A car is one of the largest purchases you will experience during your lifetime. Buying the right car at a fair price can be difficult, but there are some precautions you can take to help make the experience a little easier.

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Do Your Research
This is especially important if you are buying a used car. Learn everything you possibly can about the vehicle you are buying - from reliability and repair history to maintenance and accident records. You should also research the dealerships from which you are planning to purchase a car.

Your local Better Business Bureau can provide you with some insight if you ask for a reliability report on the dealership. You can also find out if a dealership has had any complaints filed against it.

You may want to consider the services of a car-buying agency like CarLicious.com. It can help you save money, and you get to avoid the haggling headache.

Don't fall in love with one car. Choose several cars in which you might be interested. If you're set on buying one particular type of car, you lose a lot of negotiating power. This way, if one car isn't in your price range, you can negotiate on another car.

Avoid the options up-sell
Decide ahead of time what features you want in your new car. This helps avoid being talked into options you may not have budgeted for. Salespeople know about the euphoric feeling most people get when they buy a car. They will prey on this emotional vulnerability to sell you more items. Don't be fooled - it may feel good at the time, but your wallet won't appreciate it.

Trade-in advice
Find out the value of your car before you go to the dealer. Dealers will offer you a minimal amount so they can make more profit at resale. Remember that you will most likely get more for your trade-in through a private sale. By Posting your car on CarLIcious.com you can make $ thousands more.

If you do decide to trade in your car at the dealership, discuss its value after you have negotiated the best price for your new car. This keeps the two prices separate (dealers like to bunch them together because it's more confusing for consumers) so you will know exactly what you paid for your new car.

The best time to buy!
Late in the month is the time to make your grand entry to negotiate a fair deal. Sales managers have to meet certain monthly quotas, and top-selling sales staff usually receives a monthly bonus. The sales staff, including managers, are eager to sell the needed units to reach their goals in order to collect these substantial bonuses.

Check the hours of the dealership and go in just before closing time. At the end of the day, salespeople are tired from haggling and may want to close the deal quickly.

Never say “I'm paying with cash”
Despite what you may have thought, you will not necessarily get a better deal if you tell the salesperson you will be paying in cash. In fact, you may pay more because they know they can't make any more money off the sale.

If you finance the car through them, they will continue making money until it is paid off. A cash deal simply means no money on the back end, so they may try to make up for it on the front end.

Negotiate price; not payment
Always stick to negotiating the vehicle price, not the monthly installments. Dealers will often ask you what you can afford to pay monthly. Ignore that and continue with the vehicle price. A lower monthly payment just means a longer term, more interest and more money out of your wallet.