helped, too. Take that, you slimy car salesmen!
#boom