Maybe you have had bad experiences in the past while car shopping. Perhaps you just want to be more educated about the car buying process so you can negotiate better? As long as you have knowledge, you’ll do fine. Use the following tips to get what you desire.

If you cannot make a deal, you might be wasting money. It is never smart to pay sticker price on a car. They purposely inflate the value to dicker with you, and you need to remember this fact.

Go into the dealership with a bottom line price in mind. The salesman might try to focus on the monthly payments or financing terms, but your goal should be to get the price you want on the car you want. You can always negotiate the financing terms later, or even finance with your own bank outside of the dealership.

Do not make the mistake of focusing on only the monthly payment amount when you are car shopping. This can cause you to buy a more expensive car than you can really afford. You need to focus on the total cost of the vehicle itself and whether that is a good deal.

Rather than buying a brand-new car, purchase a lightly used one that is only a couple of years old. Many cars come with transferable warranties that last for three years or 36,000 miles. You will save a significant amount over buying new, and the warranty will give you peace of mind for the first year or so.

If you aren’t concerned about getting the absolutely latest model, consider car shopping in November or December. During this time frame, dealerships will offer deals on the current models. They want to clear out their inventory to make way for shipments of the next year’s models. This means that you will be offered more incentives, lower sticker prices, and more room to negotiate!

If the price of a car is non-negotiable, see if you can negotiate on other terms. Some dealerships will agree to provide several months’ worth of free gasoline or a year of free oil changes, for instance. It never hurts to ask if a salesman can sweeten the deal.

Plan on going car shopping during the last week of the month. Many salesmen have to meet a quota at this time so they are much more likely to give you a better deal. Some salespeople want to make a deal because they are desperate to meet their monthly goal.

Never settle for the price that’s set for the car when you’re shopping for one. You must be a great negotiator and try to knock a little off the price. Every car dealership knows that they’re going to have to negotiate anyway, so they make the car seem like it costs more than they’d settle for.

You won’t get the best deals falling into your lap when you start shopping for cars. You need to learn how to get them and how to fight against slick sales tactics. Learn to dissect their numbers to really find the savings. Keep this in mind as you shop.