Buying a new car can be a daunting experience if you don't prepare yourself beforehand. There are just five easy steps you can take to help you enjoy immense savings when you are new car shopping whether online or at the dealer. Taking the time to do a little bit of research before you sign on the dotted line can be well worth it in the end.

The First Step-Determine a Fair Price

The first thing to do is to decide what a fair and realistic price you are prepared to pay for the new car you want. When you do your research online, you can find websites that have a down loadable spreadsheet that is absolutely free, to aid you in figuring this out. Before you can determine a fair price, you will need to know the invoice price for the car. You can find this information out on one of two sites. The first is FightingChance, and they will sell you a package for about $35 that has such information as inventories of current dealers, as well as the pricing information. The other is Edmunds, and they have invoice pricing information that is for free. Their information doesn't seem to be as accurate as the data you receive from FightingChance.

The Second Step-Use The Competition For Your Advantage

After you have determined the fair price for the new car you want, the next step is to fill out all the free quotes from the websites you have visited when you were searching for a new vehicle. Cars.com, Yahoo!Autos, Autoweb, and others like websites are all great places to look for a bargain. It takes just a few minutes to fill out the information required, and the more dealers you contact, the more likely you are to be offered a price that is almost rock-bottom. Be sure you give the correct contact information so that dealers may contact you. Tell the dealer you are working with others, and you are not interested in financing options at this time, just the price of the car that includes all the dealer fees as well.

The Third Step- Shop Around For The Best Financing

When you comparison shop for financing for a new car loan, you can look for the best deals at the best interest rates that are available to you. You do not have to get your financing from the dealership where you intend to buy your car. You will need to check your credit score so you will know what types of rates you can expect to be offered for financing. You can obtain a credit report from one of the three main credit reporting agencies; TrueCredit, Equifax, or Experian. Once you know your score, you can send in your application to lenders online like HSBC Auto Finance or Capitol One Auto Finance. These companies can give you some of the best rates available online.

Fourth Step-Trade In Value of Your Old Car

For those who want to trade in their old car, you can use the Kelly Blue Book to get an estimate of the price you can expect to get for your car. You will use this information on your spreadsheet to help you determine the actual price you will be paying for your new car.

Fifth Step-Negotiate The Price

Now you are armed with plenty of information, and plenty of offers from dealers. The best way to get a picture that is accurate, is to ask for the out-the-door price in cash for the car. Have them exclude rebates, trade-ins and any incentives offered. When you are dealing with a few dealers, they are anxious to make a sale and can offer you huge savings you never expected to receive on a new car purchase.