[Fern]

i realize some of you would prefer to buy a used vehicle, but my system would still work with used car dealers too.

I have little time or patience to visit multiple car dealerships and listen to the spiel from salespeople who try to keep you from walking out the door without a purchase agreement.

So here's what I do, for minimum fuss and you still get the best deal.

1. Visit ONE dealership and test drive the cars til you figure out what mode you want with which add-ons. Get the best price you can from dealer. Of course, you should have researched in advance on a website like edmunds.com what the base price of the new car is so you know what kind of markup you're dealing with.

2. Prepare a brief memo which you will fax or email to as many area dealrships as you want. It should say something like this:

I am i the market for a 2006 Toyota Prius with air conditioning and whatever other features you want. Please provide me with your very best price. Provide your name, address and contact info.

i've done this before and it seemed to work well. If you're lucky enough not to have to finance vehicles, but can pay cash, then be sure NOT to let the dealership know that until AFTER you've reached a deal on the purchase price. Dealerships make a lot of $$ on financing terms, so if they learn you aren't going to need to finance, they might try to compensate for that by hiking up the price on the car.

I also saved $500 when i was torn between buying a honda or a toyota. I decided to call Honda Motor Co., NOT a dealer, to ask a question about the car. I truly can't remember what the question was, but i felt like i trusted the car company more than the dealers. When i explained that i was torn between which car to buy, it was totally unexpected when the person i was speaking with at Honda said look, if you decide to buy a honda, we'll throw in a $500 rebate. I went with HOnda, and i did get the rebate.