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How I Saved $5500 Buying My New 2004 Lexus GX470 SUV

A study guide to help you with your new car purchase

From new car researching, to haggling, to finance here's the steps I took for a winning deal
People often wonder how good a deal does the founder of CarBuyingTips.com get on his new car purchase. This diary of my new car purchase ties together the best concepts of our site that I used, getting the lowest new car purchase price. It proves that our strategies do work for you. You'll also find new car financing tips and online car financing, car loan site reviews of Up2Drive, trade-in strategies for your used car. Follow my strategies here, and you'll save the most on your new car purchase.

Narrowing Choices to the new Lexus GX470 SUV at the Lexus Event
After the birth of our second child in early 2003, I realized my wife's 1999 Mazda Millenia was no longer going to cut it, and began to look for a new SUV. Since I was still in love with my 1998 Lexus SC300, I started researching both Lexus SUV models, the Lexus GX 470 SUV and the Lexus LX 470 SUV. Coincidentally, I was invited to an awesome Lexus event at the Boca Raton Polo club, staffed by professional drivers, no salespeople. They trucked in tons of dirt and created a off road track with moguls, steep angle banks, and a 20 foot hill to show off the Downhill Assist Control. The show runs rain or shine, so luckily for us, it poured, making it more fun. At the track Lexus allowed us to drive the LX470, the GX470, the BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class AMG, Land Rover HSE and Discovery SUVs, and the Lincoln Aviator. The Aviator could not handle the moguls and had to use detours around them. Both Lexus SUVs handled the course better than all other vehicles, and with a smoother ride, so I was sold on the Lexus GX 470 SUV as our next vehicle. Lexus also provided excellent catering that rivaled many weddings I've been to, in a huge air conditioned tent with a kids game room and a high end Mark Levinson home audio system. Three rotating stages displayed new Lexus models. If a Lexus event comes to your home town, I highly recommend going to it.

I also decided to wait until November for the release of the 2004 Lexus GX470 SUV. The GX470 by then would have the new wide angle rear back up camera that displays it's output on the navigation screen while in reverse gear. I could not justify the extra $20k for the LX470, which only provides 10" of extra internal space, a bit nicer luxury look, and a similar 8 cylinder engine.

Researching the new Lexus GX 470 SUV prices
At the end of November, I began researching the new 2004 Lexus GX470 SUV pricing, allowing a few weeks after the introduction of the 2004 model for prices to soften. I first ordered the FightingChance.com New Car Buying Info and Market Intelligence Package. Our visitors fill our $avOmeter Database daily with awesome savings after using that info package. Their New Auto Rebate Listing, secret factory to dealer incentives, sample cover letters to car dealers, and new car dealer invoice pricing is required data for anyone buying a new car. Their market sales intelligence section provided on your particular car model is priceless. The report gave me some sobering news and recent actual selling prices on my new 2004 Lexus GX 470, saying that it was in high demand, and don't expect any deals at all in the near future. Ok, I'll keep that in mind. The Lexus GX 470 had an average MSRP of $53,000 loaded with the options I wanted. I used the tips from my own web site to research prices, and got competitive new car price quotes from car buying sites like Cars.com, Edmunds.com, CarWoo, MyRide.com and CarsDirect. The car buying sites got me the quotes I needed from local Lexus dealers. Unfortunately, there were none in stock because demand was a bit too high. The dealers offered me selling pricesaround $51,500, $2k off the $53,000 MSRP, not quite what my New Car Offer Spreadsheet showed I should be paying, which was around $46,500.

The end of the month or end of the year is a good time to buy a new car
We usually tell people having trouble getting a good price to wait until the end of the month. Other new car buyers wait until the last week of December, and report back better savings than most other car buyers. Unfortunately, this vehicle was still in very heavy demand, with zero dealer stock, not a combination that spells out discount, if you know what I mean. The reason for all this demand was a loophole in the IRS tax law under Section 179 that allowed people to buy any SUV over 6500 pounds and write off the vehicle with 100% depreciation in the 2003 tax year. So the dozen or so SUVs out there over 6500 pounds were extinct on new car dealer lots, including my beloved 2004 Lexus GX470 SUV. My local dealer told me on December 30, 2003 that he still had a wait list a few weeks long for the GX470. I can either pay the price now and wait a few weeks, or continue to be patient for an unknown length of time. Many of our visitors find themselves in this very dilemma. You are not alone!

Patience is the best tool for getting the lowest price on your new car
Supply always catches up to demand! Always remember my theorem, folks. I get emailed all the time from new car buyers like yourself, who want to know how to get any discount off the full MSRP sticker price on a new car when it is a high demand car. There is no secret formula here, no big fancy strategy. In fact there is only one strategy: patience. You have to wait it out, ride out the storm, until the supply catches up with demand. It's simple physics, no other way around it, no shortcuts. It could be 2 weeks, or a whole year, but you have to wait it out. That's what I had to do, for over 7 months! The supply always catches up to demand. Keep reminding yourself of this. Good things come to those who wait. Perfect illustration: When PT Cruisers made their debut, Chrysler dealers were charging $10k over MSRP sticker price. Now our visitors are reporting savings of $2k to $4k below sticker price, a full $14k less than their friends who wanted to be the first one on their block to own a PT Cruiser! Patience pays off.

Now fast forward 6 months later to June 2004, time to get back into the shopping game with the Cars.com, Edmunds, and CarsDirect dealers again! I was back in contact with my local Lexus dealer's fleet manager after spotting a few GX470's on their lot. This time they offered me a much lower price than they did 6 months before, since supply had caught up to demand, and probably the Iraq war and oil pricing may have had something to do with it. They quoted me $48,691 + tax, which was a $3,000 improvement from their previous offer 6 months before, and a full $5425 savings off the MSRP window sticker of $54,116. This is right in my target zone of saving $4k to $6k off MSRP for SUVs. This price was still more than my New Car Offer Spreadsheet showed I should be paying, around $46,500. But keep in mind that high end brands like Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, etc., tend to sell with less of a discount than you might find on a Dodge Ram with a $3000 rebate. Lexus usually has no rebates, but sometimes offers a low APR new car finance rate. But I still found lower APR car loans online at Up2Drive. The dealer found me a better configured GX470 with the new "front sport bumper" option arriving in 2 weeks on June 18. We told him we want that GX470 when it arrives. We did not secure it with a deposit, but it was ours when it came in.

Financing the new Lexus GX470 SUV car loan
Just as I advise in our chapter on Auto Loans, Tips & Scams you MUST know your credit score BEFORE you buy a car, don't wait until you're sitting in the finance office at the car dealer. I already knew my credit score was high. You can get your credit report instantly online from Experian, TrueCredit or Equifax. Be sure to get your credit score with the credit report, you need both, and do it about one month before you plan to buy. Curb all your credit card spending, and pay down any balances to levels below 50% of their credit limit. I chose to get my online credit report and credit score from Equifax. My credit score was well over 700, so I knew no bank would turn me down. With the car arriving June 18, I applied online Wednesday, June 16 at 2PM. It took me all of 5 minutes to apply, it was so easy that I'll never go to a regular bank again. I was not sure what the final cost of the car would be, so I provided some buffer and applied for a $55,000 car loan. (They send you a check authorizing you to spend up to your approval limit, and you just fill out the final amount.) You are not even obligated to use the check and fund the auto loan until you sign it over to the car dealer. I chose a 36 month car loan to get a lower APR, and chose the "Auto Debit from my checking account" option to get me an even lower 3.85% APR!

I applied early enough in the day, that they sent out my check via FedEx the same day. They, along with Up2Drive have a wonderfully automated approvals process that plays no games, approves you right away, prints and sends out the checks immediately. The next morning, Thursday June 17 at 10 AM, my check arrived via FedEx in less than 24 hours after I applied! I was well on my way to a successful deal.

Money Saving Auto Finance Tips: The fewer months you choose to pay off the loan, the lower your APR will be. Try not to choose more than 48 months. If you can pay off your auto loan in 36 months, all the better! You don't want to be paying off that auto loan for 5 or 6 years. Let the lender deduct payments from your checking account, and you'll get even lower APR. A credit score greater than 680 will get you the lowest APR auto loans. Combine these factors to get the lowest APR. If a dealer is charging you MSRP or higher for your new car, don't give them car financing profit too, give that profit to someone else. Apply online, where it's often cheaper, you get a lower APR, which will offset the extra money you are paying for the car.

Trade-In Dilemma: Should we Trade in our used 1999 Mazda Millenia or Sell it Ourselves?
A struggle that we all face. We usually tell people to sell their used cars online at sites such as Cars.com and CarsDirect.com. Sell your car there and you'll get much more for your car than trading it in, because you'll sell it at market value, which is $2000-$6000 more than trade-in value. We had researched the used car prices of our Mazda Millenia online, and found that the trade-in value at that time ranged $6730 to $7698, a huge difference, one that many visitors to our site lament over. To compensate for this difference, I tend to ignore the higher end prices, and lower end prices, and aim for the middle. On eBay, no one was bidding on 1999 Mazda Millenia models listed there in the $9000 range. Not a good sign for true market value. On Cars.com there were a few car dealers with some Millenia models listed from $9500 and up at the retail level, and we know they would probably settle below $9k as the final market value. So we now had all the pricing data we needed for our old Mazda. I thought it best to see how much Lexus would give us for our Millenia, which had a small dent and Bondo patch in the front left quarter panel. It could save us the headache of selling a car that no one appears to want. I am busy running this web site, and helping all the visitors who come here. I just don't have the time to try to sell the Mazda ourselves. If the Lexus dealer offers us $7,000 for the trade-in, we figured we would just trade it in for the GX470. If not, we'll sell it ourselves.

Closing the deal on our new Lexus GX470 and trading in the Mazda
The deal was completed very quickly. We arrived at the dealer at 10:45 AM, and arrived back home with our new Lexus GX470 SUV at 12:30 PM, not even 2 hours later! How the deal went down: Our new Lexus GX470 SUV was waiting for us right outside the front door of the dealership. We handed over the keys for the Mazda to the fleet manager who had his appraiser give us an offer, which came back at $7200, luckily a bit more than the $7000 we expected to get. I was ecstatic on the inside. Of course on the outside I still did my best Oscar winning performance, shaking my head no, not saying a word for a minute while I ruffled through the research papers in The Folder that we always tell you to bring to the dealer with you. I knew that $7200 was a good trade-in offer for our used Mazda Millenia. But I appeared on the outside to be disappointed as I asked them if they would offer us $7500 for the Mazda. The fleet manager called his appraiser back, who instantly accepted, and we had a trade-in deal. They will offer us $7500 for our used Mazda Millenia. Darn, that was too easy. I probably could have gotten more. But then Lexus would have a hard time selling the Mazda to another customer. It has to be a win-win deal for both parties. We got more than our researched, anticipated value for our trade-in, so we were quite happy. See how that folder helps you? I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to walk into the dealer with The Folder. Once they see you did your homework and have data to back up your research, the deal will be conducted on your terms. Keep in mind we usually advise visitors not to combine a trade-in with a new car purchase due to the cash flow shell games that car dealers sometimes play on you. We traded in because I know all the scams, so I cannot be tricked, and since I had my own financing, there are no monthly payments for the dealer to manipulate, there was nowhere for the dealer to hide. All the numbers had to appear on the sales invoice, itemized exactly as they should be. No shell games.

The Final Numbers on our 2004 Lexus GX470 SUV

Dealer's Invoice Price: $46,274
MSRP Sticker Price: $54,116
Negotiated Selling Price: $48,691
Our Total savings off MSRP: $5425.

Once sales tax was added, and the $7500 trade in applied, we owed the Lexus dealer $43,669. I decided to put down $10,000 from my own checking account which was just over 20%. We recommend you put 20% down on a new car auto loan to prevent ever getting upside down on your loan due to vehicle depreciation. If you fail to do this, you'll owe more money than the car is worth when you sell it or trade it in the future. Next, I filled out check for the remaining $33,669, well below the $55,000 I was approved for. My 36 monthly payments of $993.40 will be deducted from my checking account monthly. Sure the payments are high, but at least my Lexus will be all mine in 3 years, saving me a lot of money in interest. If any car dealers try to reject your online financing check by lying to you that the lenders "take too long to pay us", then the car dealer is lying. Any delay in the car dealer getting their money from the banks is their own procrastination I'm sure.

Options installed on our 2004 Lexus GX 470 SUV:
Navigation System/Mark Levinson Audio Package, Third Row Seat/Rear with A/C, Rear Seat Entertainment System including DVD player with 7" LCD screen, two wireless head phones, Tow Hitch Bracket, Tow Hitch w/Ball Mount, ball not included, Sport Bumper Trim on front bumper, Exhaust Tip, Preferred Package: Mats, cargo net, wheel locks.

If you decide to get an Auto Extended Warranty
For extended warranties, get a free online quote for your new or used car from sites such as CARCHEX and Warranty Direct. I talk much more about extended warranties, and scams to avoid in our Extended Warranty Chapter. You want to get an online warranty quote before you go to the dealer, so you'll have something to compare the dealer's extended warranty selling price.

Don't Forget To Budget In Auto Insurance
Don't overlook this important part of car buying, you'll be in for a shock later. Get a quote on the car you want, and most important of all, shop around! You can get free auto insurance quotes from sites like BestCarInsuranceSite, Allstate, GEICO and LowerMyBills.com give you free online auto insurance quotes, so be sure to get pricing from them too.

These sites help you find deals on car insurance using insurance rate comparison engines. Don't forget, you must cancel the car insurance on your trade-in, and start a new car insurance policy on your new car ASAP. This is a good time analyze your current insurance coverage to make sure it is adequate, and to see if your limits are proper. Everyone should have UNINSURED MOTORIST coverage, because it protects us from all the loser morons out there who refuse to insure their cars. Here in Florida, the issue of uninsured drivers is a plague. I know so many people who got burnt royally because of uninsured drivers.

VIN# Window Etching can Lower Your Insurance Premiums up to 15%
If the car dealer say VIN# Window Etching is already on the car and can't be removed, or that the "bank requires VIN# window etching", don't buy the car, and save yourself the $300-$900 that most dealers overcharge for this option. You can get your own VIN etching kit cheaper online. We found online the www.VINshield.com is only $19.95. Remember, lenders don't require you to buy these extras. The only thing a lender requires you to do is pay back the loan.

We of course added our new Lexus GX470 to our own Lexus $avOmeter database. As luck would have it, I saved about $1500 more than previous GX470 buyers who reported their deals to me. If you are shopping for a Lexus, you should use this chapter, and our Lexus $avOmeter database to guide you in addition to reading the 7 chapters on new car buying:

Click Here, Read The First Chapter on New Car Buying:
Chapter 1: New Car Financing Tips & Scams

You are not ready for buying a car yet, you must read the remaining chapters or you'll spend too much money buying a car. You have been warned.

Jump to any chapter. I suggest you read each chapter in order.
Chapter 1 Get your credit report, how to get a car loan, scams, online car loans,first time car loans, budget & loan excel spreadsheets, credit repair.	Chapter 2 Reviews of internet discount car buying sites, new car prices, find dealer's invoice cost. Get a new car quote.	Chapter 3 What to bring to a dealership, what to say, how to act, what not to do, what to look for at the dealership, and a glossary of all dealer fees.	Chapter 4 How to read dealer invoices, finding dealer's cost, how much to offer the dealer, buyers offer spreadsheet, examples, trade-ins.
Chapter 5 Negotiating tips, dealer scams & tricks to watch out for, dealing with aggressive salespeople, choosing between rebates or low APR loans.	Chapter 6 Close the deal, avoid needless extras, scams in the business office, extended warranty scams, options, buying warranties online.	Chapter 7 Actual misleading dealer ads, and what to do when you've been ripped off, customer satisfaction surveys, how I bought my Lexus.

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