Before You Buy: How to Buy a New Car

Buying a car can make you feel like a kid in a toy store, looking at tantalizing shelf after shelf of shiny options. Numerous car and truck makes and models, designs and sizes — as well as colors — present themselves for your inspection. How do you decide which works best for you? Given all the choices, how do you buy a new car today? It can become a bit overwhelming.

TIPS

Know What You Want to Pay
By deciding what you are willing to pay before you begin, you potentially eliminate the "price creep" that often sets in when you have many choices: all the fancy options, the bells and whistles, are easier to resist if you have a firm cap on what you will pay for your new car. Researching what your target price should be for a specific model will keep you on track to save money.

Watch for Rebates and Incentives
It sounds obvious, but if the dealer is offering special incentives like cash rebates or low-interest financing, take full advantage. Newspaper and TV promotions are one way to keep track, but the Regions Auto Center's online car-buying resources offer the greatest convenience: if there are dealer incentives for the car or truck you are looking at online, they will automatically appear.

What Are Other People Paying?
As everyone knows, the dealer sticker price isn't written in stone. You need to know what others are paying for the same car — and how low you can go below the dealer's sticker price. Tools like our free TrueCar™ Vehicle Report can help inform you of just how much you can expect to save.