How I did it: First, I decided I could no longer keep my old car.  I also made up my mind that I had to get a Japanese car, no matter how much I wanted a fancy car, I was not going to get an American car since Japanese car are more durable and depreciate less.
I also knew that I wanted a compact car because of the gas mileage and my lifestyle; it is just me and my son.
My sister insisted that I should get an SUV but I stayed firm. My sis is not very realistic and makes decisions on excitement, not reality.
I had to be patient and wait until a friend of mine who used to sell cars was available to go with me.  The first lot we attended was a horrible experience, the salesman, was annoying, disrespectful and stupid.  He asked me if I had a driver license but he did not ask my friend (who drives a Mercedes). He wanted me to sign a paper that if he found the price in one car I liked, I had to buy it.  I refused to sign because I was not convinced totally in the car.  This was a used car and I wanted to see if I could qualify for a new one.  He changed his attitude completely and was rude.  We left the place and went to a NISSAN dealer.  They got me a 2009 Versa for 243 per month and I only put 800 downpayment.  I am happy wtih my decision and I am going to write a letter to the first dealer owner to tell him how incompetent his carsalesman is.

Lessons & tips: My best advice:
1..-Be realistic
2.- Make sure you can afford the car
3.-Shop around; don't be afraid of saying NO
4.- Get someone who knows how to negotiate so that you don't get taken advantage of
5.-Don't sign anything if you are not sure

Good luck to all!

Resources: Patience
Knowledgeable friend
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May 06, 2009, 08:43AM PDT | 0 comments