New Cars

I have been using the Consumer Digest guide for new cars in negotiating with the dealer for every new car I’ve purchased over the past 15 years. I’m convinced it has helped save me hundreds of dollars on each car I’ve bought.

The Consumer Digest guide includes important information that you won’t find in the Consumer Reports or Edmunds guides. First, it includes the REAL dealer invoice price, as well as the MSRP, for the car and for each individual option. (The “real” invoice is lower than the so-called invoice price that the dealer will show you, since the dealer’s invoice does not subtract the hold-backs). That information is a key tool that I’ve repeatedly used successfully in negotiations. Also, Consumer Digest more systematically and comprehensively lists the specs and features included in all of the various trim lines of each make and model (e.g., in the ‘DX’, ‘LX’, and ‘EX’ lines of the Accord model), and the options that can be added to each, facilitating the buyer’s comparison of the various makes and models before having to visit a lot of showrooms. This saves much time and gives the buyer a better-informed and stronger negotiating position.

Unfortunately, I cannot find the Consumer Digest new car guide for 2006 (or 2007). If Consumer Digest has stopped publishing this valuable book, that is really sad. I wonder if manufacturers are no longer cooperating in providing car specs and invoice data because too many dealers have complained about buyers using this book during negotiations.

It should be noted that Consumer Guide published up to three variations of this guide for new cars each year. All three contain the key information on new car specs and true dealer invoice prices, but the buyer should be alert to which variation is being advertised. The best variation, in my view, is “Consumer Guide: 2004 Cars” (560 pages), which includes text for each make and model describing changes in that model from the prior year, plus-and-minus points for each car, etc. This is NOT the variation presented in this listing; it’s listed separately in another Amazon posting. The second variation is “Consumer Guide: 2004 New Car Price Guide” (352 pages), which deletes that text; that IS the version presented in this posting. The third variation is “Consumer Guide: 200X Automobile Book” (about 225 pages), an 8- by 11-inch book on higher-quality paper, which adds an evaluation of each car and additional front matter (but is more expensive); this variation was not published in 2004. Each variation has a different cover design.
Rating: 5 / 5