Over the Christmas holiday, I had a client call me, we’ll call him “Mr. X” about getting a new 2008 Honda CRV and unfortunately I was out of town to get the vehicle for him, but his boss had a car salesman at a local dealership “that he always used” who he referred him to for his services. Now, don’t get me wrong with what I’m going to share here because it doesn’t rock my world when a client decides to go and get a car on their own because I know they’ll be back down the road when they decide they want something other than a Honda for their next ride.
He was able to get the vehicle at the dealer invoice, which wasn’t a bad deal for a 2008 Honda CRV, I probably would have been a couple hundred over invoice for the same vehicle. I honestly don’t know because I never shopped it, but I’ll assume that I would be a little more than the dealership. This may shock many people because everyone focuses on the price of the vehicle instead of the actual cost of the vehicle. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s hypothetically say that “Mr. X” got an interest rate of 9.9% offered by the dealership, but I could have got him an interest rate of 8.25% for the same vehicle. Doesn’t seem like much of a spread in the interest rate, does it?
Well, If he finances that vehicle for 60 months and makes the minimum payments, which most people do, he will pay about $1,200 more for the same vehicle than if he purchased it from me for say $200 over invoice? That’s a savings of $1,000 or $1,000 back of invoice. I save my clients hundreds and even thousands of dollars on vehicles compared to purchasing on their own because I know how to structure the entire vehicle purchase for maximum benefit.
How can I offer a better interest rate? I buy, sell, trade and lease vehicles everyday for hundreds of clients who have engaged me for their services. I hang my license as an Independent Contractor at a car dealership, JFR & Associates in Littleton, Colorado that gives me access to 40 different Credit Unions and around 20 different banks. In other words, I’m going to shop for the best interest rate for my clients. I can even assist clients with credit challenges to get them a better rate than they would be able to do on their own. If they try to get a loan on their own, they are one car deal, where at JFR & Associates we sell 150 – 200 cars a month or even more. Who do you think the bank is going to be more flexible with?
When you go into the dealership and purchase a new vehicle at invoice the dealership needs to make up for the money they are not making on the vehicle, so they hit you with a higher interest rate and get paid on the back-end. How many people make this mistake because they get “lost in the ether” as I call it that they are getting a good “deal” when they are not in a position to negotiate from a position of strength. When you use the services of The Cool Car Guy the emotion is out of it for me. I’m not going to get emotionally attached to your car, but I’m going to get you the best value and you’ll be saving money in the long run.
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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant and radio personality with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. John offers a professional buying, selling and leasing service for his clients who don’t have time and want to avoid the aggravation of running around from dealership to dealership shopping for vehicles. Call or email John about his unique service for getting your next vehicle! Email: jboyd@coolcarguy.com
Tune Into The Cool Car Guy Show Every Monday – Thursday 10AM – 11AM MST on CastleRockRadio.com
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you from The Cool Car Guy. My wife, Becky and I along with our three kids Conroy, Corban and Bianca spent Christmas in Disney World. We all had a great time and I figured I would share with my visitors some of the highlights of our trip related to cars.
I was surprised how many rides are centered around cars. One of the coolest rides that we went on, probably our favorite, was The Rockin Rollercoaste
The other car ride Test Track at Epcot was sponsored by GM and takes the rider in a car that goes through a series of tests similar to what cars go through before they ever get put into production. This was a very educational ride in that it taught the rider about ABS brakes, air bags, crash test ratings and other issues related to building a modern automobile while the visitor is waiting in the long line for the ride. There are plenty of twists, turns and speed on this ride as well. The kids and everyone loved this ride.
On just about every big ride in Disney World you will end up in a gift shop where you can blow some more money on Disney goodies. At the end of Test Track the riders end up in GM showroom first where you can check out cool cars and get information on the latest and greatest GM has to offer. I took a photo of Becky in front of one of the latest concept cars by GM. The Chevy Volt is due out in 2010 according to GM, but we’ll have to see if they hit that date. There’s a good article about this subject in 
After Test Track we headed back to MGM studios where we saw the star of the Disney Pixar film Cars 
You want don’t want to miss this show that takes place in an outside stadium without a bad seat in the house. Make sure you get there about 30 minutes early to get a seat and you’re in for a real treat. We met my sister Elizabeth Morgan and my nephew Sterling down in Disney World and saw this show with them. Everyone loved it!
Lights, Motors, Action! is setup as a movie shoot with stunt men and fast cool stunt cars involved in a high speed chase. The cars are modified for this show for balance and precision driving equipped with motorcycle engines. As well as near-misses, and wild acrobatics, the show features stunts, such as jumps through glass, wall of flames, and high falls. This is definitely a show you don’t want to miss.
I really appreciated her thoughts on the benefits of the Mini Cooper from a Mom’s perspective as she pointed out the benefits of the one piece molded seats in the back that won’t allow kid crud to get under the seats. Also, the ease of getting in and out of the seat belts for kids, which isn’t something that most people would think about when purchasing a Mini. She also told us about how much she enjoyed driving the