My Very First Car- I want a Versa!

[pugmom]

Hi there,I am a new driver, and am in the process of trying to shop for my first car!Needles to say this is a real confusing time for me, and I need advice.

First, I'm interested in getting a Versa SL Hatchback with the CVT, ABS package, and a rear roof spoiler (if possible).Everyone's scaring me about how awful car salesman are going to treat me.I'm a single woman, and I get the feeling that walking into a car dealership as a new driver- shopping for my first car, and being female ....well, I might as well paint a bullseye on my back I want to be as informed as possible going in there...so I don't get jerked aroundSo how do I dance the dance?I start with the invoice price (not the MSRP price) and the dealer starts trying to talk the price up?I'm assuming there will be about a $1,000 worth of "fees" included in al this before I'm done too, right?I just want to get a fair idea of what this type of package should cost me (I live in Arizona, by the way)Any advice that anyone has for me would be greatly appreciated...

and one other question...if I wanted the dealership to tint the windows & get me the rear roof spoiler...then I'd have to wait for them to get that in from the factory, right? How long does that whole process take?Anyone's opinions or experiences will help me here,Thanks!Soon- to- be New Versa Owner

[BBISHOPPCM]

Congrats on your new car! The Versa SL is a great car for a great price. I would recommend the floor mats, splash guards, and wheel locks, nothing else. The tint will be done either by the dealer or sent elsewhere, as Nissan does not offer factory tint. The rear spoiler can be added, as it is part of the sport package; the dealer will try to sell you the full sport package as a result. Don't let them do this. Last I knew, the dealer was charging $1000 over sticker, being it a new model and all; you might be able to bargain this down. Hope this helps!

[versaspeed.com]

pugmom, try asking for the fleet manager or if the dealer in your area has an internet site ask for the internet manager they usually give you a better break......if they have Versa's on the lot if not then you will pay sticker because there is only about a five hundred dollar profit on the Versa.Good luck and you will love driving the Versa.

[Ever Victorious]

While we're on the topic, paint protectants aren't worth it.

Gap insurance is only worthwhile if you have little or no down payment, but it's a risk any way you slice it because you're betting you will total your car before you get right side up payment wise.

More than likely an extended warranty is not worthwhile. Take the money it would cost and put it in high-yield savings, CDs, or stocks and you'll either end up having the money it would take to fix the car, or if your car doesn't break, just simply money.

[ThirstyRoss]

For a 2007 Versa Hatchback 1.8SL w/ CVT, ABS, and Rear Spoiler, the MSRP is $16,765. Don't pay more than this. If you pay more than MSRP you are getting ripped off.

Because the Versa is a "low end" car, there actually isn't a great deal of markup on it. A general rule of thumb is to take the invoice price and add 4-8% markup for the dealer, go in with that as your offer. You will find it actually comes quite close to MSRP for the Versa without too much extras added in (the extras is where they make the most cash).

In Canada, on top of MSRP, we pay freight (~$1300), A/C Tax (~$100 - if so equipped), and provincal/federal taxes. There shouldn't be any other mysterious fees.

Don't sign up for extended warranty's, undercoating, or fabric protection. If they say that stuff is already on the car, refuse it. Dealers make a lot of money off those extras and they are either unnecessary or can be done yourself for less money.

Get the tint done at a reputable shop, but not at the dealer. Dealers usually just farm out the work to a local shop and charge a middleman fee - pointless, go straight to the guys who do it to save money

Most importantly, if the dealer makes you feel pressured, or in any way uncomfortable, get up and leave. You don't deserve to be treated poorly when you're spending such a large amount of money, and my guess is, there are probably quite a few dealers in your area.

[pugmom]

Wow, Thanks everybody,I appreciate all the advice-I just sent off my request for quotes from local dealers through "Cars.direct.com" and I already got an "Internet" price from one local dealer quoting me $16,125 (of course that's before any extra fees are tacked on,,,and the title/ registation fees as well).Does that sound fair to everyone?

You guys are great....can't wait to drive this car !!

[Martini]

Have you test drove the car yet?

I too am a first time car buyer and I've been exhausting many hours of research. I purchased into the Car Buying Kit on Consumer Reports for additional information, read these forums to get a more accurate idea of fuel mileage and what others are saying about it, and of course the most important: taking my time on the decision.

I was offered the CVT, ABS with Splash Guards and Floor Mats (they said "convenience" but it did not have the Bluetooth or other options) for $16,350. I even mentioned the $300 dealer holdback to which the dealer lied to me about what it is.

I'll be getting the CVT with Sunroof which includes all the extra goodies and I can pick it up for $18,175 but I'll see about getting it knocked down a little lower.

I'm holding off until July to buy my car for financial reasons. I've also heard its a really good month to buy cars too!

Nissan is offering a great financing promotion right now. You check them out on their website but one of them was 4.9% APY for 48 months! Pretty good deal!

[Rockhound]

There's already loads of great advice in this thread, but I thought I'd chime in as well...

You can check what people are paying, on average, for new Versas at http://www.edmunds.com as well. They have their "TMV" (true market value) evaluation, and for the Versa the nationwide average selling price is about $50 to $100 off of sticker price (depending on options). So, like others have said, there's not much room to budge on these, especially since they are low-cost to begin with.

One more piece of advice is to use a loan calculator to estimate your payments on the price you are willing/expecting to pay. You can go to this site to do so:

http://www.finaid.org/calculat...phtml

You put in the loan balance (amount to be financed), interest rate, term (and you can skip the minimum payment parameter) and find out what the monthly payment will be (of course I'm assuming that you will be financing this purchase). Like Martini said, Nissan has some great financing options, so you can use their interest rates to guide your loan calculations.

The reason I say to do this is that when I got to financing, $1500 had magically found it's way back onto my total cost, which I had negotiated out of them (I had a trade in). In short, had I not done payment calculations prior to going in, it wouldn't have instantly registered with me that the monthly payments they quoted me were incorrect.

This was my first new-car purchase experience as well, but I went into it armed with all sorts of advice from friends and family. I was at the dealer for nearly 4 hours, even though I walked in and said, "I'll take it" from the get-go. Negotiating the price took a long time, and by the time I got to financing, I was tired and somewhat rattled from keeping various numbers in my head. They first show you the monthly payment, without quoting the total loan amount, which is tricky of them. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the info during the purchase, so go armed with as much knowledge as possible...and let them know you're knowledgeable. They tried to take advantage of me because I'm young, and it was clear they weren't expecting me to deal with them like I did.

National Base for SL Hatch with CVT: $15,550

ABS: $250Sport Package: $700Convenience (req. w/ sport package): $700Destination: $625

Total: $17,825 MSRP...TMV: $17,768 ($57 off MSRP)

ABS and Spoiler only: ~$450Destination: $625

MSRP: $16,625

[edit: I went back and read the above replies thoroughly and found that the spoiler can be installed by itself...so you could knock off a few hundred bucks by not getting the whole sport package...which would also mean that you wouldn't be required to get the Convenience package, which would chop off another $700. So assuming they'd put the spoiler on for, say, $200, your MSRP would be around $16,625 or so, like ThirstyRoss said before.]


Modified by Rockhound at 11:32 AM 5/31/2007

[Bubs daddy]

Another tip is to try to buy a car at the end of the month. A lot of fsales staff are given bonus commissions for the number of cars sold each month. That is, 10, 15, 20 cars and so on. There is a bonus for each step. So a guy who sells you his 15th car of the month may give it to you for below invoice but it doesn't matter to him because he may get, say, a $2000 bonus for hitting that mark. So your car may make or break his month and bonus. He'll do whatever he can to get you in that car.

[n00bdude88]

This is a great thread. I am also thinking of purchasing a versa as my first new car. i don't know sh%t from shinola as far as working the sales people but now I'm getting a clue. Thanks for all the helpful info.

[pugmom]

Well so far I've been getting alot of great advice from everyone here..and I thank you.I am planning to buy my Versa over the 4th of July holiday --I would assume the car dealerships would be offering some pretty sweet deals for the public...Does anyone have opinions or experiences with car purchases on major holidays?Also...the way my budget is looking I can afford to put down $3,000 on a new car....and make no more than $220 a month in payments (I'd need the car dealer to stretch my loan to a full 72 months)...do you all find dealers are o.k. with that?So much to consider with all this!

[n00bdude88]

A friend told me that the last thing you want is a 5 year deal.I don't think you want to be paying for that car for 6 years. It costs you a lot more money doing it that way. You'll end up spending about $2000 or so more than the car really costs. Consider that.

[Ever Victorious]

Keep watching Nissan's special offers section on their website. They will often times list special rate financing on their cars. If there is a specific time frame of payments that work for you, perhaps they will have special financing for it. I have never seen Nissan offer special financing for 72 months, however.

Another thing to consider if you are short on money in the short run is a lease. If you don't drive too many miles, or know you can afford financing on the car after the lease is up, this is a way to save some money, since you're only paying for the depreciation for the lease term. And if something goes wonky, you can just walk away from the car at the end of the lease.

I know right now that an S automatc w/power package is $189/mo with $2k down on a lease program. You can probably get an SL, possibly even a CVT, for what you are looking at a monthly payment, if you do it as a lease.

By quick calculations on Bankrate.com, using $3k down and a $16.1k purchase price (which would be roughly an SL CVT with no options), a 6 year loan will be more than $230 a month, not even including taxes.

Just some food for thought.

[OKVersa]

I agree with everyone else. If you can't make payments, then save up for a larger down payment. Remember, also, you will be paying for full coverage on a new car with your insurance, too, and that may go up depending on what you are driving now.

We actually stretched ours out to 60, but can make double payments and we had a larger down payment. My husband has some medical expenses, so we have the lower payment to fall back on if we have to.

That's the only way I would suggest stretching it out to 60 months.

[jacksan1]

Gosh, I wish I could have had a car like the Versa as my first ever car! Mine was a $200 Chevy....

[Demonspawn]

yea my first car was 1974 monte carlo 600 bucks lol

[Ever Victorious]

psh.

$75 '76 Subaru.

and the wife's first car was a $1 '68 Volvo.

[mindpenn]

It was also my first time buying a car when I got the Versa. I recommend reading http://www.carbuyingtips.com/

We paid $15000 on a SL CVT, convenience pack, floor mats,and splash guard.Plus tax, title and tag.

Good luck!
Modified by mindpenn at 11:35 AM 6/6/2007

[HareBrained]

Buying your first car, by yourself, without previous experience is difficult. Perhaps you should consider a buyer's agent. This would be someone who buys cars for a living. They take a flat fee but take care of the hassle of negotiating, etc. They would also have knowledge of all of the tricks employed to put more money into their pocket.

You may wish to consider financing through the bank/Credit Union where you keep your money. They will typically have a discount if you allow them to automatically withdraw from your account. Performing the financing independent of the car purchase also take away one area where the dealer can skin you. Also, it occurs when you're not emotionally excited by the new purchase. They know that by the time they get you into the finance office, you're probably not going to walk away, and they'll apply greater pressure.

Don't test drive for the first time and purchase on the same day. And don't purchase a car you haven't test driven. Take a friend with you who can look over the car and make sure nothing is terribly wrong with it. In the excitement, you may think that the rattle is not too loud. Your friend may disagree.

When negotiating, negotiate around price, not payments. I've walked out on a dealer because he refused to discuss price. Payment is only a concern when you're talking financing. When the salesman talks payments, he's got length of term and interest rate to play with to meet you're target number but the actual purchase price is $2k above MSRP.

If you finance through the dealer, be aware that the dealer will be adding 1-2% to the interest rate for his own pocket, unless it's through Nissan. The dealer has arrangements with local banks that pay him to sell their product. He's just a middle man when it comes to loaning you money.

There are some good dealers out there, with good sales people. Don't be afraid to walk out on a bad dealer or a bad deal. Trust your instincts.

Note, you have the right to negotiate and get the deal in writing so you can come back the next day. It's always best to sleep on it. You can also post here and get some feedback. If they tell you the "deal" is only good for today, that's BS. Go elsewhere. If they get up to "talk with my manager" more than once, they're trying to stall you and wear you down. Walk out while they're away and call them later saying "you didn't appreciate waiting" and that "if he doesn't have the authority to negotiate, then you only want to work with the person who does."

Think to yourself, what's the cost of waiting one more day. You want the car but it'll be just as exciting tomorrow, and may be you've earned a little respect and cleared your head.