It was bound to happen again. As soon as the automakers ended their fabulous employee pricing program, other incentives would have to be introduced. The American car buying public is hooked on them, thanks to over four years of some of the best incentive plans out there. If you are ready to buy a new car, low interest car financing can work great for you especially if you were planning to purchase your car with cash. Lets examine some of the current plans and how you can save yourself a lot of money. Quite a few of the current auto financing plans available at this time involve both 2005 as well as 2006 models. However, the best deals are reserved for the 2005 models because even after employee pricing has ended, there are still several slow selling models that need to be removed from dealer lots. These models are the ones most likely needing extra special incentives to be moved out. Ford: Across the board low interest rates are now being touted by Ford Credit. Exceptions apply to a few new models such as the Fusion as well as to the hybrid Escape SUV. If you are interested in purchasing an Explorer, Taurus, Crown Victoria, Ranger, Freestar, Expedition, F150, or the Thunderbird, Ford Credit will finance your 2005 vehicle at 0% interest for 36 months. This interest rate is only given to those customers with high credit scores, but low interest rates starting at 0.9% are also available. In some situations Ford offers cash back rewards totaling as much as $5000 as an alternative to financing, so get your calculator out and see which plan works best for you. GM: Like Ford, General Motors is offering reduced rate as well as zero percent financing on a number of cars through their financing arm, GMAC. Zero percent financing is even available on some 2006 models, so shop around for the best deals. 2005 models eligible for zero percent financing include: the Cadillac Escalade; Buick Terrazza; Chevrolet models including the Malibu, Suburban, Uplander, Monte Carlo, and Tahoe; GMC Yukon and Yukon Denali; Saturn Relay; and the Pontiac Montana SV6. 2006 models eligible are limited to several Cadillac Escalade models at the present time. Just like Ford Credit, GMAC reserves the 0% financing for their most credit worthy customers. Other low financing plans are available as well cash back incentives. Chrysler: Chrysler Financial is not as generous as Ford Credit and GMAC in this latest incentive battle. Quite frankly, they do not have to be. Unlike Ford and GM, Chryslers sales are holding their own thanks to popular new models that are being snapped up with or without incentives. Still, certain 2005 models are available for 0% financing for 36 months including all PT Cruiser models and the Sebring convertible and sedan [but not the coupe]. Just like Ford Credit and GMAC, Chrysler Financial has an alternative cash back incentive in place should you prefer taking the money instead. So, what should you do? If the model you want to purchase offers 0% financing or $3000 cash back, you would likely do better to take the cash back and forego the financing especially if you were planning to pay cash for your car. This means that the $23,000 PT Cruiser Convertible GT would cost you $20,000 after your $3000 incentive kicks in. Keep in mind that at this point your car is now a one year old vehicle. Even after incentives you must ask yourself this question: is the PT Cruiser is still worth $20,000 new? Only you and your Kelley blue book will know for sure! What if you cant pay cash? Well, foregoing cash incentives means that your $23,000 one year old new car likely will still cost you $23,000 unless you were able to negotiate the sticker price lower before any serious discussions about financing kicked in. Good luck with that! The better plan would be for you to secure low interest rate financing elsewhere in advance of visiting your dealer and then grabbing the cash incentive. Many credit unions still offer very low financing rates on new car loans so shop around for the best deals. The American public loved the employee pricing incentives for one big reason: it took the haggling out of purchasing a new car. Current incentive programs in place mean that the haggling will return; dont settle for your cars sticker price before negotiating a cash back or interest rate incentive. Remember, you are purchasing a one year old car and the value of the car today is much less than what the sticker price states. No matter what story your salesperson cooks up, your dealer will not lose money on the sale of your car. Behind the scenes [or secret] incentives from the automaker to the dealer to get rid of slow selling vehicles is something you never see. These incentives can translate into several thousands of dollars so you want a piece of that action in addition to whatever other incentives are in place. If your dealer isn't willing to budge, then take your business elsewhere as you are in the drivers seat. Chances are they will accept your offer just so they can move a slow seller off of their lot. |
