First time shopping for a car

Truecar or cars dot com

Do your research on some sites like Edmunds...even Consumer Reports (granted they are a bit biased). After doing that, find a good used Toyota and you are all set.

cargurus.com

LINK

From the Money Talk Board

Very helpful

Will Cover's car buying guide

FWIW, I use autotrader.com to search for used vehicles most of the time

By the end of it all, you won't even give a shite about having a new car. It's a complete pain in the arse.

CarMax is the only way I would but a used car.

Most important thing is to buy from a reputable dealer if you do not know a lot about cars and what to look for. By this, I mean any used lot attached to a major brand dealership.

The small independent used car lots with too-good-to-be-true deals are quite often complete rip offs. They buy wrecked vehicles and refurbish them then sell. Avoid.

Getting a good deal on a used car can often be tougher than on a new vehicle, b/c dealerships are heavily incintivized to move new inventory, where as the used vehicles are there from trade ins, so they're going to have a set profit in mind and really have no reason to budge. Not to say you have to pay sticker, but in my experience there is less "wiggle room".

As for websites: Autotrader will give you a good idea of the market value of a particular vehicle.

The last two vehicles I bought were "program cars", former leased or rental cars, a year old or less. Bought from reputable dealers. Both cars were in great shape. I basically let someone else take the depreciation hit. I'll never buy new again.

quote:

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I'm probably going to go used.

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No you're going to get used