How long do you take to buy a car?

[MustangEater82]

Hard to say... My current car, saw on Craigslist, thought I shouldn't get another camaro, I have a kid now, but good deal for reliable transportation, called drove out, 20 min test drive and bought it.

My g6, saw it was shoppimg for 2-3 weeks, haggled for a week.

Msrp was $21,800 I got it for $16,500 this was before pontiac went under too.

[Marv101]

When I purchased my new Hyundai Elantra in 2007, I'd already done tons of research that took no more than 3-4 weeks tops, and had narrowed my choices down to the Elantra, Civic, Corolla, Versa & Yaris.

Consequently it was merely a matter of getting the most for my money here in Los Angeles.

Hyundai's been extremely agressive in pricing their cars in their ruthless pusuit of market share, and being able to buy a loaded-to-the-gunwales Elantra with an MSRP of $16,580 for $11,995 plus T&L made this a no brainer.

Four-plus years later, their products are still pruiced substantially below the competition, and Sonaas & Elantra are both seeling like crazy thanks to their substantial advantages in pricing and warranties.

[Checkered24]

A long time.

I took over a year to buy my current car (Volvo C30). I spent a number of months researching and test driving cars, before deciding on this one as the car I wanted to get. When I decided, it was getting late in the year (September/October timeframe) and I did not want to buy a new car to immediately subject to winter.

So I bought a beater Jeep for the winter, and did not take delivery of the Volvo until August of the next year.

I know, I really dragged that one out!

I generally just take a couple months to do my due dilligence and test driving.

[skel1977]

I went looking for a car on friday and was driving a new car buy saturday afternoon. I did a lot of research on the internet and narrowed it down. Test drove a few and haggled the price down to something I could afford.

[DELL37]

When I decide I want to buy a car or truck I do my research on line and pick out the models I'm interested in then go to the dealers after hours or on sundays and look around. This typically narrows the search down. I then go to the dealer during the day and do test drives until I find the specific car I want. Next note the options on the car and be sure to take down the lot number of the car you decided on then go home. Now crunch the numbers, decide what you are willing to pay and call the salesman back and make an offer.

From there let them do the work. Either they agree or you start over at a different dealer. I once took a week to buy a car but I got it for exactly what I wanted and not a penny more than I offered..

In all honesty I know what I want before I ever talk to a salesman. That way the whole process is kind of like ordering lunch. I'll take a 2011 4-Runner, trail edition with KDSS and you can hold the sides please..

[thriftylefty]

Its like the futures market with me. I have a friend who's family has been buying and selling cars since before I was born. I like to stop in and see whats on the lot and talk cars from time to time. I always let them know what I'll be looking for in the future and they keep me posted on what kind of cars are the best deals. The next car for me is about a year away but I'll let them know what I intend to use the vehicle for and what I want to pay and they'll keep their eye out for me. If there is a trick to buying used it is don't get your heart set on anything in particular, let the market help you decide.

[hueyeats]

I will research the heck out of the ideal car that fit my needs...
Then shop for the best times to buy... deals etc.

[eofelis]

I woke up one morning having no idea that I was going to buy a car that day.

This was 4 years ago.

I knew I wanted to buy a used Subaru Outback. I had my criteria set in mind and spent a year keeping an eye on local cars for sale. One day I saw a classified ad for one that met my criteria. Went to look at it in the evening. Test drove it and decided to buy it right away. Brought the sellers a check for the purchase price the next day.

I'll drive this one for several more years and then start the looking around process again.