Any car salesmen here?

My lovely wife is looking at spending $30,000 (!) on a used car.
That's about what I have invested in bikes, skis and motorcycles, so I'm not gonna say anything, but if anyone wants to pass on tips for dealing with car salemen I'm all ears.
So far all I got is don't finance at the dealership, deal with the bank and save a few points.
Anything else?

My lovely wife is looking at spending $30,000 (!) on a used car.
That's about what I have invested in bikes, skis and motorcycles, so I'm not gonna say anything, but if anyone wants to pass on tips for dealing with car salemen I'm all ears.
So far all I got is don't finance at the dealership, deal with the bank and save a few points.
Anything else?

Duno what its like now but it all depends on the rate they wana give
I've seen my own bank at the time be a foot dragging pain in the ass while hkb was quick n easy for car loan in an effort to find new customers
Also bought a couple cars thru vw credit and they were cheap SO it depends

30k on a used car?

What car?

Walk away. Make the sales guy sweat a bit.
Like get his hopes up to the point where he's already spent the money then crush his little dreams.

What kind of car? You can buy a new 2016 Honda CRV LX AWD for less than $30k (before taxes and fees).

She's after an X3. I'm cool with it since she makes, like, three times what I do.
Dealer was asking 5.9%. I think the bank is better
I also like the "be prepared to walk" piece.
Anything else?

Dealer was asking 5.9%.

Nothin like paying $40,000 for a $30,000 used car (assuming 5 years payments).

Save up your dineros and pay cash.

Walk away. Make the sales guy sweat a bit.
Like get his hopes up to the point where he's already spent the money then crush his little dreams.

because they're totally not wise to this…..at all.

Nothin like paying $40,000 for a $30,000 used car (assuming 5 years payments).

Save up your dineros and pay cash.

Yep.

Especially when prime is [HTML_REMOVED] 3

Nothin like paying $40,000 for a $30,000 used car (assuming 5 years payments).

Save up your dineros and pay cash.

Which will then have a $15k re-sale value if you are lucky. Ouch.

The slightly used market is hilarious right now. Barely any savings compared to buying new. Janky financing. High mileage for year, at least using my vehicle as a benchmark.

It depends on how long you expect to keep or have a history of keeping vehicles for.

Used X3? Is it still under warranty? If not, you might want want to budget some additional $$ for repairs.

One route to explore is a car broker. They might be able to get what you want and or alternatives at a reduced rate.

As for BMW, Make sure mileage is very low and still has some warranty. Repairs accelerate after 100k and around 6 years old. City driving kills them due to extra heat and plastic composite parts.

Plus, any deficiency they mention in the inspections report: knock down the price.

And, never commit emotionally to a car. I.e. Be ready to walk out the door any and every time you go to negotiate….

Talk less. Let them do all the talking. Once they get you talking they own you.

Sometimes you can get one mid lease as someone trades up or out.

BMWs are great if you drive them as designed (hard) and maintain them religiously (especially oil and cooling system) Otherwise get something else.

The slightly used market is hilarious right now. Barely any savings compared to buying new. Janky financing. High mileage for year, at least using my vehicle as a benchmark.

It depends on how long you expect to keep or have a history of keeping vehicles for.

Yeah I never thought I would ever want to purchase a brand new vehicle - but we are in the market for a new (to us) vehicle now and it's amazing how expensive the used vehicles are for the models we are looking at (Japanese). It almost feels like its cheaper to buy it new… since the slight discount in price for a used model doesn't justify the depreciation.

Ya , i just went through this experience last summer when shopping for a truck .

Wound up with my ( used ) dream truck , but in the end we would have been laying out less cash per month for a new vehicle . I didn't want to be on the hook for more cash for longer , and i know there would be things i wouldn't/couldn't do with it because i'd be afraid of damaging it ( never owned a brand new vehicle before )