How to Buy a Car in 2024 & Get the BEST Price | Step by Step Guide

Ray walks you through a comprehensive overview of how to BUY and SELL a vehicle with a dealership while getting the best deal possible. He's got 43 years of experience in retail automotive, so you can bet he's got all kinds of indispensable tips and tricks to share!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:29 Lesson 1 - How the New Car Market Has Changed
01:45 Lesson 2 - How the Used Car Market Has Changed
02:46 Lesson 3 - How Much Can I Afford?
04:52 Lesson 4 - Know Your Needs Before Buying
06:15 Lesson 5 - How to Find a New Car to Buy
06:45 Lesson 6 - How to Find a Used Car to Buy
07:18 Lesson 7 - Prepare to Contact the Dealer
08:40 Lesson 8 - Who to Contact at the Dealership
09:36 Lesson 9 - Negotiating with the Salesperson Pt. 1
12:01 Lesson 10 - Negotiating with the Salesperson Pt. 2
12:40 Lesson 11 - Negotiating a Used Car
14:30 Lesson 12 - Trading in Your Car
16:10 Lesson 13 - The Test Drive
16:54 Lesson 14 - Final Negotiations
17:20 Lesson 15 - The Purchase Order
17:43 Lesson 16 - Welcome to the F&I Office
17:58 Lesson 17 - Credit Applications & APRs
19:26 Lesson 18 - Do I Need a Co-Signer?
20:24 Lesson 19 - Outside Lending & Paying Cash
20:58 Lesson 20 - The Menu Process
21:43 Lesson 21 - The Products You'll Be Offered
22:09 Outro - We've Got Your Back!

CarEdge Resources (in the order they're mentioned in the video):

CarEdge Podcast: CarEdge Live

Instagram ⮕ / @mycaredge
TikTok ⮕ / @caredge

[CarEdge]

Let us know what additional questions you have so that we can help!

[michaeldoherty]

This being free content is CRAZY. Immense knowledge being shared in under 25 mins

[Hossafy]

Buying a car very soon. Perfect timing in this.

[gary]

Been watching your content for a while in preparation for an upcoming new car purchase - I'm sold on the site, will be using your tools - thanks for all the help/info.

[jerrycurtin]

Stumbled upon your Company afew months ago...Love the videos/information an insights...Thank You Gentleman

[MathiasJarlson]

Great video. Way better than the clickbait garage

[raymondlo]

Learned a TON of useful informations from this channel and the website. Got myself a 2024 Mazda CX-50 select for $32.5k OTD at 0.9% APR just a week ago.
Without the knowledge I gained from you guys. I would’ve been scammed for another $1.9 delivery fees, weird package that cost $2k, and unwanted and useless warranties. Glad I walked away from that!

[gregorygoodman]

10% rule!
My wife and I were just hit with an increase of $200 per month on our insurance payment.
So according to the rule a car payment needs to be reduced accordantly.
We need less expensive cars !

[UnConventionalViSdOm]

Thanks gentlemen!! You guys make awesome videos that help people like me who is hunting for a used car. On your website if I am searching for some used cars I am unable to filter "Personally used cars". Please try to add a filter via which we can filter Rental/Fleet/Personal cars. Hope to see this feature soon!! Cya!!

[mansurx]

Should I wait until November and December to cash in on Holiday and end of the year sales?

[PhilRedinger-ow]

Thank you for the valuable content you provide! I would greatly appreciate your insights or the possibility of a video focused on strategies for purchasing high-demand vehicles, such as the RAV4 Prime. Given its limited production and substantial demand, I've noticed that local dealerships often require a deposit to locate one. This approach seems to shift most of the negotiating power to the dealership, leaving buyers fortunate to secure a vehicle at MSRP.

Could you clarify if requesting deposits is a common practice? Is there room for price negotiation in this scenario, or should one simply accept MSRP while seeking concessions on accessories? Additionally, do you think the processes in the finance office are similar for high-demand models?

While there is an abundance of resources on purchasing both new and used vehicles, I have yet to encounter discussions specifically addressing the dynamics of high-demand cars. I appreciate your ongoing efforts to assist all of us!

[eppyz]

My local Toyota dealer has $4200 in dealer added on BS on every single new car they sell. So soon as you step on their lot you're at a disadvantage. I absolutely hate buying new cars. F it, just will keep what i have 🙄

[jimmesser]

I just bought a 2025 Subaru and paid no dealer add ons and 12% off msr and 1.9% finance. And got a fair price for my trade in .Did I do good

[GlenStoner]

Another great video..!
I've taken what I've learned from you and successfully negotiated a deal on a new Subaru Crosstrek Onyx. Once we had established contact by email and text I was dealing with 6 different dealerships. Unfortunately none of the dealers had the colour of the trim level we wanted but most were able to or already had on order what we wanted. This gave me time to slow down the process down a bit. One dealer offered me a higher trim level they had on the lot right near the end of the month. The deal he was putting together was very good but he sold one and was left with a colour we didn't want. But this was perfect because it revealed that yes, there was plenty of room below sticker price to negotiate. Six emails then went out with "my out the door all in" offer on exactly what I wanted. I got a variety of responses, all negative except from the dealer that had offered the discounts earlier on the car we passed on. Got it in writing, put down a deposit and we should be driving it by the end of the month. Since then a few of the other dealers have reached out to me again... Sorry, too late.
Thanks again @CarEdge

[JazzyMB]

Awesome thank you for much for this valuable information so appreciated it, Question how can I find cheaper affordable car insurance State Farm is too expansive please help
Thank you

[kdub]

13:00 also I’ve learned that you wanna know get that car’s original sticker MSRP, that way you can see how much it’s actually discounted. Depending on how many years, miles, we know a car 3 years old with 30k miles was probably a lease and was valued at what, 60%?
so 35%-40% discount? bids is always the way to go but sometimes you may only have found one place with that used car you want. So knowing original MSRP seems crucial, and also, make sure the loan doesn’t exceed the car’s 10th birthday (shout out Deshone) ☝🏻

[hrmzi]

I'm currently trying to buy a new/used truck and your channel has helped a lot. as a resident of northern NJ I will try to do my business with you, if the price is right haha

[dondewan]

I really do not want to buy, but life is too hectict to not have a consistent vehicle. Hopefully i can strike gold in the private car market but the future is bleak.

[janereinhardt]

All of these crazy budget rules don't work for me. I am retired, not old enough for Social Security yet, I pay my car insurance once per year, and do not ever finance my cars! I just buy what I feel comfortable spending.

[PaulG]

How many days on the lot for a new car is ideal?